Supplementary news flash
Immediately after issuing the news flash below, more news came in. JNC indeed began transporting the uranium contaminated soil today, but almost immediately one of the bags containing the soil rolled off the back of the truck and rolled about 30 meters down the hill. As a consequence they had to stop further transports for the day. It was just the eighth of 33 bags scheduled to be transported today. They said that the bag did not break and that no soil was spilled.
Each bag contains around 700 kilograms and 552 bags will be transported in all.
Apparently the plan is to send the uranium contaminated soil from Kobe Port to the US at the beginning of October.
Philip White
International Liaison Officer
Previous news flash
JNC continues to refuse to disclose the name of the US company to which they intend to send the uranium contaminated soil, but they plan to begin transporting the soil today from where it has been left in Tottori Prefecture. (Click here for background information.) We assume it is being sent to a port (possibly Kobe) and it seems that shipment to the US is imminent.
CNIC opposes the transport of radioactive waste overseas. The fact that in this case the level of radioactivity is not high does not alter that fundamental principle. JNC has changed its label for the soil from 'suteishi', which literally means 'thrown away waste rock', to 'uran kouseki', which means 'uranium ore', but simply changing the label doesn't change the fact that it is radioactive waste.
We recognize that it is up to organizations in the US to decide whether they will take action. We are simply providing information to enable them to mobilize if they think it is worth their effort.
Philip White
International Liaison Officer
