MOSCOW, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have detected elevated tritium content in seawater samples taken in the Far Eastern seas after nuclear-contaminated wastewater discharged from Japan's Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, Russia's Pacific Oceanological Institute said on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the institute, researchers conducted a scientific expedition from June to July to assess the radiological safety of the Far Eastern seas in connection with water discharges from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. They took samples of water, biota and plankton in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the north-west Pacific Ocean.
As scientists at the institute noted, laboratory analyses of the first water samples obtained during the expedition showed increased tritium content in the main branch of the Kuroshio Current and in the area of the Southern Kuril Islands（which is also claimed by Japan and called the Northern Territories）. ■
