STUDY ON REMOVAL METHOD OF CESIUM FROM SLOPE SOIL USING SIMPLE SLUSHER

Abstract

Though 6 years passed since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and
the decontamination of the difficult-to-return zone is not in prospect. The reason why the decontamination has
not carried on is that of the geographic factor around the zone. In particular, there is a lot of forest area around
the zone. Since the accident, radioactive cesium has been accumulated by constant wind and rainfall. Therefore,
it is necessary to decontaminate the slope as it is the supply source of radioactive cesium from the forest to the
residential area or farmland. Thus, in this study, the simple method of using running water was proposed to
solve the decontamination of the forest area. This method proves that the vermiculite strongly fixes the
radioactive cesium and the decontamination site is a slope. As a result, it is confirmed that the removal of
vermiculites reduces 20% of the volume of contaminated soil. The vermiculite is easy to remove from the water
since it is lighter in weight than sand and water. Removal of vermiculite using this method leads to volume
reduction of the contaminated soil.