Fukushima Nuclear Waste Disposal To Cost Japan Over $4Bln - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) Japan will have to invest an estimated 440.1 billion to 675.6 billion Yen ($4.2 billion to $6.4 billion) in the disposal of contaminated soil, plants and other waste produced during nuclear decontamination works in the Fukushima prefecture, the NHK broadcaster reported on Friday.

The decontamination works are expected to produce over 14 million cubic meters (490 million cubic feet) of nuclear waste. The government reportedly plans to finish disposing of it outside of the prefecture by 2045.

The Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management Research of Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies has estimated the costs for the nuclear decontamination effort for the first time, assuming that over 90 percent of the waste will be recycled.

The disposal of the remaining 8 percent of unrecycled waste, amounting to 1.13 million cubic meters (45.9 million cubic feet), will cost at least 440.1 billion yen.

The real costs will increase if the nuclear waste is not fully recycled.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan in March 2011 triggered a massive tsunami and a meltdown of three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the Fukushima prefecture. The decommissioning of the plant is still underway.