Editorial

17:09 JST, March 24, 2025

Fukushima Prefecture has no hope of recovery unless a path is opened for the disposal of soil removed during decontamination work, which has been left in large quantities near Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. It is vital to have places outside the prefecture take some of the soil.

Since the nuclear accident at the plant released radioactive substances nearby, decontamination work was carried out to remove the substances from residential areas and agricultural land. The soil removed during the work is being stored at an interim storage facility straddling the prefecture’s towns of Okuma and Futaba.

The level of radiation is low in three-quarters of the about 14 million cubic meters of soil, and thus is considered usable in road embankments and for land development, among other purposes. It has been decided........

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