Cesium-tainted ash being returned to Tokyo area

KOSAKA, Akita Prefecture--Rejected by residents, incinerated waste containing radioactive cesium is being returned to the Tokyo metropolitan area where it originated.

The first batch of 18 tons, bound for Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, was loaded onto trucks on Dec. 3. A train carrying the ash will leave JR Odate Station on Dec. 4.

A total of 245 tons of waste incinerated ash, mostly in 25 railway containers, has been temporarily stored since mid-July at facilities in Kosaka and Odate in Akita Prefecture.

The cesium is believed to derive from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Residents have been opposed to burying ash even though cesium concentration levels are below government standards.

The ash will be returned to six municipalities and four administrative associations in six prefectures, including Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, by the end of the year.

Dowa Eco-System Co., a waste management and resource recycling company, stopped accepting incinerated waste after cesium exceeding government standards of 8,000 becquerels per kilogram was found in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on July 11.

Matsudo officials failed to provide sufficient information to Kosaka, and the ash from Matsudo was buried at a disposal site in the town.

Ash from other muncipalities was also brought in.

The mayors of Kosaka and Odate have since announced plans to resume accepting the ash, which has been stored at Dowa facilities, but residents have been opposed.

Dowa Eco-System decided to return the ash after consulting with the municipalities that shipped it.

The city of Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, will receive about 85 tons, the largest amount. It has asked a different disposal site to handle ash after it stopped shipping it to Akita Prefecture.

"We will be able to store ash for a short period, but we are considering what to do after that," a city official said.