Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in the fall of the year prior to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident.
The seeds were studied between the end of June and the beginning of July 2011
(Crop Horticulture Department of Fukushima Agricultural Technology Center
2011
).
The survey showed that rapeseed leaves growing at the time of the accident were
contaminated by the nuclear fallout. Likewise, radioactivity exceeding the provi-
sional standard (500 Bq/Technology) at that time was detected in the seeds.
It has been reported that when seeds containing 667.4 Bq/kg of radiation were
mechanically pressed to obtain the oil, the level of radioactive cesium in the oil was
3.63 Bq/kg, indicating that almost none of the radioactive cesium in the seeds
migrated to the pressed oil. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to accumulate further
data through fi eld work to ascertain the amount of radioactive cesium absorbed
from the soil and the amount of radioactive cesium contained in the rapeseed oil
produced from the seed. However, since the amounts of radioactive cesium remain-
ing in the BDF manufactured from the rapeseed oil are extremely small, it is thought
that the BDF can be used as vehicle fuel in the local area.
In the future, rapeseed will not only be cultivated on farmland where salt removal
operations have not yet begun, but will be put to use in accordance with the actual
situation in each area. This would include, for instance, the production of oil in
order to build up a regional energy self-suffi ciency system. In locations which have
been polluted by radioactive substances, the cultivation of rapeseed may also be
carried out as a raw material for the production of BDF (Fig.
18.7
).
Fig. 18.7
Restoration of agriculture and production of eco-energy by rapeseed
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