Fukushima clean-up may require removal of 100 million cubic meters of soil

[kristopher]

Fukushima clean-up may require removal of 100 million cubic meters of soil
BY HARUFUMI MORI STAFF WRITER
2011/09/16

A veritable mountain of soil will have to be stripped from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and surrounding areas to remove radioactive materials.

Yuichi Moriguchi, a professor of environmental systems engineering at the University of Tokyo, estimated it could amount to 100 million cubic meters of soil.

That is enough to fill the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team and a popular concert venue, 80 times.

Moriguchi sits on the Environment Ministry panel tasked with developing standards for removing radioactive materials released from the stricken facility.

The government is hoping ...
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109150387.html





Big swath of Fukushima tainted
Friday, Sep. 16, 2011 Kyodo

It is likely the Fukushima nuclear disaster contaminated more than 2,000 sq. km of Fukushima Prefecture with radioactive fallout high enough to require decontamination, research indicated Thursday.

The area accounts for about one-seventh of the prefecture, according to the estimate by Yuichi Moriguchi, a professor at the University of Tokyo. The volume of contaminated top soil that would need to be removed totals 100 million cu. meters.

With forests accounting for about 70 percent of the estimated contaminated area, leaves and branches will need to be removed, according to the study based on radiation distribution maps released by the government in late June.

Moriguchi said that although it would be unrealistic to remove all of the contaminated soil, it will be necessary to implement various decontamination methods depending on the type of land, such as forest, farmland or urban area.

His calculations ...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110916a5.html




Tests find excessive cesium at incinerators
Friday, Sep. 16, 2011 Kyodo

Dust and ashes containing cesium beyond the legal limit of 8,000 becquerels per kilogram has been found at six industrial waste incinerators in Iwate, Fukushima and Chiba prefectures, the Environment Ministry said Thursday.

Samples from 110 industrial waste disposal facilities in 16 prefectures from east to northeast Japan have revealed cesium readings ranging from 10,800 to 144,200 becquerels at four incinerators in Fukushima Prefecture, 23,000 becquerels at a facility in Iwate Prefecture and 11,500 becquerels at an incinerator in Chiba Prefecture, the ministry said.

Similar tests in late August found that ashes from nonindustrial incinerators contained more than 8,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram in Tokyo and six other prefectures.

A worker exposed to 8,000 becquerels of cesium a day for some amount of time would still come in below the annual radiation limit of 1 millisievert.

At the end of August...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110916a6.html





Radiation fears, shipment bans, weigh heavily on mushroom pickers, growers

The ban on wild mushroom shipments from 43 Fukushima Prefecture municipalities announced on Sept. 15, paired with widespread radiation fears, is discouraging pickers from their usual mushroom-hunting trips into the woods.

The ban came after wild mushrooms containing cesium beyond the legal limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram were found in the prefecture. Tawny milkcap mushrooms containing cesium over the legal limit, meanwhile, have also been found in Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture, endangering mushroom-picking in that region as well.

In the town of Tanagura in Fukushima, tawny milkcap mushrooms picked this month were found to contain 28,000 becquerels of cesium, or 56 times the legal limit. The town is famous for matsutake mushroom hunting between the end of September and late October each year.

The town holds an annual mushroom festival in October, and the festival is a big draw for the matsutake mushrooms in Japanese sake on offer, as well as a bingo game offering expensive locally harvested matsutake as a major prize. The events were canceled this year amid radiation concerns, leading an official of the town's tourism association to say, "We wonder if we can hold such events next year."

Tanagura is ...
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110916p2a00m0na012000c.html

[kickysnana]

1. So then they have two contaminated areas. I never understood this. n/t

[kristopher]

2. There is a certain illogic to the NIMBY attitude in a case like this,

but, at the same time it is completely understandable to me.

Fukushima residents fear being stuck with radioactive soil

2011/09/16

Contaminated surface soil removed from an elementary school yard is buried in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Sept. 6. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

FUKUSHIMA--Distrust is hampering plans on all levels in the struggle to dispose of the mountains of radioactive soil piling up through decontamination efforts in Fukushima Prefecture.

Residents don't trust local authorities, and local officials are wary of the central government's plans, feeling they could become stuck with the contaminated soil in the long term if they accept the hazardous waste on a "temporary" basis.

The city of Date, Fukushima Prefecture, which is located more than 30 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, plans to set up temporary yards for large amounts of radioactive soil and waste from the decontamination efforts in the city, including residential districts and woodlands.

City officials have held about 30 meetings since late July to explain the temporary storage plans to residents. But they were unable to obtain an agreement until Sept. 13.

The only agreement came ...
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109150422.html

[dtexdem]

3. It should actually require the removal of 1000 million cubic meters of soil plus ..

the removal of the government and of the leadership of TEPCO -- or better yet, the removal of TEPCO.

[jwirr]

4. Removal to where? Wherever it is kept it is still a problem.

[diane in sf]

5. They ought to dump it right back on top of Fukishima Daichi, where it came from.