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Gov’t says 1,500 tons of highly radioactive sludge may end up as “soil for gardening”

Published: July 29th, 2011 at 2:19 pm ET
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1,500 tons of radioactive sludge cannot be buried, NHK, July 29, 2011:

Nearly 50,000 tons of sludge at water treatment facilities has been found to
contain radioactive cesium [...]

A total of 1,557 tons in 5 prefectures, including Fukushima and Miyagi, was
found to contain 8,000 or more becquerels per kilogram. This sludge is too radioactive to be buried for disposal.

The most contaminated sludge, with 89,697 becquerels per kilogram, was discovered at a water treatment facility in Koriyama City, Fukushima. [...]

The ministry plans to study how to dispose of the radioactive sludge.

Over 1,550 tons of highly radioactive sludge found in 5 prefectures, Mainichi Daily News, July 29, 2011:

The health ministry will cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and consider reprocessing the sludge as soil for gardening.

h/t Mono

 

Published: July 29th, 2011 at 2:19 pm ET
By
Email Article Email Article
177 comments

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July 29th, 2011 | Tags: , , , | Category: Outside Tokyo, Soil, Strange
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177 comments to Gov’t says 1,500 tons of highly radioactive sludge may end up as “soil for gardening”

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  • BreadAndButter BreadAndButter
    August 1, 2011 at 10:11 am

    Jon_NY, here’s news for you:
    Highly radioactive water flows into another place

    Highly radioactive water has been found in the basement of a building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant near the storage facility for contaminated water.
    Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Monday that it discovered about 700 tons of contaminated water on Saturday in the basement of an on-site building.
    The utility said the water contained 19,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium 134 per cubic centimeter, and 22,000 becquerels of cesium 137 — both very high levels.
    Until June, the building was connected by a hose with another building where highly radioactive water is now being stored. The buildings are located next to each other and are part of the plant’s waste disposal facility.
    The utility is investigating how the leakage happened but says it has already started the work to stop the contaminated water from leaking out of the building.

    Monday, August 01, 2011 21:00 +0900 (JST)


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  • Jon_NY Jon_NY
    August 1, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Highest radiation level so far found at Japan nuclear plant

    http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1654309.php/Highest-radiation-level-so-far-found-at-Japan-nuclear-plant

    Tokyo – The operator of a crippled Japanese atomic power plant said Monday it had measured the highest radiation level since the start of the nuclear crisis in March.

    A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said more than 10 sieverts per hour of radiation was recorded on the surface of a pipe located outdoors between reactor 1 and reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

    The plant has leaked radioactive material into the environment since it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The Japanese government raised the maximum annual limit for plant workers to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts due to the crisis.

    Meanwhile, 14 local governments will test harvested rice, Japan’s traditional staple, for possible contamination with radioactive caesium amid growing food-safety fears triggered by the nuclear accident, the Kyodo News agency reported.

    The Farm Ministry will ask the prefectures in north and east Japan to examine locally grown rice shortly before and after the harvest.

    If rice is found to be contaminated with caesium exceeding the official limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram, the ministry might ban produce shipments, Kyodo reported, citing ministry officials.

    Authorities have detected excessive levels of radiation in beef, vegetables, seafood, milk and tea leaves.

    On Monday, Tokyo ordered the government of Iwate prefecture to suspend shipments of beef cattle after some animals were found to be contaminated with radioactive material. Radioactive caesium above the official limit was detected in the meat of six cows.

    The cows were fed hay that had been left outdoors when the nuclear crisis started.

    Tokyo has already ordered the prefectures of Fukushima and Miyagi to halt shipments of all beef cattle raised there. Iwate, which delivers around 36,000 cattle a year, became Japan’s third prefecture to be subject to a shipment ban.

    Authorities are also considering issuing a similar order to Tochigi prefecture as radioactive caesium was found in beef from the region.


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  • alasanon
    August 1, 2011 at 10:38 am

    Yoohoo…it’s AUGUST!!!!…..

    Aren’t we due for some new radiological test results by now??!!!!!!

    Knock, knock, EPA: Are you there??! Anybody home??!!!

    My state is months behind on promised vegetation and Strontium test results, etc. I haven’t seen any findings since April 7th. Sorry, but not testing is NOT equivalent to no radiation or no public health concerns!!!


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  • BreadAndButter BreadAndButter
    August 1, 2011 at 10:51 am

    Sort of OT: everyone looking for a more idle lifestyle, have a look here. Loads of inspiration!
    http://idler.co.uk/

    peace


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  • Sickputer
    August 1, 2011 at 11:18 am

    But is that the highest we have seen? I think we have seen it higher by a bunch inside the reactors, not outside maybe…

    Remember this radiation results graph Tepco used to update? It ended July 3 from what I can find:

    http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=1


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