Workers in an aquatic product market in Daegu, South Korea check scallop imported from Japan on August 28, 2023. This market has purchased radiometers to check products on a daily basis since Monday.Photo:IC

Orders for nuclear radiation detectors have surged on domestic e-commerce platforms, with many stores claiming to have sold out, the Global Times learned from industry insiders. Concerns have mounted following the news of Japan's dumping of nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea.

Several online vendors reached by the Global Times on Monday said that their products had sold out due to the sudden increase in demand. They also advised consumers to book in advance to secure their detectors.

One vendor at an online store in Taobao told the Global Times that their inventory of nuclear radiation detectors has been tight recently and demand has now exceeded supply.

"Many people have approached us and placed orders after Japan's dumping of the wastewater... currently we are out of stock," the person said, predicting that the prices may increase given the strong demand.

Another vendor told the Global Times that they have been able to maintain the price because they have their own factory to make the detectors. However, some key components are in short supply due to the sudden rise in demand, so the delivery time has been extended.

Nuclear radiation detectors have been among the top search topics on domestic e-commerce platforms recently.

Wei Honglin, an expert in nuclear radiation detection technology, cautioned that nuclear radiation detectors can only do qualitative analysis and they have high requirements for their operation methods, the Paper.cn reported on Monday. 

They are quite hard to use, "for ordinary people, without professional knowledge," Wei said.

The Chinese government has ramped up efforts to protect public safety following Japan's move to dump the wastewater, including suspending imports of aquatic products originating from Japan. 

The move aims to "comprehensively prevent the risk of radioactive contamination caused by the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima to food safety, protect the health of Chinese consumers, and ensure the safety of imported food," the General Administration of Customs said in a notice. 

Meanwhile, market regulators have tightened supervision of food safety while pledging to punish market hoarding of corresponding products.

The State Administration for Market Regulation said that they will strengthen price supervision and law enforcement, and strictly investigate illegal behavior such as hoarding and fabricating price increase information.