Abstract
Accidents at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have resulted in the release of large amounts of radioactive materials into the environment. Decontamination has been implemented to handle the environmental pollution, and in March 2018, decontamination of the entire area was completed in 8 prefectures and 100 municipalities. This is excluding areas where returning is difficult. As huge volumes of removed soil and waste have been generated through these decontamination activities in Fukushima Prefecture, an Interim Storage Facility (ISF) has been designed and built by the Ministry of the Environment. This will be utilized to manage and store soil and waste safely moving toward a final disposal plan outside Fukushima Prefecture within 30 years from start-up of the ISF. The Ministry of the Environment also promotes technology development for volume reduction and recycling of the removed soil as much as possible, which consequently would lead to a reduction in the volume of soil. The Ministry has said it will further strengthen future-oriented efforts on reconstruction in Fukushima.
