Some netizens asked how much "radiation-contaminated soil" and "total amount" was after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. For information on "radiation-contaminated soil (radiation-contaminated soil)" and how to deal with it, you can refer to the old article " Advance Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (1) | Radiation-Contaminated Soil and Intermediate Storage Vehicles ".

At that time, the article only mentioned what "radiation-contaminated soil" was. After the article was launched, some netizens asked about the way to eliminate the radiation pollution of the soil in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, and then supplemented this part of the information. There are many ways to remove radiation pollution, and there are different ways to remove radiation pollution depending on the site, type, and nature. At that time, the article there was a follow-up supplement, and only the part that explained the soil.

The next step is to answer the "total amount" of radiation-contaminated soil after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.

The total amount of waste will not be known until the radiation pollution project is completed

I can tell you that there is no way to calculate the "total amount". At most, it can only calculate "how many bags have been processed so far".

There are many factors for which there is no way to calculate the "total amount". I think the most crucial point should be " Now that the relevant work is still in progress, how to calculate the total amount? "

In particular, what kind of situations need to be dealt with? What kind of situation does not need to be dealt with? For example: Is it necessary to remove radiation pollution in forest areas? From an engineering and practical point of view, the forest area will not touch it. The question of whether or not to include forest areas in the "scope that needs to be decontaminated by radiation" can make a big difference in the "total amount".

Leaving aside the question of whether the forest needs to be decontaminated by radiation, even if it only counts inhabited areas, the "total amount" cannot be calculated before the project is over. Because even if it is a small area (it has been determined which small area needs to be decontaminated by radiation), the amount of radiation pollution that will be removed will not be known until the decontamination is performed .

Construction methods will affect the amount of waste generated

On the one hand, this is because it will be related to the construction method chosen.

For example, in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant area, because it is necessary to rush quickly (and the radiation value will be relatively high), it is directly covered with cement on the ground. This is the most important construction in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant area. Way. Because of the different construction methods, less "radiation-contaminated soil" is removed from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, because they only have to remove trees and rubble, and the plane is basically filled with cement and paved with cement. Or as I said in the article above, there is a way of "exchanging soil of different depths". This approach "theoretically" will not remove "radiation contaminated soil", but in practice I believe that engineering operations will definitely produce waste. This is what the second law of thermodynamics tells us is that there is no energy or resource in the world. 100% conversion, this is a fantasy.

On the other hand, if you read the article I wrote above, you will know that the entire radiation pollution removal work needs to measure the radiation dose on site before starting the work (I know this sounds like nonsense) . Have you noticed that the radiation dose must be measured during the process and before the end? Because, the work of removing radiation pollution is not "just do it", but to make sure that after the completion of this project, the radiation dose on site has really dropped . Therefore, you may want to say that method A is good for this place at first, but after the actual operation, it is found that the effect of method A is not good. You may find it halfway through, or you may feel that it is not as good as expected after the inspection is completed, and there is no way to make the scene. When the radiation dose value drops, it is necessary to switch to method B immediately, and keep trying. The amount of waste produced by different treatment methods will vary, so it is impossible to determine how much waste will be produced until the project is completed !

There is not only soil in the black bag

Another key factor is how to define "radiation-contaminated soil"?

If you only count "soil", you can probably calculate it from the surface area of the soil. Deduct the surface area of the surface without houses and multiply it by how deep you have to dig, and you will get a "volume". But in fact, that black bag of things will not only contain soil! Even if it is digging soil, it will definitely be caught in dead branches and leaves, so the volume of a bag does not mean that it will be filled.

I can tell you that although it is collectively referred to as "radiation-contaminated soil", the picture you see is one after another of brown plastic bags, and the contents of that bag are not just "soil". In the coastal area of Fukushima Prefecture (hamamatsuri), the piles of waste that are not there or not are all packed in the same bag. Even if a whole bag is filled with broken walls or something, the actual volume will not be the maximum volume that the bag can hold. So even if you know how many bags there are in the "total amount", you can't calculate the real "volume". It is still possible to calculate the weight, but who is weighing the bags with you to see how much the "total" weighs?

The maximum number that can be calculated so far is the total volume of the entire stack of “radiation-contaminated soil” (remind again, that bag will not contain only soil ) when they are moved to the temporary storage area ( Multiply the area by the height). Even if it is such a bag and a bag, even if the densest packing is used, there will be holes in the middle, so the estimated value will definitely be larger than the real value.

