Is this feasible?

April 12, 2012

Researchers develop container made of disaster debris for radiation-tainted soil

A container made of concrete debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that can be used to store contaminated soil. (Photo courtesy of Yoshikazu Araki, associate professor at Kyoto University)

拡大写真

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120412p2a00m0na010000c.html

A group of researchers has developed a container made of concrete debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that can be used to store about 25 kilograms of radiation-tainted soil without releasing much radiation into the atmosphere.

The group of researchers from Kyoto University, Nihon University and Fujita Corp. made the announcement on April 11. The group said it had conducted demonstration experiments to confirm that the container was capable of shielding radiation to a certain degree.

Concrete chips picked from debris in Miyagi Prefecture were cut into pieces some 2 to 4 centimeters in diameter before being used as substitute gravel to make the 20-centimeter-thick concrete container.

The 600-kilogram cylindrical container, measuring 70 centimeters in diameter and 80 centimeters in height, can hold 25 kilograms of contaminated soil. When contaminated soil was put into the container, the gamma-ray dose released into the atmosphere from the soil was reduced to about one-eleventh of what it was before it was put into the container, the group said.

There are cases of contaminated soil piled up on school playgrounds and elsewhere in Fukushima Prefecture. Yoshikazu Araki, associate professor at Kyoto University, said, "It can be made at conventional concrete plants, and I think it can be used to temporarily store contaminated soil. We want to extend support by coordinating with the central and local governments in the future."