Unwanted radioactive sewage sludge piling up in Japan, storage space running out
June 8 (Asahi Shimbun) – Radioactive sewage sludge is quickly filling up treatment facilities in eastern Japan as recycling companies have refused to accept it for safety reasons.
The central government, which has only presented guidelines for temporary storage, plans to set standards on final disposal. Radioactive cesium was first detected in sludge at a sewage treatment facility in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 1. Radioactive sewage sludge has since turned up at facilities in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and other prefectures. Officials believe that radioactive materials from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant flowed into sewage pipes with rainwater and were condensed during sewage treatment. In normal times, about 80 percent of sewage sludge nationwide is recycled into cement and fertilizers after it is incinerated into ash. But at the Iriezaki Centralized Sludge Treatment Center in Kawasaki, about 220 tons of incineration ash in 550 double-layered bags have been piled up on the passageway and elsewhere. Director Takashi Ookouchi said the center will run out of storage space in a few days. An inspection on May 13 found 470 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram of sewage sludge and 13,200 becquerels per kilogram of incineration ash. A local company that reuses ash for cement said it will not take it until safety is confirmed. At a sewage treatment facility in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, bags of incineration ash occupy half of an underground warehouse. A cement company has refused to accept it since radioactive cesium and iodine were found from sludge and ash. Toshiyuki Hattori, chief of the sewage treatment plant, said the storage space will run out at the end of June. In Ibaraki Prefecture, radioactive sludge has been found at all of its eight sewage treatment facilities, and shipments have been suspended. …
