Radioactive waste - Help!

June 5, 2013

Editorial: Cooperation needed on radioactive waste disposal facilities

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20130605p2a00m0na024000c.html

The construction of final disposal facilities for waste contaminated with radioactive substances from the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant has proven a challenge in many areas. The Environment Ministry drafted a new procedure for selecting sites for disposal facilities last month and began to explain the system at meetings of mayors of cities, towns and villages in five prefectures where such facilities are being planned. However, many of these municipalities are reluctant to host disposal facilities for radioactive substances largely because of harmful rumors and fears that underground water could be contaminated with radioactive substances contained in waste stored at such facilities.

Incinerated ash, sludge, rice straw and other substances containing more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram will be stored at such facilities. Currently, these substances are being temporarily stored at waste incineration facilities and other sites. However, it is necessary to permanently bury such waste in order to ensure long-term safety. The national government and local bodies concerned should cooperate closely to fundamentally solve the problem as an inevitable task.

Radioactive substances leaking in a nuclear plant accident are condensed in the process of incineration and sewage treatment. As of the end of March this year, approximately 120,000 metric tons of waste containing over 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium was stored in 11 prefectures. In principle, such waste is supposed to be disposed of in each prefecture under the special measures law on environmental contamination with radioactive substances from the nuclear plant that fully came into force last year. However, the government will build a final disposal facility in Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures, which currently do not have such a facility, or face challenges in disposing of waste tainted with radioactive substances.

The Environment Ministry once selected a state-owned land lot in Yaita, Tochigi Prefecture, and Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture, as sites for final disposal facilities. However, the ministry was later forced to withdraw the selection after these cities sharply protested the decision, which had been made without disclosing the decision-making process for fear of sparking opposition from local residents.

Under the draft of the new procedure for selecting sites for disposal facilities, the government would conduct a detailed survey on candidate sites and make a final decision on the sites while taking into account discussions at meetings of the mayors of relevant municipalities. It is only natural for the central government to respect local communities' opinions, considering how the Environment Ministry had been forced to retract its earlier selection of sites.

When the Environment Ministry explained the draft of the new procedures, some mayors voiced opposition to building disposal sites in the five prefectures, with one of them saying that such facilities should be concentrated in Fukushima Prefecture, which hosts the crippled nuclear power station. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the nuclear plant, is primarily responsible for generating waste contaminated with radioactive substances.

It is understandable that mayors in the five prefectures are reluctant to host disposal sites for radioactive waste from Fukushima Prefecture. Still, it should not be recognized as a justifiable reason for bringing waste generated in these prefectures into Fukushima Prefecture. Each municipality concerned should settle the matter as their own regional issue while listening to the opinions of local residents. Some municipal governments are demanding that the national government implement measures to revitalize their economies in return for hosting disposal facilities.

However, such influence peddling could raise doubts in local communities about the safety of disposal facilities that they are asked to host and draw protests from local residents. One of the mayors who attended a Chiba Prefecture meeting insisted that multiple facilities should be installed in different municipalities so that they can share the burden of hosting such facilities. This proposal is worth considering.

Each of such disposal facilities will be surrounded by concrete walls and constantly monitored for possible radiation leaks. The Environment Ministry pledged to do its best to ensure the safety of each site. It is necessary to create a system under which anybody can access radiation data at such facilities and receive an explanation in order to reassure local residents in areas hosting disposal facilities. Moreover, the national and local governments should discuss how to pay compensation if businesses in affected areas suffer from financial losses as a result of groundless rumors about radiation contamination.

The national government must provide a thorough explanation of its policy of disposing of waste contaminated from radioactive substances from the Fukushima nuclear plant. At the same time, the governors of the prefectures concerned should play a leading role in ensuring these local bodies proactively respond to the issue.