Original Japanese written by staffer The English below written and arranged by Heeday, based on the original Japanese The English edited by Rev. Dr. Henry French, ELCA
Articles from the February 13th and 17th, 2016 editions of the Fukushima Minpo and the February 14th edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspapers
▼Click each image to read an English summary of the Japanese article.
Fukushima Minpo –
By the end of January 2016, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment had visited some 1,220 of the total 2,365 owners of lands that are candidates for intermediate storage, surveying some 810 premises and buildings. The Ministry then presented the purchase price estimates for the land, but so far only 44 purchase agreements have been signed. Moreover, the Ministry has yet to contact some 1,000 land owners. The total land involved equals some 16 square km (3,953 ac), which is quite large. Also, large areas of land are necessary for the temporary storage of waste from the decontamination process. The pieces of land acquired so far are not contiguous. “We cannot begin the storage work with such limited amounts of land,” say some personnel involved in the process, with their heads in their hands.
Asahi Shimbun –
Decontamination work in Fukushima is leaving heaps of collected radioactive waste behind in the towns. While Japan’s Ministry of the Environment has been negotiating with the owners of land which could be used for intermediate waste storage, the Ministry is short of negotiators and many of the land owners are reluctant to leave their current residences. Thus, the negotiations have been stymied. Meanwhile, those living outside the area that the Ministry wants for intermediate waste storage want the quick removal of radioactive waste from their towns. Fukushima’s prefectural government is now involved in the negotiations.
Asahi Shimbun –Decontamination work removes things contaminated by radioactive fallout from the meltdown of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi. The work leaves behind piles of contaminated soil, etc., which need a place for intermediate storage. So far, less than 1% of the land needed has been acquired. Though negotiations with the relevant land owners have been in progress for more than a year now, work on land price estimates is stagnant. Currently, no one knows where the radioactive waste left behind in Fukushima can be stored.
Fukushima Minpo –
The pilot (trial) transfer of radioactive waste contaminated with fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown into intermediate storage sites is expected to be completed sometime this March. In this pilot transfer, begun on March 13, 2015, the Ministry of the Environment will move some 1,000 cubic m (264,172 US gallons) of contaminated soil, grass, trees, burnt ashes, etc., having 100,000 becquerel or more per kg (2.2 lb.), collected from 43 municipalities in Fukushima, into each storage site. The transfer will take a year or more to complete.
Fukushima Minpo –
Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, in its effort to accelerate the building of intermediate storage sites for radioactive waste from the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, has asked two municipalities, the Towns of Okuma and Futaba, to sell them some land owned by the municipal governments. The municipalities, however, are quite cautious, taking into account the feelings of their residents. The lands acquired so far from private owners are scattered here and there, which makes the building of storage sites difficult. Meanwhile, publicly-owned lands occupy some 20% of the land the ministry hopes to acquire, some 16 square km (3,953 ac) in total. The Ministry hopes to acquire a vast chunk of land, like one whole athletic park, to facilitate the building of a storage facility. Still, some sources in the two municipalities have expressed their concerns, saying that, “Once the town government begins negotiating, it can apply mental pressure to those private land owners who are reluctant to sell their land.” Okuma Town’s Mayor, Toshitsuna Watanabe, said, “We have accepted the request to build storage sites in our town, so we are willing to cooperate with the Ministry. Still, in reality, it is quite difficult for us to do anything until good progress is made in the land acquisition negotiations.”
Much of the land desired for intermediate storage of radioactive waste from the meltdown of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), surrounds the NPP. This land is in the “no return zones,” where radioactivity is high and citizens are not permitted to enter without special permission. The Fukushima Prefectural Government, and the municipal governments of Okuma and Futaba towns, decided to store radioactive waste from the decontamination work almost a year ago. Japan’s Ministry of the Environment has been carrying out a pilot (trial) transfer of some radioactive waste into temporary storage facilities built on such land. The transfer should end sometime in March 2016.
Sounds fine so far, but —
The land acquisition negotiations for intermediate storage sites are in the doldrums. Currently, therefore, no one knows how soon the building of such storage facilities can begin, or when the full transfer of radioactive waste can begin. So far, after all those difficult negotiations, less than 1% of the needed land has been acquired. Yes, such storage sites are indispensable as Fukushima tries to rebuild itself. Still, the Ministry has a serious shortage of negotiators, while many land owners are reluctant to “give up the lands their ancestors have left for them.”
Where can it go?
At the same time, the Fukushima Prefectural Government says the existing temporary storage facilities are almost full. While the complete transfer of radioactive waste into intermediate storage has yet to begin, the decontamination work is still in progress, creating more and more waste. The obvious result is that heaps of collected radioactive waste are piled up close to houses and offices that have been “decontaminated.”
Part of our everyday life
I am a resident in Koriyama, Fukushima, and every day I see piles of waste along the streets. At many houses, waste from the decontamination of the house is simply buried under the garden. True, the decontamination reduced the radioactivity of the house a bit, but it is creepy to know that some radioactive waste lies beneath the yard. Living here means that you will never be free from radioactivity.
Collected radioactive soil, packed in vinyl bags and then in concrete pipes, are lined up just outside an apartment house in the neighborhood of our Project’s office.Workers digging a hole in a house yard to bury radioactive waste from decontamination.
The Japanese author’s wish
To rebuild Fukushima, we have to decide soon where all the radioactive waste will go. No future generation should have to live among heaps of radioactive waste. I do wish for intermediate storage for all the hazardous waste as soon as possible so that our children and their children can live in safety. Yet at the same time, many land owners are reluctant to sell their land for intermediate storage sites, knowing their own life stories are in the land. This issue has no easy solution.
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