Japan Adopts Road Map for Disposal of Soil from Decontamination

   Tokyo, Aug. 26 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government said Tuesday that it will start the process around 2030 of selecting final disposal sites for soil removed in decontamination work after the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.
   The government announced the plan as part of a five-year road map for the final disposal outside the northeastern Japan prefecture of soil from decontamination work following the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
   "We will make all-out efforts to realize the final disposal outside the prefecture," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a ministerial meeting where the road map was adopted.
   Currently, about 14 million cubic meters of soil from the decontamination work is stored temporarily near the plant. The government will promote the reuse of soil with a radioactive concentration of 8,000 becquerels per kilogram or less, which accounts for about 75 pct of the total. The remaining soil is required to be disposed of outside Fukushima by March 2045.
   The Environment Ministry will establish a new panel of experts as early as this autumn to discuss details of the final disposal, including ways to transport such soil.

(2025/08/26-12:30)

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