Marine Monitoring: Confidence Building and Data Quality Assurance - Multimedia

A decade ago, the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant released radioactive material into the air and sea. According to Japan, the marine radioactivity levels have been steadily dropping since the accident. To ensure transparency, international scientists were invited to come and check in person. These inter-laboratory comparisons are a service offered by the International Atomic Energy Agency to its member states, to double-check the reliability of their methods for monitoring the environment. (Data cited taken from the website of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority with permission by TEPCO).

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. The IAEA team was led by the Director of the IAEA Environment Laboratories, David Osborn.