Reuse of Soil from Fukushima Decontamination Begins in Sendai

Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Aug. 29 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Environment Ministry on Saturday began reusing in the northeastern city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, soil collected during decontamination work following the 2011 nuclear accident at the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant. The project is the first such reuse outside Tokyo, apart from trials in Fukushima Prefecture. The prefecture in northeastern Japan hosts the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. that suffered a triple meltdown after a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The ministry brought about 1 cubic meter of the soil to a flower bed at a government office complex in Sendai’s Aoba Ward on Saturday morning. The government decided Tuesday to begin reuse projects early at government office complexes housing regional agencies of the central government in the city of Saitama, north of Tokyo, as well as Sendai. About 14 million cubic meters of the soil is stored at interim storage facilities in the Fukushima Prefecture towns of Okuma and Futaba, home to the nuclear power plant. The government plans to reuse about three-quarters of it, consisting of soil with low radiation levels, in public works and other projects. It has already begun reuse projects at the prime minister’s office and central government ministries in Tokyo as part of efforts to build public understanding of the plan. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]