I was stationed in Fukushima at the time and covered the event. Last April, the Ministry held an information session for Nihonmatsu residents. We’re worried the contaminated water would leak." An information session for Nihonmatsu residents. And besides this road, there’s a river that carries water for farming-for the rice fields, a town, and a school. "Our biggest concern was there’s no guarantee the road won’t crumble during heavy rain, or in another earthquake," said Shunichi Sato, who lives in the area. The Ministry wanted to bury contaminated soil under pathways that run alongside rice paddies. In the village of Iitate, contaminated soil has been buried under fields.īut when tests were planned for Nihonmatsu City, residents were strongly opposed. The Ministry began testing the safety of reusing contaminated soil in Fukushima in 2017. Reaction to recycling plan Canceled test to reuse soil in Nihonmatsu The Ministry has announced its interest in implementing this policy both inside and outside of Fukushima Prefecture. "The idea is to make final disposal easier by using the less severely contaminated soil for public works, thereby reducing the amount that needs final disposal." "The goal is to complete final disposal, but we have to anticipate difficulties in obtaining land and putting the facilities in place," says Akira Nitta, a Ministry official. The Ministry of Environment created an embankment to test the contaminated soil for radiation leaking. This means that only 1 percent of the current volume of contaminated soil will have to be permanently disposed of. Last December, the Ministry announced that the process would allow up to 99 percent of the contaminated soil to be reused. The Ministry is testing its recycling method at a facility in Minami-soma City. It plans to transfer soil containing less than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram to be used under roads and in building levees not only in Fukushima but all over Japan. The Ministry of the Environment has begun to push the idea of "recycling" the contaminated soil. "We hate looking at them and avoid going near them." This Fukushima resident says the green sheets scattered around the city remind her that reconstruction is still ongoing. "When we see these containers of contaminated matter, covered in green sheets, it reminds us of what happened eight years ago," said another. "We feel uncomfortable having the contaminated soil around our homes," said one. To avoid increasing radioactivity around these on-site locations, the contaminated soil is buried and then surrounded by sandbags, which authorities say keeps it safe. A green sheet is the sign of an on-site storage unit. They are conspicuous objects covered by green sheets, found in parking lots and in front of houses. There are currently 105,000 on-site storage locations throughout the prefecture. The lack of progress setting up transitional facilities has led to the contaminated soil being stored on-site instead. The delay is down to problems with land acquisition. The government plans to finish moving all contaminated soil in Fukushima to transitional storage facilities by the end of March 2022, and to remove it from the prefecture by 2045.īut so far, only about 2.4 million square meters of soil-17 percent of the total planned volume-have been transferred to the temporary storage units. As the name indicates, it’s a temporary storage space. This is a "transitional storage facility" in Fukushima Prefecture. The only contaminant that cannot be removed is a radioactive form of hydrogen called tritium, which can cause damage to DNA cells.īut TEPCO says the amount of tritium found within the treated wastewater set for release will be heavily diluted and falls well within "safe" drinking standards by the World Health Organisation.Falling behind schedule Only a small percentage of the contaminated soil in Fukushima Prefecture has been placed in transitional storage facilities. TEPCO has used a highly specialised filtration system, called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), to remove 62 radionuclides from contaminated water. Japan has been on a public relations frenzy to try and quell concerns, explaining the water to be released will be safe. 'If it wasn't salty water, you could drink it' There are now 1.3 million tonnes of wastewater sitting in huge storage tanks at the Fukushima power plant, and by next year, the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), say they will run out of space. The problem is that all of the water that touches the highly radioactive molten fuel also becomes contaminated, including rain and groundwater. Operators have had to use water to continuously cool the highly radioactive melted fuel and fuel debris from the destroyed Fukushima Plant since 2011. Those who make a living from the Pacific Ocean are concerned about the water release will mean for them.
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