Perilous
Times
Massive Releases of Radiation Slows Japan Tsunami,
Earthquake clean-up
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 27, 2012
Giant piles of debris from Japan's earthquake and tsunami scar the
country's once picturesque northeast coast -- and the clear-up is
hamstrung by fears the rubbish may be contaminated by massive
amounts of radiation.
Decades-worth of waste was left behind when the waters receded in
March last year after claiming more than 19,000 lives.
The survivors are desperate to rebuild, but must first get rid of
more than 22 million tonnes of rubbish -- far too much for the
disaster-struck region to deal with alone.
But despite appeals to national solidarity, worries over nuclear
contamination from the crippled Fukushima power plant mean
virtually no one elsewhere in Japan wants the debris processed
near them.
"We hope everything will be taken away as quickly as possible so
we can go back to normal life," said one man from the devastated
town of Onagawa.
According to Environment Minister Goshi Hosono facilities across
the entire country will have to be brought into play to deal with
the 16 million tonnes of debris from Miyagi prefecture and 4.42
million tonnes from Iwate -- amounts that dwarf the annual average
waste generated by both areas.
Hosono, who is also responsible for handling the atomic crisis,
agrees the 2.28 million tonnes of waste in Fukushima will have to
be treated on site as radioactive elements have been released into
the environment in the prefecture.
When the disaster struck a national outpouring of empathy brought
with it offers of help from all over the country.
But these have since dried up and now there are few volunteers for
taking waste from Miyagi and Iwate, amid fears it could be
contaminated and would be dangerous to burn despite the use of
filters in incinerators.
"We want to finish (the clean-up) in three years, but if things
continue at the current rate that seems difficult, so we must
accelerate," said Hosono.
"We are taking additional measures, such as constructing temporary
incineration sites, but even that will not be enough" without
other municipalities playing a part, he said.
The city of Tokyo has already agreed to take some of the debris,
"but other localities have not decided anything," he complained.
The government has sought to reassure opponents with a dedicated
website aiming to explain exactly how the waste is dealt with.
It says the incinerators have fine enough filters to prevent
radiation being released, and only waste below specific radiation
levels will be burned in conventional facilities.
Hosono says ash produced by the incineration is safe.
"The radioactivity measured in the ash is 133 becquerels per
kilogramme, which is lower than the temporary level set for food,
so there is no danger and no need to worry," he said.
According to his ministry, radiation limits have been set for
clear-up workers at one millisievert per year, the same as that
allowed for the general public under normal circumstances.
Incineration plants are not allowed to expose local residents to
more than 0.01 millisieverts per year.
The Tokyo authority's own website also details the precautions
being taken there, and explains how many times radiation is
measured to ensure that nothing dangerous makes it to the capital
from Miyagi and Iwate.
Even so that has not been enough to assuage the fears of some
people living in the megacity.
"We received some 4,000 letters of complaint (about this)," Masami
Imai, director of the city's waste department, told AFP.
"In more than 85 percent of them, citizens say they are worried
about radioactivity or even say that we should refuse to import
this debris.
"They worry about their children, they are afraid that radiation
levels are too high."
Radiation experts agree that children are at greatest risk from
cancers and genetic defects because they are still growing, are
more prone to thyroid cancers, and because they will have more
time to develop health defects.
But Yoshiaki Suda, mayor of Onagawa, appealed for sympathy.
"We want to rebuild at all costs," he said. "To do that we have to
clear the rubble as soon as possible.
"I wish people in Tokyo and other areas would understand the
situation we are in."