Additional radioactive cleanup efforts could be offered for outdoor areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster where radiation levels have gone up since initial cleanups ended, according to a senior government official.
Additional radioactive cleanup efforts could be offered for outdoor areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster where radiation levels have gone up since initial cleanups ended, according to a senior government official.
"We will arrange measures with local municipal governments in areas where radiation levels have risen again," Shinji Inoue, a senior vice minister of the environment, said on Aug. 26. He also said the government may expand the forest areas eligible for decontamination as the need arises.
The central government is directly overseeing radioactive cleanup works in 11 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture where residents were evacuated. Municipal governments in other areas are also overseeing their respective decontamination efforts.
The Environment Ministry has only said it is essential to "speedily clean up areas that are yet to be decontaminated." It has remained noncommittal on whether it would offer additional cleanups in areas that have already been decontaminated once.
In some residential areas, however, radiation levels have rebounded due to the accumulation of rain-washed radioactive substances after the cleanups were finished.
The Environment Ministry plans to monitor radiation levels following decontamination efforts and conduct additional cleanups in areas where new contamination has been recorded. Prompt measures will be taken on school grounds, parks and other areas that children typically frequent, officials said.
In forested areas, decontamination has so far involved removal of fallen leaves, the trimming of tree branches and other work within 20 meters of residences. Such cleanup works, however, have often failed to effectively reduce radiation levels on residential plots.
The ministry will therefore consider expanding, on a case-by-case basis, the eligibility for cleanups beyond the current 20-meter limit outside residences in forests where radiation levels are high, the officials said.
Ministry officials were to present these plans to a panel meeting on Aug. 27, where they were to hear expert recommendations ahead of implementation.
The plan for additional measures, which came more than 18 months following the start of the cleanup project, reflects the Environment Ministry's decision to better respond to local needs and situations.
The cleanup works under direct central government oversight, being undertaken in the 11 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, are scheduled to be completed before the current fiscal year ends in March. But the projects are far behind schedule and progress varies from municipality to municipality.
There have also been unforeseen developments, such as the rebounds in radiation levels due to the accumulation of rain-washed radioactive substances. Officials said, therefore, the time was right for reviewing the approaches to decontamination, and the latest decision on the additional measures is based on an overhaul of what has been done to date.
But the additional measures are only expected to be implemented following the completion of decontamination under the current framework. The extent to which the Environment Ministry will actually put them to practice remains unknown.
Moreover, the additional measures do not mean all areas will be decontaminated a second time.
"The authorities should make sure (the initial round of cleanups) is done through and through before even thinking of an additional round," said one local government official who was briefed about the additional measures.
Municipal government officials in Fukushima Prefecture showed a mixed response to the Environment Ministry statement.
In June, Tamura became the first of all areas being decontaminated under direct central government oversight to have the cleanup process finished. Officials in the Tamura city government welcomed the ministry's positive stance toward additional cleanups, which its residents have long demanded.
But one senior city government official was skeptical about the new measures being offered.
"The measures will not be effective if they rely on the same methods," the senior official said.
Mitsugi Igari, the vice mayor of Kawauchi, said the offer of additional cleanups is only natural. The Kawauchi village government has been calling for broader areas to be made eligible for decontamination.
The cleanup process has ended for the 1,200 or so houses in the village, but the annual radiation doses, incremental to the natural background, remain above the central government's long-term target of 1 millisievert at more than 400 of those structures.
The Environment Ministry has yet to specify which areas are eligible for the additional cleanups. The Kawauchi village government will call on the ministry to make the new measures available to all houses where radiation levels exceed the government target, officials said.