第７部　廃炉の最終形❹　不透明さ、参入の壁　精緻な工程表求める声

“From the local point of view, it looks like an immense undertaking beyond anyone’s capacity to handle.” A construction contractor in Futaba County speaks with a trace of irony about the still undefined work of decommissioning Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The present failure to specify the final form, or end state, has bred ambiguity around the process leading to completion of decommissioning and around the substance of the work itself. As a result, the contractor says, firms cannot tell whether their own technologies can be put to use, leading some businesses to hesitate before entering the field.

「地元から見て手に負えない巨大事業のように映っている」。双葉郡の建設事業者は、全容が定まらない東京電力福島第１原発の廃炉作業について皮肉交じりに語る。最終形（エンドステート）が明示されない現状は、廃止措置完了までの過程や作業内容の曖昧さを生んでいる。結果として自社の技術が生かせるのか判然とせず、事業者が参入に足踏みする事例につながっているという。

In decommissioning, where the work ranges widely, opportunities for local businesses to take part are gradually increasing, from the construction of seawalls to the operation of volume-reduction treatment facilities and the dismantling of exhaust stacks. At the same time, much of the work requires advanced technology, and some tasks demand particular qualifications and experience. When a new firm with little connection to prime contractors and little on-site experience tries to enter the field, it is not easy to build the necessary organization in a short period. The contractor reveals that “there have also been cases in which companies in Nakadori that had been considering participation gave up.”

作業が多岐に及ぶ廃炉では、防潮堤設置工事や減容処理設備の運用、排気筒の解体作業など地元事業者が関わる機会は増えつつある。一方で、高度な技術を要する作業が多く、資格や経験が求められるものもある。元請けとの関わりや作業経験の少ない新規の事業者が参入しようとした場合、短期間で体制をつくるのは容易ではない。この事業者は「検討していた中通りの企業が断念したケースもある」と明かす。

As key operations such as the removal of molten nuclear fuel, or debris, move into full swing, the contractor voices a candid appeal to the national government and TEPCO: “We want them to show, clearly and concretely, what path there is for local companies to make use of their strengths.”

溶融核燃料（デブリ）取り出しなどの重要作業が本格化する中、国、東電に対し「地元企業がどんな強みを生かせるのか具体的な道筋をはっきりと示してほしい」と本音を吐露する。

It has long been pointed out that the lack of specificity about the end state and the steps required to reach it “is affecting the industrialization of decommissioning.” If the precise contents of work orders are hard to see, then it becomes difficult for companies to enter the field through careful planning, from securing the necessary personnel and building organizations to developing technologies and establishing production systems.

最終形とそこに至るまでの工程の具体性の乏しさは「廃炉の産業化に影響を及ぼしている」と長きにわたって指摘されていた。具体的な工事の発注内容が見えにくければ、必要な人材の確保や組織づくり、技術開発や生産体制の構築など綿密な計画を立てて参入するのが困難なためだ。

As a measure to spell out in greater detail the roadmap that serves as the guide for decommissioning, the national government and TEPCO have drawn up a medium- to long-term implementation plan and update it every year. The work planned for the coming three years is described on a year-by-year basis. By contrast, while the plan includes outlines of construction work and facilities roughly four to twelve years ahead, it gives no clear timing, and from the thirteenth year onward the opacity deepens. From the standpoint of grasping the progress of the work as well, calls are growing for the authorities to consolidate, at least once, not only the end state but also information now coming to light, such as the properties of the debris, and to create a more precise roadmap.

廃炉の指針となるロードマップの内容を細かく示す対策として、国、東電は中長期実行プランを作成し、毎年更新。直近３年の作業内容などは年単位で記されている。一方、４～１２年程度先の工事や設備の概要などは盛り込まれているが、時期は明示されておらず、１３年目以降は不透明さを増す。作業の進捗［しんちょく］を把握する面からも、最終形だけでなく、判明しつつあるデブリの性状などの情報を一度集約し、精緻なロードマップを作成するよう求める声は高まっている。

Toshi Yanagihara, a visiting professor at the University of Fukui and a member of the Waste Management Subcommittee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, emphasizes that industrial clustering is important for solving decommissioning problems that electric power companies cannot address on their own. Citing the example of Fukui Prefecture, where government and businesses are working together and moves are advancing toward turning the recycling of waste generated by decommissioning into a business, he points to the need to improve the current situation, in which processes and interim goals remain unclear, in order to increase the number of participating companies and partnerships.

日本原子力学会廃棄物検討分科会の柳原敏（福井大客員教授）は、電力事業者だけでは対応できない廃炉の課題解決に向け産業集積が重要と強調。福井県で行政や事業者が連携し、廃炉で生じる廃棄物のリサイクルのビジネス化に向けた動きが進んでいる例を挙げ、関わる企業や連携を増やすためにも工程や中間目標が明瞭でない現状の改善を指摘する。

In recent years TEPCO has been trying various approaches to encourage local companies to take part, such as presenting near-term construction plans. It has created opportunities, through prime contractors and others, to explain the outlook for orders for equipment inspections, construction work, and related tasks, and this is said to have led to broad participation.

東電は地元企業の参画を促すため、近年は直近の工事予定を示すなど試行錯誤を重ねている。元請けなどを通して設備の点検や工事などの発注見通しを説明する機会を設け、多くの参画にもつながっているという。

Within Futaba County, companies are becoming more active, including by working to acquire the qualifications needed to engage in the work. Reiko Hachisuka, chair of the Okuma Town Society of Commerce and Industry, says of the long-term decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, “The highest priority is to advance the work safely and steadily.” As a foundation for that, she says, it is important for local companies to cultivate people who can be involved over the long term and gain experience, and to create an environment in which businesses can be passed on to the generations of children and grandchildren. She called on the national government and others “not to neglect the effort to keep communicating locally about what kinds of jobs there are, and about the details and outlook for the work, so that more young people will become involved.” (Honorifics omitted in the text.)

双葉郡内では、従事するために必要な資格取得に取り組むなど企業の動きが活発化している。大熊町商工会長の蜂須賀礼子は長期にわたる福島第１原発の廃炉について「安全かつ着実に作業を進めるのが最優先」と語る。その土台として地元企業にとって長く携わり経験を持つ人材の育成、子や孫の世代にまで事業をつなげる環境づくりが重要とする。「関わる若い世代を増やすため、どういった仕事があるか、作業の詳細や展望について地元に発信し続ける努力を欠かさないでほしい」と国などに求めた。（文中敬称略）