Japan: Don't Store Nuclear Waste At Kids' Playgrounds!
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: President Toru Yamaji, Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan
Japan has a literal ton of nuclear waste that needs storing. Ideally, all of this waste would sit safely in storage facilities around the country. Until then, nuclear waste is being buried and piled in residential areas, local parks, and schools--often unbeknownst to the public.
These legal "on-site storage" places add up to 1,027 schools, 788 parks, as well as 597 residential areas in Koriyama. The city's reluctance to broadcast the locations of these nuclear waste storage sites has made many citizens suspicious of government regulation.
Japan's laws do not require that warning signs be put up on these on-site storage spaces, nor do they require groundwater testing to make sure buried nuclear waste isn't contaminating drinking water. Unmarked spaces holding contaminated debris lie all over, as kids play right beside them.
Tell Japan to stop quietly storing dangerous nuclear waste at schools, parks, and residential areas!
Dear President Tory Yamaji,
Japan's plan to safely store waste is a wonderful next-step--but please do not move forward with this plan until the proper regulation and transparency are in place to protect the public!
Storing nuclear waste at on-site storage places like schools, parks, and residential areas is troublesome enough. But doing so sneakily, without any signs or fences indicating that contaminated debris sits in heaps right next to where children play, is a vast transparency issue that keeps parents worried about exposing their children to radiation.
Your comments added here.
Please also implement the proper safety precautions, regardless of where the waste is buried. The testing of nearby groundwater should be required, as we can't just assume that buried contaminated debris remain isolated and untouched by the water supply.
Stop letting regulation slide and make a clear, safe, and transparent plan for storing Japan's nuclear waste!
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
