TOKYO - Japan's Environment Ministry said Tuesday it plans to reuse soil collected in decontamination work near the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex at national government branch offices in Miyagi and Saitama prefectures.
The government has already reused the soil at 12 sites in Tokyo since July last year, including the prime minister's office and other buildings in the Kasumigaseki district. Excluding demonstration projects in Fukushima Prefecture, the expansion to the cities of Sendai and Saitama will mark the first reuse of the soil outside Tokyo.
The government aims to further expand the soil's reuse to other branch offices in Japan to reduce the total amount of soil that eventually needs to be dealt with.
As of the end of July, about 14.46 million cubic meters of removed soil and other waste had been placed at an interim storage facility near the nuclear complex.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011, suffered fuel meltdowns at three of its nuclear reactors, releasing radiation into the atmosphere.
The government aims to recycle 75 percent of the soil with relatively low levels of radioactivity for use in public works, but the outlook for achieving that target remains uncertain, with only 2 cubic meters to be used in the two cities.
While the timing has yet to be decided, the soil will be used in plantings at a government building in Sendai's Aoba Ward, and in flower beds at a government building in Saitama's Chuo Ward.
Sendai Mayor Kazuko Kori noted at a press conference Tuesday that as the soil is also being used at the prime minister's office, "I don't think it will be a problem."
Meanwhile, Saitama Gov. Motohiro Ono and Saitama Mayor Hayato Shimizu have asked the government to disclose information such as monitoring test results and proceed only after obtaining residents' understanding.
Okuma Mayor Jun Yoshida and Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa, whose towns host the interim storage facility, separately expressed hope that the move will contribute to progress toward final disposal outside the prefecture.
The expansion beyond Tokyo is "a new step, and I want to help people in regional areas further understand its safety," Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara said at a press conference.
The soil waste currently at an interim storage facility near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant must by law be moved outside the prefecture by March 2045.
But with the search for final disposal sites making little progress, the government hopes that expanding soil reuse to regional branch offices will help win public understanding.
According to a roadmap for final disposal outside Fukushima Prefecture drawn up in August last year, the government will begin selecting candidate disposal sites around 2030 and make the selection around 2035.
