474,000 tons of disaster rubble remains piled up in nuke crisis no-go zone

There is still some 474,000 metric tons of earthquake and tsunami debris piled up in coastal areas of the Fukushima nuclear disaster no-go zone, the Environment Ministry announced on March 12.

The debris is contaminated with radioactive cesium from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, with concentrations reaching as high as 58,700 becquerels per kilogram in the town of Okuma, where some of the No. 1 plant's reactors are located. As the toxic debris is inside the nuclear crisis exclusion zone, its disposal is up to the central government, which is moving ahead with plans for sorting facilities and temporary incinerators.

The single largest amount of debris in six coastal municipalities covered in whole or in part by the no-entry zone was in the city of Minamisoma, where some 183,000 tons of rubble remains to be dealt with. Read More