Debris disposal

The disaster dumped about 22.5 million tonnes of debris in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. A huge amount of debris that has not been disposed of and has piled up at temporary storage sites has nowhere else to go. Only 6.3 per cent of the debris has been completely disposed of either through incineration or burial.

The Environment Ministry has set a target of completing debris disposal by the end of March 2014, but it will be difficult to achieve this goal.

The largest cause of the delay in cleaning up the debris has been the sputtering effort to have debris sent to and disposed of in other prefectures. Many prefectural governors and municipalities have been reluctant to accept debris because they have to consider the views of some residents who demand “zero risk” of radioactive contamination. For instance, Kanagawa governor Yuji Kuroiwa has been positive about accepting debris from disaster areas. Kuroiwa organised three explanatory meetings in January at which he asked residents of the prefecture to cooperate with the planned acceptance of rubble. However, Kuroiwa was bombarded with jeers and angry outbursts at the meetings, and was unable to persuade residents to support the plan.

This is precisely the time when the entire nation should band together to help restore the devastated areas. The extremely uncooperative overreaction by some people will only cause pain to and sadden victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

The central government should not leave this matter to local governments. It must positively explain to people that the debris is safe so they will accept its disposal in their area.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has indicated that the government will extend financial assistance to local governments that prepare disposal sites and radiation checks for the debris. This support makes sense. We want the government to quickly provide such assistance.

The debris to be disposed of in wide areas is from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, where the effects of radioactive contamination due to the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are relatively minor. Tests on the debris by the Environment Ministry and other entities detected low levels of radiation that pose almost no risk to the surrounding environment even if it is incinerated and used for land reclamation.

Despite this, only the Tokyo metropolitan government, the Yamagata prefectural government and some municipalities in Aomori prefecture have agreed to take some of the debris. There are moves in Akita and Shizuoka prefectures to accept debris, but the overall situation is a far cry from having the entire nation involved.

Prefectural governors and heads of municipalities around the country must persuade their residents that accepting the debris for disposal will assist disaster-hit areas. Local governments such as Tokyo conduct their own radiation checks of the debris. Other localities could follow this example in an effort to persuade residents to accept debris.

Debris within Fukushima prefecture will in principle be disposed of within the prefecture. Work to remove debris has not even started in the no-entry zone around the Fukushima plant. The government must quickly get rid of this debris so evacuated residents can return to their homes as soon as possible.