DOH allays fears of radioactive fish in Batanes

Health authorities on Tuesday allayed fears that fish caught off Batanes province in Extreme Northern Luzon may be tainted with radioactivity from a quake-crippled nuclear power plant in Japan. Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona said their monitoring on fish and selected products has so far not indicated any dangerous level of radioactivity. "Wala pa tayong proof na dapat tayo mag-alala ... Kailangan of course mag-ingat pero baka ang kababayan natin mabahala at matakot sa ganoong bagay na wala pa tayong proof na dapat mag-alala sa ganoon," Ona said in an interview on dzRH radio. (We do not have any proof yet that we should worry...Of course, we need to be cautious but our countrymen might become worried or afraid because of those matters which we have not proof that we should worry.) As of now, he said there is no indication of danger from fish caught off Batanes. "Wala pa tayong findings that will show may danger yan, yan din tinitingnan natin (We have no findings that will show any danger there, although we are always monitoring the area)," he said. Earlier reports quoted Batanes Governor Vicente Gato as warning residents against eating raw fish amid their possible contamination. Gato said this is a mere preventive measure against the possible effects from the radiation leak at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. Batanes, located in Extreme Northern Luzon, is the nearest Philippine territory to Japan. Dumping of contaminated water into sea The Japanese government has allowed the operator of a quake-crippled nuclear plant to dump “low-level" contaminated water from its radioactive waste treatment facility to the sea, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late Monday (Manila time). IAEA said Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) advised it that the Tokyo Electric Power Company was given permission to discharge 10,000 tons of low-level contaminated water. “This is in order to have sufficient capacity to store highly contaminated water found in the basement of the Unit 2 Turbine Building," the IAEA said in its update. TEPCO will also discharge 1,500 tons of low-level contaminated water in the sub-drain pit for Units 5 and 6 to prevent the water in the pit from leaking into the reactor buildings and potentially damaging safety-related equipment. However, the IAEA said there is little risk to humans. “TEPCO has estimated that the potential additional annual dose to a member of the public would be approximately 0.6 millisieverts (mSv), if they ate seaweed and seafood caught, from near the plant, every day for a year," it said. – VVP, GMA News