Japan's Environment Ministry says about 75 percent of waste from decontamination work following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant accident has been transported to intermediate storage facilities, NHK reports.
The decontamination process in Fukushima prefecture is expected to produce about 14-million cubic meters of waste such as soil, grass and plants. This excludes areas around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which are in principle off-limits.
Officials say as of the end of February, about 10.48-million cubic meters have been transported from various areas in the prefecture to the intermediate storage facilities near the plant.
The process began in March 2015 and the ministry plans to almost complete transporting the remainder by March 2022.
By law, the waste is to be taken out of the prefecture for final disposal by 2045. However, hardly any discussions have been held on where or how this disposal is to be done.
The ministry plans to recycle any soil that meets standards for public works projects. It hopes to hold discussions across the country from fiscal 2021 and explain the need to reuse the soil.-Photos: AP
