China urges Japan to act responsibly over Fukishima radiation

China on Monday urged the Japanese government to clarify how they plan to deal with the impact of the deadly levels of radioactivity that have been detected inside the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

A Chinese expert also warned not to eat seafood caught from waters near the site due to possible organ failure.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a press briefing on Monday that China had been watching closely the repercussions of the Fukushima nuclear leakage accident and the ministry had issued relevant safety alerts.

"[The Chinese side] has been asking the Japanese government to properly handle the accident and follow-up matters in a timely fashion," Lu said, adding that "any responsible government will pay continuous and high attention to the impact of the nuclear leakage on the marine environment, food safety and people's health."

Lu added that it is Japanese government's obligation to not only the Japanese people, but also to people from the rest of the world, its neighbors included.

Gui Liming, a professor at the Department of Engineering Physics with Tsinghua University, warned that seafood which was caught from the radiated waters and illegally imported still pose a threat to Chinese people's health.

Customs authorities in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, detained 14 people in August 2016 for smuggling frozen seafood from Japan, including irradiated high-end seafood from waters near Fukushima prefecture, China Central Television reported.

"We need to closely inspect every product to single out the radiated ones, which was not part of the usual routine of customs before," Gui said.

Radiation levels from melted fuel inside the containment vessel of reactor No.2 at the crippled Fukushima No.1 power plant have reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the triple core meltdown in March 2011, The Japan Times reported Friday, citing Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (Tepco).

At 530 sieverts, a person could die from even brief exposure.

The Japan Times said Monday that Tepco will place a robot inside the reactor to further investigate the radiation levels. No radiation has leaked outside, Tepco said.

However, Gui pointed out that the high radiation level will affect the optical system of the robot, making it difficult for it to observe and collect data. It is also very difficult to control the robot in such an environment, Gui added.