Loading
Search
▼ Gov't To Test Safety of Burying Radioactive Soil in Spring
- Category:Event
TOKYO - The government will conduct a demonstration project to test the safety of burying soil waste, generated by decontamination work following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, under other soil around this spring, the Environment Ministry said Wednesday.
In the project, the soil waste from eastern and northeastern Japan areas other than Fukushima Prefecture will be covered by noncontaminated soil at sites in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, and radioactivity levels around the sites will be measured.
The government plans to determine its disposal policy for contaminated soil in fall or later in accordance with the outcome of the experiment, according to the ministry.
A total of 56 municipalities in seven prefectures -- Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba -- have completed their cleanup work with financial support from the central government.
However, since some 330,000 cubic meters of soil waste have been temporarily kept at around 28,000 locations including public spaces such as schools and parks in 53 municipalities, local residents have been calling for an early disposal of the waste.
The project will be carried out on the premises of the Tokai Research and Development Center's Nuclear Science Research Institute in Tokai and a public space in Nasu.
Some 2,500 cubic meters of soil waste temporarily kept at two locations in Tokai and about 350 cubic meters of soil waste kept at the public space in Nasu will be used in the project.
After the soil waste is buried, workers' exposure levels to radiation and radioactivity levels in the surroundings will be measured.
"Households in storage locations (of soil waste) continue shouldering the burden. I hope (the project) will prove the safety of burying it and lead to the disposal (of contaminated soil)," a Nasu town official said.
"It took time to conduct (the project) but it's good," said an official in Tokai, adding local residents have been increasingly asking for removal of the soil waste from a park.
Asked by municipalities to show the way to dispose of soil waste, the ministry had been searching for proper locations to carry out the demonstration project.
© KYODO
In the project, the soil waste from eastern and northeastern Japan areas other than Fukushima Prefecture will be covered by noncontaminated soil at sites in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, and radioactivity levels around the sites will be measured.
The government plans to determine its disposal policy for contaminated soil in fall or later in accordance with the outcome of the experiment, according to the ministry.
A total of 56 municipalities in seven prefectures -- Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba -- have completed their cleanup work with financial support from the central government.
However, since some 330,000 cubic meters of soil waste have been temporarily kept at around 28,000 locations including public spaces such as schools and parks in 53 municipalities, local residents have been calling for an early disposal of the waste.
The project will be carried out on the premises of the Tokai Research and Development Center's Nuclear Science Research Institute in Tokai and a public space in Nasu.
Some 2,500 cubic meters of soil waste temporarily kept at two locations in Tokai and about 350 cubic meters of soil waste kept at the public space in Nasu will be used in the project.
After the soil waste is buried, workers' exposure levels to radiation and radioactivity levels in the surroundings will be measured.
"Households in storage locations (of soil waste) continue shouldering the burden. I hope (the project) will prove the safety of burying it and lead to the disposal (of contaminated soil)," a Nasu town official said.
"It took time to conduct (the project) but it's good," said an official in Tokai, adding local residents have been increasingly asking for removal of the soil waste from a park.
Asked by municipalities to show the way to dispose of soil waste, the ministry had been searching for proper locations to carry out the demonstration project.
© KYODO
- February 1, 2018
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)