Cesium-tainted ash being returned to Tokyo area

Cesium-tainted ash being returned to Tokyo area
By NAOTO KAGAYA / Staff Writer

KOSAKA, Akita Prefecture--Rejected by residents, incinerated waste containing radioactive cesium is being returned to the Tokyo metropolitan area where it originated.

The first batch of 18 tons, bound for Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, was loaded onto trucks on Dec. 3. A train carrying the ash will leave JR Odate Station on Dec. 4.

A total of 245 tons of waste incinerated ash, mostly in 25 railway containers, has been temporarily stored since mid-July at facilities in Kosaka and Odate in Akita Prefecture.

The cesium is believed to derive from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Residents have been opposed...

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201112030061