About 34,200 tons of sewage mud containing radioactive material released from the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident has accumulated in five prefectures in Japan’s Kanto region.
According to an exclusive report by the Mainichi Shimbun on the 7th, the undisposed radioactive mud is temporarily stored in the form of incineration ash.
Currently, the amount of radioactive mud accumulated in the Kanto region is found to be equivalent to the amount of mud incineration ash generated in the 23 wards of Tokyo in one year.
It was in May 2011, right after the nuclear accident, that mud was first known to contain radioactivity. It was revealed that radioactive cesium was mixed in Fukushima Prefecture.
After that, each local government in the Kanto region conducted an investigation and stored it in a sewage facility when the radioactive material concentration was high.
From December 2022 to March 2023, Mainichi investigated the disposal of mud in which radioactive materials were detected in 15 local governments, including 1 prefecture and 6 prefectures in the Kanto region.
As a result of the investigation, as of February 2023, Yokohama City (city) and Kawasaki City (city) were storing about 26,600 tons and 3,435 tons respectively in the form of incineration ash in the port area.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, a total of 4,180 tons were found to be accumulated in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Chiba prefectures.
The reason why radioactive mud is managed separately by local government is that it does not exceed the ‘designated waste’ standard (8000 becquerels of radioactive material per 1 kg), which the government is responsible for disposing of.
Although the mud contained radioactive material, it was found that the amount of radiation exposure around it did not exceed the annual limit (1 millisievert) for the general public.
Kawasaki City plans to take all of the radioactive mud to the final repository managed by the private sector by March 2024. On the other hand, Yokohama City has no exit in sight.
Originally, the Japanese government planned to set up a treatment plant in a national forest for long-term management of radioactive mud in accordance with the “Act on Special Measures to Combat Radioactive Substance Contamination.”
However, it failed to overcome the opposition of the residents of the nearby area, who were the detonators. The government’s plan has stalled without even deciding on a candidate site for 12 years after the accident.
Meanwhile, Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture (?), Kanagawa Prefecture, Mito City, Saitama City, Chiba City, etc. answered that they had disposed of all radioactive mud managed by local governments.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.