Photo/Illutration Futaba Town Mayor Shiro Izawa, left, and Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori, far right, at a news conference in Fukushima on Feb. 24 (Noriyoshi Otsuki)

FUKUSHIMA—Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa on Feb. 24 suggested reusing soil contaminated by the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant for public works projects within his town.

The idea will likely draw opposition. Earlier plans to reuse the soil in the Tokyo metropolitan area were met with protests.

Izawa on Feb. 24 acknowledged it would be tough to soon implement the plan to reduce the huge stockpile of contaminated soil.

“We haven’t gained an understanding from even Fukushima residents,” Izawa said. “I believe it will also be difficult to gain understandings from residents of Tokyo and its surrounding area.”

Futaba is a co-host of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled nuclear plant.

After the 2011 nuclear accident, topsoil was scraped off in various parts of Fukushima Prefecture to reduce radiation levels. The contaminated soil has been placed in an interim storage facility that straddles Futaba and Okuma, the other co-host of the nuclear power plant.

The total amount of soil could fill 11 Tokyo Domes (14 million cubic meters). A law enacted for the decontamination project stipulates that the soil must be disposed of outside the prefecture by 2045.

The central government plans to reuse the least contaminated soil, with radioactivity levels at safe levels, for road fill and other purposes. It says it will reduce the amount of soil for final disposal to less than a quarter of amount now in temporary storage.

Demonstration projects for the recycled soil have been planned in Fukushima Prefecture, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, and Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.

But no progress has been made on the projects due to opposition from residents who fear the spread of radioactive materials in their neighborhoods.

Izawa made his suggestion to reuse the soil in Futaba after a meeting on reconstructing the prefecture on Feb. 24 in Fukushima attended by four Cabinet members.

“For now, this is only my personal opinion,” the mayor told reporters. “We will discuss this idea and obtain an understanding from Futaba residents and the assembly when the soil is needed to build infrastructure in the town.”

Izawa said he explained his idea to Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao and Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori that day.

He added that the situation concerning the soil is reaching a critical point because progress has not been made with people in the Tokyo metropolitan area who used energy from the Fukushima No. 1 and 2 nuclear power plants.

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