Korea to intensify radiation tests on seawater amid Fukushima concerns

Members of Korea's YWCA and Japan's YWCA hold up signs as they take part in a joint rally to protest against Japan's plan to discharge radioactive water from the crippled nuclear reactors in Fukushima into the ocean in front of Myeongdong Cathedral, Seoul, July 10. Yonhap

Korea will more than double the number of maritime spots under emergency radiation tests to ease concerns over Japan's planned release of contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the oceans ministry said Tuesday.

Last month, Korea began conducting radiation tests on ocean water at 92 points around the Korean Peninsula, and it will add 108 more coastal spots to beef up the monitoring of radioactivity levels, Vice Oceans Minister Park Sung-hoon said during a regular briefing on the Fukushima issue.

Japan plans to release radioactive water from the Fukushima plant into the sea soon, as the International Atomic Energy Agency found Tokyo's plan to be consistent with its safety standards after a two-year review.

Korea will employ a "rapid analysis method" to draw results in a swift manner, rather than using traditional inspection methods that generally take more than two months, Park added.

"It will take around four days to get the analysis results," he said. "We will announce them when they are available on a daily basis." (Yonhap)