The official figures are only the amount cleared by the government (not including the private sector)

The problem is not over yet. Even if it only counts the amount of radiation pollution that needs to be removed in areas where people live, everyone should pay attention to see whether it is "only the amount cleared by the government" or "the amount cleared by the private sector"? (The things in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant should be counted as the amount cleared by the private sector, because TEPCO is responsible for it)

The figures given by the public authorities will definitely be the amount cleared by the government. Should this be easy to understand? For example, at present, Tomioka Town has lifted the scope of the evacuation and return order. From the perspective of the public sector, "they have already cleared it, so they will not clear it again." It should be easy to imagine that if the government is still clear, it is impossible to lift the evacuation return instruction; on the other hand, the condition for releasing the evacuation return instruction is that the local radiation environment value has dropped to a safe range → the environmental radiation dose value has dropped to the prescribed level Isn't the following (reduced to the safe range) the "judgment criteria for "finishing the work of removing radiation pollution" just mentioned earlier?

Therefore , the government will not continue to remove radiation contamination from the areas designated for evacuation and return . But in practice, if you go to Tomioka Town now, you will find that there are still some houses that are not newly built at first sight (some have survived the earthquake and tsunami). These houses may appear to be unoccupied, but they are maintained as they were on March 11, 2011. In fact, these houses also need to be treated to remove radiation pollution (the most basic, the tiles on the roof and the outer walls of the house need to be washed again). You cannot move home until you are working to remove radiation contamination .” Yes, the house is to be cleaned by the owner himself, and the government will not clean it for you ( this is really ridiculous, how can ordinary people know how to remove radiation pollution from their own homes?! Even if they know how to clean, ordinary people should How do you throw away radiation-contaminated waste? This whole thing is ridiculous. )

If you look at the figures of the public sector, you will only see how much radiation-contaminated waste has been removed by the public sector, but such an example of "requiring the private sector to clean up" would be the waste that private companies and non-governmental organizations voluntarily remove radiation-contaminated by themselves. , this figure will not appear in the accounts of the official figures. Of course, the amount cleared by the public sector must be much larger than that of the private sector. Even if the amount cleared by the private sector is included, it may be a fraction, which is the kind of fraction that can be omitted when calculating the estimated value. There is deliberately ignoring (that is, not listed in the accounts at all) the issue of civil clearance.

Why does the report mention the amount of radiation-contaminated soil?

The report will give you a number, just because from the perspective of news reporting, you need to give the audience an "account" . As someone who has been in the online media industry for a while, anyway, I have a little understanding of the basic news production methods (and the current news production problems). When writing a report, sometimes you really need to "give a number."

As a reader of news reports, one must also have the ability to read media.

I mentioned such a long list earlier, do you now feel that there is no need to worry about the "total amount"? Because a number is really given now, it is impossible to calculate the "total amount" before the project is all over! This is related to the construction method and the areas that need to be decontaminated by radiation. You also need to define what is "radiation-contaminated soil" - whether it is really only the "soil" part, or all the things in the black plastic bag. Calculate?

With so many uncertainties, there will be room for manipulation.

When it comes to sensitive issues, the media with a clear stance will only show you information that is beneficial to that stance

The media whose stance is anti-nuclear can, by some means, give you a frightening figure and tell you how much scope is still unresolved . A while ago, I saw some media say that 85% of the land in Fukushima Prefecture has not been decontaminated by radiation. This 85% is talking about the " Special Decontamination Area ". Not to mention that the "special area for decontamination" covers Futaba Town and Okuma Town, which have not yet lifted the evacuation and return orders. There are many mountains in Fukushima Prefecture. This number is mostly mountains. At present, there is no spare capacity to go to Qingshan District woodland. For people who don’t understand the digital manipulation space, will it be scary to see that “85% of the land in Fukushima has not yet been cleared”?

Media with a nuclear stance may give a conservative number . Like I said earlier, it will probably only tell you how much is cleared now. If you want to deliberately make the number smaller, so that everyone thinks that the amount of radiation-contaminated waste is not so much, you can also count the number cleared by the public sector + only the "earth" part for you. Or it simply doesn't give you the original volume, and only reduces the volume of the radioactive pollution waste you said ( =reduces the volume of garbage. Just like the concept of general garbage disposal, the methods include sorting garbage, squeezing How much is left after shrinking, burning, etc. ). Of course, this example is a bit extreme.

If you really want to play numbers, the above are all hands and feet that can be moved. Different media can write completely different stories, and "they're not lying to you."

As a reader, learning to see these nuances, and what else is hidden behind the news that doesn't tell you (eg: how did it come up with this number? How do we think about this number? etc.) Develop media literacy skills

This site launches a monthly e-newsletter [Ishikawa Whispering]. On the 15th of each month, it will push the latest content of "Ishikawa カオリ's Japanese current affairs まとめ translation" or follow-up news tracking reports directly to your e-mail!

＞＞＞ Click here to subscribe to the newsletter ＜＜＜

Now you can find "Ishikawa Kaori's Japanese Current Affairs まとめ Translation" on the following platforms.
Facebook Fan Page / Plurk / Twitter Twitter / Medium
Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Firstory / SoundOn / KKBOX

The original link is Japanese current affairs まとめ translation by Kaori Ishikawa