Decontamination of radionuclides after Fukushima 1st NPPs accidents. Toward an early return of evacuated local residents

Over a year has passed since the disastrous earthquake and Tsunami taking place in East Japan on March 1, 2011, followed by the meltdown of the reactor core of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants leaving hydrogen-explosions of the reactor buildings and resulting emission of a large amount of radioactive materials. Meanwhile, Japanese government specified the nuclear evacuation zones from the standpoint of protecting local residents from exposure on one hand, and made legislative preparations and necessary organizational reforms including reinforcement on the other hand. Decontamination activities have been continued on some areas tentatively to find effective methods. This report presents the remediation efforts done by the Ministry of the Environment in light of early return of the evacuated inhabitants. (S. Ohno)