information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
7 Avril 2013
April 6, 2013
New Fukushima facility shrinks nuclear sludge
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130406_22.html
The city of Fukushima now has Japan's first facility capable of reducing the volume of the radioactive sludge from the 2011 nuclear disaster.
The facility was installed by the Environment Ministry in a municipal sewage treatment plant. A ceremony was held in the city on Saturday.
It will dry the sludge at a temperature of 450 degrees Celsius and reduce it to about one-fifth of its original volume.
The Environment Ministry expects the facility to treat 30 tons of sludge daily.
Such sludge has been accumulating in sewage treatment plants in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures due to a lack of progress in the building of interim storage facilities.
The volume of such sludge in Fukushima Prefecture alone has risen to more than 68,000 tons.
The ministry plans to transfer the dried and shrunken sludge to interim storage facilities and permanent disposal sites, although it is unclear when these facilities will be built.
Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara says his ministry will work to build interim storage facilities as soon as possible.
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