Sunday, October 9, 2011

What To Do With Japan's Radioactive Soil


Asahi:  "Most municipalities undecided on where to store contaminated soil"
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201110080286.html

"Only two of 59 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture have decided where to build temporary storage areas for soil contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

...The central government will handle soil decontamination in the six municipalities that fall completely in either the no-entry zone or the area where preparations must be made for emergency evacuations around the Fukushima nuclear plant."

MAJIA HERE: In other words, the national government of Japan is forcing the municipalities to deal with most contaminated soil and debris (ALL contamination that falls outside the no-entry zone and emergency evacuation zone)

Meanwhile, radiation levels are spiking still in some areas of Japan http://enenews.com/japan-times-unusually-high-amount-fallout-okutama-tokyo-300000-bqm-1-usvhr-home-worlds-largest-drinking-water-reservoir-kind-built-supply-tokyo

This policy to shift responsibility locally is absurd. The municipalities will have neither the resources, nor the expertise to deal with contaminated debris/soil.

The consequence will be that the municipalities will probably resort to less desirable (less costly and less labor intensive) strategies for eliminating contaminated debris/soil and may even resort to widespread incineration.

The health effects of this strategy to devolve responsibility to the municipal entities are going to be significant and detrimental.

THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN NEED TO DEMAND THAT THEIR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PROVIDE THE RESOURCES AND EXPERTISE FOR SUSTAINABLE CLEAN-UP

1 comment:

  1. Interesting they use "decontamination" as a word to describe the soil. The reality is that you simply "bury" the soil, and protect it from having water run on it or through it. For maybe 300 to 500 years. I wonder how long the average PVC plastic sheet lasts as a waterproofing mechanism.

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