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Fukushima Prefecture has no hope of recovery unless a path is opened for the disposal of soil removed during decontamination work, which has been left in large quantities near Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. It is vital to have places outside the prefecture take some of the soil.
Since the nuclear accident at the plant released radioactive substances nearby, decontamination work was carried out to remove the substances from residential areas and agricultural land. The soil removed during the work is being stored at an interim storage facility straddling the prefecture’s towns of Okuma and Futaba.
The level of radiation is low in three-quarters of the about 14 million cubic meters of soil, and thus is considered usable in road embankments and for land development, among other purposes. It has been decided that the remaining soil with relatively high levels of radiation will be transported to a final disposal site outside the prefecture by 2045.
As of this month, the soil has been in storage for 10 years, but there is still no prospect of it being disposed of.
In a Yomiuri Shimbun survey that asked prefectural governors across the country about their willingness to accept the soil for reuse, not a single governor said they would take any. When asked whether they would accept having a final disposal site in their prefecture, only five governors said they would consider it, depending on the conditions.
The problem can hardly be solved under such circumstances. Local governments are reluctant to accept the soil likely because of the difficulty of gaining the understanding of residents. The Environment Ministry drew up a plan for conducting a pilot project for soil reuse in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, and Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, but the plan fell through due to opposition from residents.
However, even if a person was to work on top of the soil, they would receive an annual radiation dose of less than 1 millisievert. This is below the amount of radiation a person receives in daily life or when having a CT scan, meaning there are no safety concerns. When the soil is reused, it is covered with another layer of soil several tens of centimeters thick, further reducing one’s exposure to the radiation.
With no other prefectures willing to accept the removed soil, the mayor of Futaba has announced that the town is considering reusing the soil for land development in the town, among other purposes. By showing his willingness to accept the soil, he was probably hoping to encourage understanding of the situation from other local governments.
Shouldn’t other local governments across the country cooperate and reuse the soil, rather than leaving the problem solely to those near the Fukushima plant? The central and local governments need to exercise leadership and seek the understanding of residents.
Decontamination work is being carried out in areas where evacuation orders were issued following the nuclear accident, expanding the range of where people can live. However, since few residents are returning to these areas, the population of the 11 municipalities around the nuclear power plant has been lingering at only 17,000, a decline of 80% compared to before the disaster.
To revitalize the region, alongside making steady progress on decommissioning the nuclear reactors, there must also be stronger efforts across ministries and agencies to secure locations that will accept the soil through a panel of all Cabinet ministers established at the end of last year to discuss the matter.
