Fukushima Wastewater Plan Release Affects Salt Supply in South Korea

Empty supermarket shelves reflect the public anxiety of South Koreans about the planned release of Fukushima water waste by the Japanese government.

Shoppers have started hoarding sea salt as they worry about their safety.

This move has brought struggle to the country as the price of salt increased by 27 percent in June, prompting the South Korean government to release sea salt from its official reserves to stabilize the price. The government releases 50 metric tons of salt every day from its stockpiles at a 20% discount to market pricing.

However, officials claimed weather and lower production were also to blame.

"The public doesn't have to worry about the sea salt supply as the amount of salt provided for June and July will be about 120,000 tons, which is above the average annual production," the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said last month as quoted by CNN. "We ask the public to purchase only the amount you need when buying sea salt."

"I recently bought 5 kilograms of salt," Lee Young-min told Reuters, a 38-year-old mother of two children from Seongnam, just south of the Seoul.

She also stated that she had never purchased so much salt before but felt compelled to do so in order to protect and feed her family.

Japan is scheduled to release more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant into the Pacific.

The water in question was used to cool damaged reactors at a power plant in Tokyo following an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

According to the Japanese government, the tanks must be removed to allow for the decommissioning of the plant and reduce the risk of leakage in the event of another tragedy.

Impact on seafood products

Aside from salt, seafood and other sea-based dietary staples like seaweed and anchovies are at risk.

On Friday, teams of market officials tested some fresh fish and seafood at the largest fisheries market in Seoul to allay concerns.

"It's much more difficult to make sales now, as customers are asking more questions as they worry a lot," Jin Wol-sun told Reuters, a retail stallholder at the Noryangjin market.

Consumers demanded scientifically supported government recommendations and policy initiatives over sensational assertions made in the midst of national debate over Japan's intentions.

South Korea's fisheries authorities have pledged to increase efforts to monitor natural salt farms for a possible increase in radioactive substances and maintain a ban on seafood from the waters near Fukushima.

The plan follows international safety standards

Despite public outrage over Japan's controversial move to dump treated radioactive water into the ocean, the United Nations nuclear watchdog maintained that the plan followed international safety standards.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General l Rafael Grossi that while concerns about the plan reflect a "very logical sense of uncertainty" that must be taken seriously, he is "completely convinced of the sound basis of our conclusions."

"We have been looking at this basic policy for more than two years. We have been assessing it against ... the most stringent standards that exist," he said in an interview with CNN.

China also denounced Japan's plan and accused them of a lack of transparency and posing a threat to the marine environment as well as the health of people around the world.