https://www.europesays.com/1903599/ Fukushima clean-up workers fret over radiation, stress at wrecked Japan nuclear plant #decommissioning #Fukushima #Namie #nuclear #NuclearContamination #radiation #RadiationLevels #TokyoElectricPowerCompanyHoldings
Speaking of #Fukushima...
Editorial: Unresolved disposal of Fukushima #nuke disaster soil a barrier to full recovery
January 10, 2025
"The recovery of #FukushimaPrefecture cannot be considered complete until the disposal of soil generated from #radiation #decontamination work after the 2011 #FukushimaDaiichi #NuclearPlant triple-meltdown is resolved.
"The nuclear accident released vast amounts of #radioactive material over a wide area. The decontamination efforts in residential and agricultural areas across Fukushima Prefecture resulted in the collection of approximately 14 million cubic meters of contaminated soil. This soil has been transported to interim storage facilities built in the towns of #Futaba and #Okuma, where the power plant is located.
"Local communities only agreed to the construction of these facilities on the condition that the soil would eventually be disposed of outside the prefecture. By law, final disposal must be completed by March 2045, 30 years after storage began. To meet this deadline, the Japanese government held a meeting involving all Cabinet members late last year. The goal is to draft a concrete timeline for disposal by this summer.
"The government has also proposed reusing soil with radiation levels below a certain threshold. The plan envisions using the soil for public projects across the country, including road embankments and #farmland development.
"In Fukushima Prefecture, pilot projects are underway to confirm that reusing the soil is safe. In September 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency (#IAEA) concluded that the government's plan complies with its safety standards. However, scientific assurances on safety alone have not been enough to advance the plan. Concerns about potential health risks and local reputational damage remain unresolved.
"In 2022, the Ministry of the Environment attempted to reuse the soil at three facilities it manages, including Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo, but the plan was derailed by strong opposition from residents. To this day, there is no clear timeline for implementation.
"Additionally, about a quarter of the removed soil is still too highly contaminated to be reused. This portion will require final disposal outside Fukushima Prefecture, but no schedule or location has been determined.
"Public understanding of the issue remains insufficient. A December 2023 survey conducted by the Ministry of the Environment revealed that over 70% of people outside Fukushima Prefecture were unaware of the plans for reusing or disposing of the soil.
"The electricity generated by the Fukushima Daiichi plant was primarily consumed in metropolitan areas, especially the Tokyo region. Dealing with the waste soil is a responsibility that must be acknowledged by those who benefited from that power.
"Meanwhile, the decommissioning of the plant is behind schedule, and those displaced from their hometowns around it are growing increasingly anxious. It is the government's responsibility to urgently present a clear path forward to address the aftermath of the nuclear disaster."
Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/science/environmental-science/editorial-unresolved-disposal-of-fukushima-nuke-disaster-soil-a-barrier-to-full-recovery/ar-BB1rg7Dt
#TEPCOLies #IAEALies #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #Bioaccumulation #NuclearPollution #NuclearContamination #Japan
The #USA Buried #NuclearWaste Abroad. #ClimateChange Could Unearth It
A new report says melting ice sheets and rising seas could disturb waste from US #nuclear projects in #Greenland and the #MarshallIslands
by Anita Hofschneider
Science
Mar 2, 2024 8:00 AM
"Ariana Tibon was in college at the University of Hawaii in 2017 when she saw the photo online: a black-and-white picture of a man holding a baby. The caption said: 'Nelson Anjain getting his baby monitored on March 2, 1954, by an AEC RadSafe team member on Rongelap two days after ʻBravo.’
"Tibon had never seen the man before. But she recognized the name as her great-grandfather’s. At the time, he was living on Rongelap in the Marshall Islands when the US conducted #CastleBravo, the largest of 67 nuclear weapon tests there during the Cold War. The tests displaced and sickened #Indigenous people, #poisoned fish, upended #TraditionalFood practices, and caused #cancers and other negative health repercussions that continue to reverberate today.
"A federal report by the Government Accountability Office published last month examines what’s left of that nuclear contamination, not only in the Pacific but also in Greenland and #Spain. The authors conclude that #ClimateChange could disturb nuclear waste left in Greenland and the Marshall Islands. '#RisingSeaLevels could spread contamination in RMI, and conflicting risk assessments cause residents to distrust radiological information from the US Department of Energy,' the report says.
"In Greenland, #ChemicalPollution and #radioactive liquid are frozen in #IceSheets, left over from a #NuclearPowerPlant on a #USMilitary research base where scientists studied the potential to install nuclear missiles. The report didn’t specify how or where nuclear contamination could migrate in the Pacific or Greenland, or what if any health risks that might pose to people living nearby. However, the authors did note that in Greenland, frozen waste could be exposed by 2100.
"'The possibility to influence the environment is there, which could further affect the food chain and further affect the people living in the area as well,' said Hjalmar Dahl, president of #InuitCircumpolarCouncil Greenland. The country is about 90 percent #Inuit. “I think it is important that the Greenland and US governments have to communicate on this worrying issue and prepare what to do about it.'"
