"Unauthorized Removal of Radioactive Scrap Metal from Fukushima Demolition Site Raises Safety Concerns"

Mainichi "On-site workers sold for money"
Environmental authorities and police launched investigations, but destination remains unknown

At a demolition site near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, it was revealed that workers illegally removed and sold scrap metal potentially contaminated with radiation. The Japanese government and media are greatly concerned that radioactive materials could be reused in areas outside the nuclear accident zone.

Barricades that had been installed in Namiecho, designated as a revival base, are being removed. (Photo by Fukushima Prefecture official website)

On the 19th, the Mainichi Shimbun exclusively reported that the Ministry of the Environment and the police have launched investigations and inquiries into this unauthorized removal. According to Mainichi, the incident occurred in Okuma-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, designated as a revitalization hub in the difficult-to-return zone near the Fukushima nuclear accident site. The difficult-to-return zone refers to areas where residents evacuated due to persistent radiation damage after the nuclear accident and cannot return. The Japanese government is currently constructing several revitalization hubs by demolishing some buildings in the difficult-to-return zones, decontaminating them, and making them habitable.

In Okuma-machi, designated as a revitalization hub, demolition work was underway on the town library and the Folk Heritage Hall buildings. The major construction company Kashima was the prime contractor, with the civil engineering firm Aota Kogyo as the subcontractor.

Mainichi reported that several employees of the subcontractor sold scrap metal such as rebar from the demolition site between April and June without taking it to the temporary storage site, instead selling it to a dealer within Fukushima Prefecture outside the difficult-to-return zone to make money.

The Japanese Ministry of the Environment, under the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Radioactive Pollution, requires demolition waste from the difficult-to-return zone to be collected at designated locations and sorted. However, these workers pretended to load rebar onto trucks and take it to the designated temporary storage site in the evening after work but actually hid it elsewhere. The next day before work started, they took it outside the town to a buyer and sold it.

According to the report, this unauthorized removal occurred about seven times, and the employees earned profits amounting to 900,000 yen (approximately 8.04 million KRW). After learning of this, the subcontractor reported it to the prime contractor, who then notified the police.

Difficult-to-return zone designated due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. (Photo by Fukushima Prefecture website)

Regulations require that demolition waste be moved to a temporary designated site, and if the radiation concentration exceeds 100,000 becquerels (Bq) per kilogram, it must be transported to an intermediate facility near the nuclear plant; if it is below 100,000 Bq, it should be classified and transported to a dedicated disposal site. Materials meeting certain Bq thresholds can be reused, but only after being placed in a temporary storage site or undergoing re-measurement.

In 2013, the Japanese government stated regarding metals from demolition sites, “Materials that were indoors can be considered to have relatively low contamination, but materials outdoors or in contact with the outdoors after the nuclear accident require caution regarding contamination.” Mainichi also reported that even now, areas such as under rain gutters at construction sites in the difficult-to-return zone show high radiation levels.

The problem is that the amount of illegally removed scrap metal, its radiation levels, and where it was transported after sale remain unknown. The Ministry of the Environment told Mainichi, “We cannot comment at this time as it may interfere with police responses in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.