South Korea said Friday that no abnormalities were found in contamination tests related to the suspected release of wastewater from a uranium refining plant in North Korea.

According to data released Friday by the Nuclear Safety Commission and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, tests conducted at 10 locations, including Ganghwa Island and the Han River Estuary, confirmed no abnormalities in tests for uranium, cesium and five heavy metals.

Ganghwa Island and the Han River Estuary are close to the Ryesong River, which flows near North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium facility and into South Korea.

The results were only an investigation of contamination in areas along the West Sea, not a confirmation of any wastewater discharge from the Pyongsan facility. 
 
The uranium concentration at six of the 10 locations near Ganghwa Island and Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, ranged from zero-point-135 to one-point-993 parts per billion over the past two weeks, the data showed, similar to levels recorded in 2019.
 
At the other four locations, including the Han River Estuary and Incheon, normal levels ranging from zero-point-087 to three-point-211 were recorded.

However, the government noted that at two locations in northern Gimpo and one location in Incheon, concentration levels were zero-point-22 to zero-point-46 parts per billion higher than they were six years ago.

The maximum allowable level of uranium in drinking water is 30 parts per billion. 

At all the test sites, heavy metal levels also met environmental standards.

The government said it will continue to actively respond to public concerns about the issue by conducting monthly monitoring at the test sites.