#Radiation in Japan: Tokyo Will Burn Miyagi's Disaster (and Radioactive) Debris in Incineration Plants in 23 Special Wards

The Tokyo Metropolitan government simply announced on November 24, 2011 that it will be accepting the disaster debris from Onagawa-machi in Miyagi Prefecture starting early December and lasting till March 2013, and the debris (which is radioactive, by the way) will be burned in the waste incineration plants operated by the 23 Special Wards and by municipalities in Tama District (western Tokyo). The agreement has already been signed.

In my November 15 post, I wrote about this deal. But I apparently forgot to write about my speculation at that time (I did in my Japanese blog) that the only reason I could think of as to why the Assembly of the Special Ward Mayors was being consulted in accepting the Miyagi debris was that the debris would be burned in the regular incineration plants in the 23 Wards. I was exactly right, and I don't enjoy having been right on this.

From NHK Kabun tweet:

宮城県女川町のがれきを東京２３区と多摩地域の自治体が来月上旬から再来年３月にかけて都内に運び込んでおよそ１０万トンを処理することになりました。各自治体が運営する清掃工場で焼却処理したあと、出た灰は東京港にある都の埋め立て処分場に埋め立てます（１１／２４）

Debris from Onagawa-machi, Miyagi Prefecture will be brought to Tokyo by the Tokyo 23 Special Wards and municipalities in Tama District of Tokyo starting early next month till March of 2013. 100,000 tonnes of debris will be processed. It will be burned in the waste incineration plants operated by the municipalities, and the ashes will be buried in the landfill on the Tokyo Bay. (November 24)

All over.

They are confident that bag filters will reduce or eliminate the radioactive materials on the debris, which will be flammable wood debris, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Environment.

How radioactive it can be? The Bureau of Environment's announcement has a link to the test result of burning the debris and measuring the radiation in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture. The number is 2300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in the ashes. Since it is so far below the 8000 becquerels/kg safety standard set by the Ministry of the Environment, there is no problem burning and burying, in the minds of the Tokyo Metropolitan governor and politicians and bureaucrats (and their celebrity supporters...).

By the way, the document from Onagawa-machi makes it clear that the debris may be burned in the private incineration plants in addition to the municipal incineration plants, and that the ashes may be used in "eco-cement".

Again, the only private incineration plant that would meet the spec (more than 100 tonnes per day capacity) is that TEPCO subsidiary, Tokyo Rinkai Recycle Power.

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TEPCO's Subsidiary Selected to Burn Disaster Debris from Iwate on Tokyo Bay

I forgot to write about it in the English blog, but the readers of my Japanese blog knew. Now everyone will know that the contractor who will burn the burnable part of the disaster (radioactive) debris from Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture is a subsidiary of TEPCO, called "Tokyo Rinkai (Waterfront) Recycle Power Company" located on the very landfill on Tokyo Bay that the radioactive debris and ashes will be buried.

Here's the brief background:

The Tokyo Metropolitan government signed an agreement with Iwate Prefecture on September 30 to accept disaster debris from Iwate Prefecture, starting with that of Miyako City, without much consultation at all with the Metropolitan Assembly or the residents of Tokyo. Then, it did the public solicitation to line up the waste disposal companies who would take the debris, smash them into small pieces and bring them to the landfill in Tokyo Bay. One of the stipulations (link is in Japanese, PDF) by the Tokyo government was that the applicants must select a contractor who could burn the burnable part of the disaster debris with the daily capacity of 100 tonnes and above.

Well, my quick search on the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Environment showed that there was only ONE company that could burn 100 tonnes of debris or more per day, and that was TEPCO's subsidiary, Tokyo Rinkai Recycle Power Company.

Sure enough, on October 19, the Tokyo Metropolitan government announced the 4 companies it selected to handle the disaster radioactive debris from Iwate, and these 4 companies all selected the TEPCO subsidiary to handle the burnable portion of the debris. Of course they did because that was the only choice.

From the October 19 announcement:

先行事業分から発生する可燃性廃棄物の焼却施設は、募集要領に示された要件を満たした焼却施設を選定することになっています。今回は、すべての処分業者が東京臨海リサイクルパワー株式会社（江東区青海三丁目地先）を選定しました。

As to the facility to burn the burnable debris from this pilot project, the companies are required to select a facility which satisfies the condition specified in the application form. All the companies have selected Tokyo Rinkai Recycle Power Company (Aomi, Koto-ku).

That stipulation was probably put in just to make sure the TEPCO subsidiary would have a cut in the juicy job.

The company is a joint venture of 5 large corporations:

• TEPCO

• TEPCO Environmental Engineering

• Shimizu Corporation (one of the biggest general construction companies in Japan)

• Ebara Environmental Plant Co. (subsidiary of Ebara Corp., major manufacturer of pumps, compressors, wind and water turbines)

• ORIX Eco Services Corp. (subsidiary of ORIX, the largest leasing company in Japan)

It receives subsidies from the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and sells electricity generated from the waste processing to TEPCO. Now it will make profit burning radioactive debris for the recovery of Iwate Prefecture.

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