Three Chiba cities will store radioactive waste if state fails to build final disposal site, NHK says — The Japan Times

” Three cities in Chiba Prefecture that were heavily contaminated with radioactive materials as a result of the March 2011 nuclear meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant will build facilities to store incinerated radioactive waste in their own municipalities if the central government fails to find a final waste disposal site, NHK reported Monday.

The Chiba Prefectural Government is now temporarily in charge of “designated waste” — incinerated ash and other kinds of waste that contain more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactive materials per 1 kg — produced by the cities of Kashiwa, Matsudo and Nagareyama in northwestern Chiba [as close as seven miles from Tokyo!]. The three cities have produced a total of 526 tons of such waste, according to NHK.

While the central government is supposed to build final disposal facilities for designated nuclear waste, the prefectural government is also asking the three cities to bring the waste back to their own municipalities and dispose of it on their own, if the central government fails to build a disposal facility by next March, the broadcaster reported.

The three cities have agreed to the prefectural government’s request. The city of Kashiwa plans to submit a ¥410 million budget request to the municipal assembly this month in order to build a waste storage plant and transport the waste there, NHK said. ”

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The Asahi Shimbun covers “THREE YEARS AFTER”; What’s in store: radiation exposure, dumping radioactive waste & decontamination efforts

1) Risks of radiation exposure remain high for Fukushima workers

” About half of the workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the three years since the triple meltdown have been exposed to more than 5 millisieverts of radiation, a level used as a radiation exposure reference for humans.

The levels of radiation exposure among workers at the crippled Fukushima plant have decreased since the 2011 nuclear accident, but there was a spike from last summer with the problem of dealing with the growing volume of radiation-contaminated water. … ”

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2) Radioactive waste piles up in Tokyo area with no place to go

” Kikuji Enomoto wanted to live his retirement in peace while helping to beautify his neighborhood, but he is now stuck residing near more than 500 tons of radioactive waste.

The waste, consisting of incinerator ash, is being stored at the Teganuma disposal site, about 800 meters from Enomoto’s home in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture. It is part of the thousands of tons of radioactive waste that remain in temporary storage in the Tokyo area nearly three years after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. … ”

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3) Decontamination planned for agricultural reservoirs in Fukushima

” The central government plans to start decontaminating hundreds of long-neglected reservoirs for agricultural use in Fukushima Prefecture that have shown unusually high radioactivity levels.

“We have been discussing the issue with the agriculture and environment ministries since last fall, and I intend to conduct the decontamination of the reservoirs,” Takumi Nemoto, the minister in charge of post-disaster reconstruction, told reporters in Tokyo on March 9. … ”

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