Japan JR East begins decontaminating tracks in areas affected by nuclear crisis despite dangerous levels of radiation

Japan JR East begins decontaminating tracks in areas affected by nuclear crisis despite dangerous levels of radiation
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Workers remove weeds along the JR Joban Line tracks in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 20, 2015, in preparation for work to decontaminate the tracks on a trial basis. (Photo courtesy of JR East Mito branch)
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) began on Aug. 20 to decontaminate tracks on the Joban Line, which have been affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, on a trial basis, company officials said.

The work, which is part of JR East's efforts to resume services between Tomioka and Namie stations, got under way in a section between Yonomori and Futaba stations where radiation levels are particularly high.

After analyzing data showing how radiation levels have declined following the decontamination, JR East is expected to consider when to resume services between Tomioka and Namie stations.

The company will remove rails and sleepers in a 50-meter section at six separate spots, where radiation levels are 2.8 to 28 microsieverts per hour, and remove surface soil. All these six spots are situated in a zone where it is difficult for evacuated residents to return in the foreseeable future, with annual cumulative radiation levels exceeding 50 millisieverts, in the town of Okuma. All decommission workers are required to put on protective gear.

On Aug. 20, workers removed weeds around the tracks and created roads through which necessary equipment will be brought into these areas.

Services on the Joban Line have been suspended in some sections in Fukushima Prefecture since the outbreak of the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

JR East aims to resume services on the Odaka-Haranomachi section by the spring of 2016, the Namie-Odaka section by March 2017, the Tatsuta-Tomioka section by March 2018 and the Soma-Hamayoshida section by the spring of 2017.

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August 21, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)