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Radioactive sewerage accumulation in Japan

 Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, Asahi Shimbun, By NOBUTARO KAJI/ Japan May 22 2012 http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201205220055 Incinerating radioactive sewage sludge could contaminate environment

Incinerating the radioactive sludge that has piled up at sewage
facilities across eastern Japan and burying it after mixing it with
cement could increase the risk of cesium seeping into the environment,
scientists say.

Disposal of the sludge, which is thought to have been created after
radioactive materials from the Fukushima nuclear disaster were carried
by rainwater into sewage pipes and then condensed during sewage
treatment, has become a major headache for local governments.

One solution, being pursued by local governments, is incinerating the
sludge and then mixing it with cement before burying it in landfill
sites.

But the results of a research team led by Hideo Yamazaki, a professor
of environmental analysis at Kinki University, suggest the process may
increase the risk of the transfer of radioactive cesium into the
environment. Instead, the scientists found that adding clay to the
incinerated material may offer a safer way of processing
it….http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/radioactive-sewerage-accumulation-in-japan/.

August 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Japan