IAEA / FUKUSHIMA SEAWATER SAMPLING

After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in March 2011, the Japanese Government has been continually monitoring radioactivity in seawater and publishing the results. In an effort to verify the accuracy of these results, the Japanese authorities requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to undertake joint sampling missions with scientists from Japan. IAEA

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:37
• Production Date: 21 November 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY - IAEA
• Subject Topical: ENVIRONMENT; NUCLEAR SCIENCE; ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES
• Geographic Subject: JAPAN
• MAMS Id: 1249495

Description

STORY: IAEA / FUKUSHIMA SEAWATER SAMPLING
TRT: 2.37
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / JAPANESE / NATS

DATELINE: 5 – 6 NOVEMBER 2014, HISANOHAMA PORT, FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN

Shotlist

5 – 6 NOVEMBER 2014, HISANOHAMA PORT, FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN

1. Wide shot, David Osborn walking at the Hisanohama port near Iwaki Fukushima
2. Wide shot, David Osborn boards the boat
3. Wide shot, Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant from the boat
4. Close up, water sampler is prepared and put into the water
5. Wide shot, Japanese team member retrieves sampler
6. Close up, water sampler in the water
7. Close up, water being poured into communal container from samplers
8. SOUNDBITE (English) David Osborn, Director, IAEA Environment Laboratories:
“We’re here today to collect water samples off the coast of Fukushima, you see the nuclear power plant behind me, to analyse for various radionuclides in the water.”
9. Close up, sensor is placed in the water to measure temperature and salinity levels
10. Close up, pan right, device shows the readings from the sensor
11. Close up, IAEA water sample containers on boat,
12. SOUNDBITE (English) David Osborn, Director, IAEA Environment Laboratories:
“What we do with the samples here is that we divide them in two: half of them are analysed here in Japan and half of them are taken back to the IAEA laboratories in Monaco. We analyse them in those two places and then we compare the results.”
13. Wide shot, exterior, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
14. Wide shot, exterior, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
15. Wide shot, sampling boat off the coast of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant
16. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Tadatoshi Kaneko, Director for Monitoring, Radiation Monitoring Division, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), Japan:
“Japan has conducted such sea water analyses periodically. I expect that Japan would be able to increase confidence in the accuracy and transparency of its data by comparing it with the data from the IAEA.”
17. Wide shot, samples being taken off the boat
18. Close up, IAEA container being sealed
19. Med shot, IAEA water sample containers are loaded into vehicle
20. SOUNDBITE (English) David Osborn, Director, IAEA Environment Laboratories:
“The results of the previous analysis show that the data that is being reported by Japan is very accurate. Our results were identical with the results coming out of Japan.”
21. Wide shot, transportation centre

Storyline

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in March 2011 led to the release of radioactive elements into nearby coastal waters.

The Japanese Government has been continually monitoring radioactivity in seawater and publishing the results.
In an effort to verify the accuracy of these results, the Japanese authorities requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to undertake joint sampling missions with scientists from Japan.

A first IAEA mission took place in September 2014 and a second one between the 5th and the 7th of November 2014 in the coastal waters near the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Two experts from the IAEA and their Japanese counterparts collected water samples.
Half of the samples were shipped to the IAEA Environment Laboratories in Monaco and half to Japanese laboratories. Both sets of samples will be analyzed for the presence of various radioactive elements using similar techniques.

Results of the first joint sampling mission were recently released in Tokyo. These showed that the analyses conducted by the IAEA and the Japanese laboratories produced identical results.

The current batch of samples will be analyzed over the next two months, with results expected early 2015. Over the next few years, the IAEA will conduct several more trips of this kind.