It is one of the biggest headaches of the Fukushima nuclear accident: how to dispose of vast volumes of radioactive soil, enough to fill 18 sports stadiums, contaminated by fallout from the disaster? Now the government of Japan has found an original, and controversial, answer – use it to build roads. The country’s environment ministry is pressing ahead with a plan to use the irradiated soil as the foundations of roads, sea walls, railway lines and other public building projects. They insist that the concrete and asphalt which will cover the soil base will shield motorists and local residents from any harmful radiation. However, leaked documents published in a Japanese newspaper have exposed the flaw in the plan – that the soil will remain contaminated for 170 years, a century longer than the lifetime of any conceivable road. The scheme has been denounced as dangerous and irresponsible by environmentalists. Shaun Burnie, from Greenpeace, said: “The Japanese government has created a nuclear waste nightmare. [Now they are] planning to distribute up to ten million tonnes of contaminated soil around Japan for construction programmes. This is insane.”
Times 28th June 2016 read more »