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300 scientists call for finding safe site to store nuclear waste

By EISUKE SASAKI/ Senior Staff Writer, October 31, 2023 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15044716
Earth science specialists hold a news conference on Oct. 30 to express their opposition to a plan to bury spent nuclear fuel as a final storage method. (Eisuke Sasaki)

About 300 earth science specialists have released a statement calling for a fundamental review of the Japanese government’s plan for storing spent nuclear fuel.

The process for finding a final storage site in Japan has been proceeding “while keeping a lid on scientific discussions,” said Junji Akai, a professor emeritus of earth science at Niigata University, who signed the statement, at an Oct. 30 news conference.

The current plan is to bury the highly radioactive waste deep underground.

But the statement about 300 scientists signed, including a number of former chairmen of the Geological Society of Japan, said there was no place in Japan where such waste could be kept safe for the 100,000 years or so needed for the radiation to dissipate.

A law passed in 2000 regarding the final handling of nuclear waste stated that the spent nuclear fuel should be buried deep underground.

But the statement released on Oct. 30 noted that several tectonic plates converge on the Japanese archipelago, a mobile belt with active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.

It went on to say that under the current circumstances, it would be “impossible” to choose a location that would not be affected by such tectonic activity for 100,000 years.

The statement called for abolishing the law on the final storage of nuclear waste and setting up a third-party organization to reconsider how such waste should be stored, including temporarily storing it aboveground.

Two small municipalities in Hokkaido are in the first of a three-stage process to determine their suitability as a site for the final storage of nuclear waste. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNuke

November 6, 2023 - Posted by | Japan, wastes

1 Comment »

  1. The radioactive half life of plutonium is 24,100 years. It takes 10 half lives for plutonium to become harmless. Does any human built site ever stay intact for that long? Are we going to have a Nuclear “Priest hood” of guards for these sites going to be established to protect us from these nuclear wastes, with no terrorist attacks, sabotage, earthquakes, floods or “acts of god?”

    paulrodenlearning's avatar Comment by paulrodenlearning | November 7, 2023 | Reply


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