VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, March 16 (Reuters) - Sea scallops were being used on Wednesday to monitor radiation levels in Russia's Far East as Japanese authorities worked to avert disaster at an earthquake-battered nuclear complex.
Radiation levels in Vladivostok, a city of 600,000 people some 800 km (500 miles) northwest of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, rose to 14 microroentgens an hour at 0400 GMT, from 12 a day earlier. The regional emergencies ministry says up to 30 microroentgens an hour is considered safe.
"If the radiation in the water rises, the health of the molluscs will change as they react to the ions in heavy metal," state-run local water firm Primvodokanal said in a statement.
"So far, this has not happened," added the firm, which started monitoring the water with sea scallops at the Pacific port city on Wednesday.
Scientists first started using the unique method to check for pollution in Russia’s Far East waters last year.
Russia’s Far East — a large swathe of land home to 6.5 million people which faces Japan to its East — has been watching with trepidation the surging radiation levels in Japan, which is grappling with the worst nuclear accident since Soviet Ukraine’s Chernobyl in 1986.
The Far East’s regional emergencies ministry said in a statement that "we do not see any danger from radiation", though it was carrying out radiation checks 24 hours a day.
Russia’s military has said it is ready to evacuate people if needed from Russia’s Sakhalin island, whose southernmost tip is visible from northern Japan, and the Southern Kuril island chain which is at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan.
Residents, scared that a strong wind could blow radioactive clouds towards Russia, have snatched up iodine pills thought to protect the thyroid gland and have set up a string of forum sites to monitor and discuss radiation levels.
Posting pictures of Geiger counters they are using to measure radiation in the Far East, the sites contain dozens of messages from alarmed residents.
"A quiet panic is spreading in Khabarovsk (600 km from Japan) but they say the wind is in our favour for now," Olga wrote on one of the sites, narodniymonitoring.rpod.ru.
State weather forecaster Roshydromet said on Wednesday it was too early to say whether wind from Japan would travel towards Russia’s Far East.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered checks at Russia’s 32 nuclear facilities and a review of plans to develop atomic power in the country. Russia is keen to develop nuclear energy as it tries to diversify away from oil and gas.
