Design, construction and monitoring of temporary storage facilities for removed contaminants

Abstract

Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident caused by the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake on March 11, 2011, decontamination work has been conducted in the surrounding environment within the Fukushima prefecture. Removed contaminants including soil, grass and trees are to be stored safely at temporary storage facilities for up to three years, after which they will be transferred to a planned interim storage facility. The decontamination pilot project was carried out in both the restricted and planned evacuation areas in order to assess decontamination methods and demonstrate measures for radiation protection of workers. Fourteen temporary storage facilities of different technical specifications were designed and constructed under various topographic conditions and land use. In order to support the design, construction and monitoring of temporary storage facilities for removed contaminants during the full-scale decontamination within the prefecture of Fukushima, technical know-how obtained during the decontamination pilot project has been identified and summarized in this paper. © 2013 Atomic Energy Society of Japan, All Rights Reserved.