International Symposium on Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in the Environment

DATE: July 11, 2019

The “International Symposium on Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in the Environment” was held at the Kenshin Cultural Center in Koriyama-city, Fukushima on Thursday, July 11, 2019. It was sponsored by the Society for Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in Environment (SRRCE) and co-sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOE).

This symposium was held in conjunction with the eighth research presentation conference of SRRCE. Invited speakers were Mr. Horst Monken Fernandes, Environmental Remediation Specialist of Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Section, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Tadashi Inoue, Emeritus, Research Advisor to Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), Mr. Yoshihiro Watanabe, Director General of Living Environment Division, Koriyama City, Mr. Yoshio Oshino, Secretary of Interim Storage Facility and Decontamination section, Power Measures Special Committee, Japan Federation of Construction Contractors and Mr. Akira Nitta, Director of Office of Director for Environmental Regeneration, Environmental Regeneration and Material Cycles Bureau, MOE.

At the symposium, first, Mr. Nitta reported on the progress of environmental remediation including the result of whole area decontamination which was completed except the Difficult-to-Return Zone in March 2018, the current status of decontamination in Specified Reconstruction and Revitalization Base and the measures towards restoration of forestry. He also reported the situation of transportation of removed soil from the Temporary Storage Sites to the Interim Storage Facility and introduced the demonstration project of recycling removed soil with low radioactive level and the communicating activities to the public as well as to international societies.

Then, Mr. Watanabe explained the approach that Koriyama City addressed for decontamination and information sharing with the citizen looking back the experiences since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred. In Koriyama, the response to radioactive materials and various measures to eliminate anxieties of radiation were implemented ahead of other municipalities. In addition, their unique process of transportation of the removed soil was reported.

Next, Mr. Oshino reported on the decontamination work in Special Decontamination Area (SDA) carried out by the construction companies. He indicated that a decontamination work needed additional considerations to a normal construction management. The efforts to secure and manage the number of workers and to deepen mutual understanding with local residents were introduced. He concluded that the completion of whole area decontamination in the SDA would have been impossible without the cooperation of local residents.

After that, the video message sent from Mr. Fernandes who could not attend this symposium was screened. He summarized the review through the two missions by the IAEA and the four expert meetings between the IAEA and the MOE. He highlighted the necessity of internationally agreed criteria when contaminated soil recycling was to be considered. And he mentioned that information related to the remediation of off-site areas should be shared and communicated with the international community in a comprehensive manner.

Then, Dr. Inoue covered main highlights and advices presented by IAEA through the two missions and explained on the practical implementation status of their advices, the lessons learned and the issues to be followed institutionally and technically in next stage. He also described that dialogue and discussion with stakeholders concerned, particularly local residents were essential. At the end, it was mentioned the importance of sharing this knowledge and experience not only domestically but internationally.

Finally, there was a discussion among all speakers except Mr. Fernandes, about the required action to facilitate better communication and consensus-building with local residents, and to implement the advices from IAEA.

• Presentation materials are available here