除染じょせんで取とり除のぞかれた土つち 首相しゅしょう官邸かんていの敷地しきち内ないに 全国ぜんこく初はつの再生さいせい利用りよう

Regarding the recycling of soil removed through decontamination after the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, on the morning of the 19th, soil that had been stored at an interim storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture was brought onto the grounds of the Prime Minister’s Office, marking the first time such recycling has begun anywhere in the country.

At around 9:30 a.m. on the 19th, a 10-ton truck carrying soil removed during decontamination from an interim storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture arrived at the Prime Ministers Office in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and sandbags were unloaded in the front yard of the office.

After the nuclear accident, the soil removed through decontamination in Fukushima Prefecture has been stored at an interim storage facility within the prefecture, and by law, it must be finally disposed of outside the prefecture by 2045. In order to reduce the amount of final disposal, the government plans to recycle soil with low concentrations of radioactive substances for use in embankments and other public works projects nationwide.

The soil transported this time, except for the demonstration project in Fukushima Prefecture, will be reused for the first time nationwide at the Prime Ministers Office. It will be placed at a depth of 60 centimeters in the front garden of the office, with more than 20 centimeters of regular soil covering it.

The amount of soil to be used is 2 cubic meters, and the work is scheduled to be carried out over two days starting from the 19th.

As of March this year, the soil stored at the interim storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture amounts to approximately 14 million cubic meters. According to the standards for reuse, soil with a radioactive cesium concentration of 8,000 becquerels per kilogram or less is to be used, so that the additional radiation exposure for construction workers and nearby residents does not exceed 1 millisievert per year—the annual limit for the general public according to international standards.

The soil to be used this time contains 6,400 becquerels per kilogram, and the Ministry of the Environment plans to measure radiation levels about once a week and provide information on its website and other platforms.

The Ministry of the Environment hopes that recycling at the Prime Ministers Office will help foster understanding of decontaminated soil.