Over 3,000 tons of unregistered radioactive waste stored in Japan – report
Tons of contaminated soil as well as other radioactive garbage are being stored at temporary depots across the country, Japanese NHK TV-Channel reports.
The level of radiation at the storage sites is higher than 8,000 Becquerels per kilogram, while the norm is 10 Becquerels per kilogram.
NHK gathered the data by questioning local administrations of the Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Fukushima prefectures. The largest quantity of nuclear waste is said to be stored in the city of Kurihara in the Miyagi prefecture.
According to Japanese law, local authorities must report to the government about the nuclear materials stored in their prefectures.
They have not done so for five years, however, for the fear of negative publicity. Should the toxic waste be officially registered, local authorities will be told to build permanent storage facilities, which they fear may affect the attractiveness of their regions to investors.
The meltdown of the reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant was triggered by a disastrous earthquake followed by a huge tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011. It was biggest nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl tragedy and forced 160,000 people to flee their homes.
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