At a construction site near Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, it has only recently emerged that workers have been stealing and selling scrap metal that may be radioactively contaminated.
The theft was discovered in late July during demolition work in the city of Okuma, which was initially completely evacuated due to high radiation levels after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, Japan’s Environment Ministry announced Thursday.
The company that carried out the demolition work has informed the Ministry of Environment, ministry representative Kei Osada said. His office and police cooperated with the investigation.
It is unclear how dangerous the material is
According to information from the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the workers sold the scrap for the equivalent of about 5,700 euros. It’s unclear how dangerous the material is, Osada said. However, because the beams were probably steel beams from inside the building, he believes a high level of radioactive contamination is unlikely.
Since the nuclear disaster, Japanese authorities have been working to decontaminate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and its surroundings. The restricted areas were gradually lifted and today only 2.2 percent of the administrative district remains inaccessible. Residents were allowed to return to Okuma starting in 2019.
Source: Krone
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