Fukushima soil decontamination zone may be larger than expected RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED October 05, 2011 The Japanese government said it would lay down new soil pollution standards for the area around the stricken Fukushima nuclear power station, expanding the soil decontamination zone to neighboring prefectures, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said on Tuesday. "Our goal is to reduce radiation levels to under 1 millisievert. Those areas with radiation levels between 1 millisievert and 5 millisieverts will naturally be covered," said Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident. According to a preliminary decontamination plan made last month, about 1,778 square kilometers, or 13% of Fukushima Prefecture's total area will have to be cleared. Costs are expected to hit 1.14 trillion yen ($14.9 billion). With areas showing radiation pollution between one and five millisieverts added, the decontamination area may spread to the neighboring Tochigi and Gunma prefectures. Hosono, however, stopped short of saying if those prefectures would be included into the decontamination plan. A powerful earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant's cooling systems on March 11, causing meltdown at three of its reactors. Radiation leaked into the atmosphere, soil and seawater. About 80,000 people living within the 30-km radius from the station had to be evacuated shortly after the nuclear crisis. Topics: NPP Fukushima Daiichi Other news: Siemens to withdraw entirely from nuclear industry The chapter for us is closed. Faster than light particles found in nuclear research experiment If the results are confirmed, they would fundamentally change the understanding of how the universe works. Iran in talks with Russia over new nuclear sites We are in talks with Russia on construction of new nuclear power stations. |
Hero of the day Georgy Toshinsky: Booming as a Driving Force to Trade (Reactors?) Not quite so. The authors of the concept, which was difficult to be realized in practice, turned to a clearer concept of a standing wave reactor (TP-1) that in principle allows finding the solution to the tasks stated for TWRs. INTERVIEW
Alexander Chistozvonov OPINION
Konstantin Bogdanov |