Low-level radioactive soil in Fukushima arrives at PM's office grounds for reuse
Bags of soil were unloaded from a 10-ton truck onto the front yard of the office on Saturday morning. The soil had been stored at an intermediate storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture.
By law, soil removed during decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture shall be disposed outside the prefecture by 2045 after an interim storage.
The government plans to use low-level radioactive soil for public works and other projects to reduce the volume for final disposal as much as possible.
This is the first case of reuse in the nation except of the use in a demonstrative project in Fukushima Prefecture.
Two cubic meters of soil will be buried at the depth of 60 centimeters in the front yard. It will be overlaid by a layer of regular soil that is at least 20 centimeters thick. The work is to take two days through Sunday.
As of March this year, 14-million cubic meters of soil was stored at the interim storage facility. The government standard for reuse sets a limit of 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram of soil. The limit was set so that additional radiation doses to workers and residents near the soil will not exceed 1 millisievert per year, the international standard for the allowable dose to the public.
The radioactive cesium concentration in the soil being buried is 6,400 becquerels per kilogram, within the government's reuse standard.
The Environment Ministry will measure radioactive levels around the yard once a week or so and publish them on its official website.
Ministry officials say they hope the first case of reuse will help enhance public acceptance of the removed soil.
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