英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun September 13, 2013
Don’t stick to ‘1 millisievert’ in decontamination work
福島の除染計画　「１ミリ・シーベルト」への拘りを捨てたい（9月12日付・読売社説）

We want the government to advance its decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture swiftly and efficiently, looking ahead to the early return of residents who are still forced to live as evacuees.
　避難生活が続く住民の帰還を見据え、効率的な除染を迅速に進めてもらいたい。

As decontamination work has not been going as planned in municipalities around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Environment Ministry has announced it will revise its decontamination program.
　東京電力福島第一原子力発電所周辺の除染が思うように進まず、環境省が計画の見直しを発表した。

This is because the ministry cannot finish decontamination in seven out of 11 cities, towns and villages where decontamination has been conducted under its direct jurisdiction by the end of March next year, the date it initially scheduled to end the work. The ministry will formulate new programs for each of the seven municipalities within this year at the earliest.
　環境省直轄で除染を実施している１１市町村のうち、７市町村で当初予定の来年３月末までに作業を終えるめどが立たないためだ。年内にも市町村ごとに新たな計画を策定するという。

Many owners of land lots that are subject to decontamination have evacuated to different areas, making it difficult to obtain their consent for the work. The ministry has also had trouble gaining residents’ understanding for the establishment of temporary storage sites for removed surface soil. As a result, the ministry does not have clear prospects for constructing interim facilities to store contaminated soil at temporary storage sites in an integrated manner.
　除染対象の土地所有者が各地に避難し、同意の取り付けが難航している。はぎ取った表土などを保管する仮置き場の設置に対し、住民の理解が得られない。仮置き場の汚染土を集約して保管する中間貯蔵施設の建設も見通せない。

Given these circumstances, reviewing the decontamination project is inevitable. The Environment Ministry must tenaciously explain the situation to residents to get their cooperation.
　こうした現状を考えれば、計画見直しはやむを得ない面がある。環境省は住民に粘り強く説明し、協力を得ていかねばならない。

It is also vital to make the decontamination work more efficient. The ministry needs to employ cutting-edge equipment in such efforts as removing surface soil and cleaning road surfaces to speed up the process in general.
　除染の効率化も欠かせない。表土の削り取りや路面洗浄などの作業に最新機材を投入し、スピードアップを図る必要がある。

In its review of the decontamination project, the ministry has expanded the range of decontamination in forests, in response to residents who asked for a greater area to be cleaned. However, if the residents’ early return is taken into consideration, the decontamination of forests should be limited to areas where people live and surrounding areas.
　今回の計画見直しで、環境省は森林除染の対象を広げた。除染拡大を求める住民の声を受けたものだ。だが、早期帰還のためには、森林の除染は極力、住民の生活圏周辺に限定すべきだ。

If forests are decontaminated on a large scale, it will be quite difficult to determine when such work will end and costs will swell out of control. It will also be hard to secure places to store the huge amount of contaminated soil. Removing plants and trees over a wide area brings a danger of sediment disasters such as landslides.
　大規模に森林除染を行えば、終了時期が見通せず、除染費用は際限なく膨らむ。大量の汚染土の置き場を確保するのも困難だ。草木を広範囲に取り除けば、土砂災害を引き起こす危険もある。

Understanding numbers

Among the 11 municipalities, meanwhile, decontamination work has finished in Tamura. In Naraha, Okuma and Kawauchi, decontamination is expected to be finished within the current fiscal year, which runs through March next year. These municipalities are required to promote such steps as improving infrastructure aimed at rebuilding residents’ lives.
　一方、１１市町村のうち、田村市では、除染が完了した。楢葉町、大熊町、川内村では今年度内に作業を終える見通しだ。今後は、住民の生活再建を視野に入れたインフラ整備なども進めていくことが求められる。

The government has set a maximum annual dose of 20 millisieverts as a guideline for realizing residents’ return to the 11 municipalities, based on a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
　政府は、住民帰還の目安となる年間被曝(ひばく)線量を「２０ミリ・シーベルト以下」としている。国際放射線防護委員会の提言に沿った数値だ。

In keeping with this recommendation, the government’s policy is to lower the guideline over the long term to 1 millisievert or less a year. However, many residents are demanding the standard for returning be set at 1 millisievert or less immediately.
　その上で、長期的には「年間１ミリ・シーベルト以下」に下げる方針だ。
　しかし、住民の中には、直ちに１ミリ・シーベルト以下にするよう拘(こだわ)る声が依然、少なくない。

Human beings are exposed to radiation from outer space and the ground every day. A CT scan at a hospital may expose a person to about 8 millisieverts in one test. Also, experts point out that no causal relationship has been established between the development of cancer and accumulated doses of radiation of 100 millisieverts or less in a follow-up study on atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
　人間は宇宙や大地から放射線を浴びて生活している。病院のＣＴ検査では、１回の被曝線量が約８ミリ・シーベルトになることがある。
　専門家は、広島と長崎の被爆者に対する追跡調査の結果、積算線量が１００ミリ・シーベルト以下の被曝では、がんとの因果関係は認められていないと指摘する。

It is important for the government to make people well aware of accurate information about radiation.
　政府は、放射能の正しい情報を周知していくことが大切だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 12, 2013)
（2013年9月12日01時31分 読売新聞）