Jacques Lochard からのお手紙１

#1 Kota Nakahira to Jacques Lochard, 3 Dec 2011

Dear Mr. Lochard,

Thank you very much for your visit and presentation at the Japanese
Government's working group discussion on the Fukushima accident,
held on 28 Nov.

I am a volunteer translator, and I am trying to introduce your view
and opinions to Fukushima people.

I have a question on your presentation slide, on page 19.
"To reduce the contribution of fire-ashes to the contamination of gardens"
I could not understand that the word "fire-ashes" means ashes come
from forest fire,
or using wood stove ashes to fertillize gardens.
Which is your true intention in this sentence?

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Best regards,
Kota Nakahira


#2 Jacques Lochard to Kota Nakahira, 4 Dec 2011

Dear Kota,
In Belarus villages, many people still use wood in stoves to heat and
also to cook food. The wood coming from the forest is contaminated and
ashes can be highly contaminated (up to several tens of thousands of
becquerels per kilogram). Before the ETHOS project people used to
spread the ashes on the gardens as fertilizer.  When they discovered
that the ashes were so highly contaminated they stopped to spread them
on the gardens and instead put them in holes in a remote place of
there gardens. The meaning of the sentence is that the villagers have
taken actions to reduce the contamination of the food products coming
from their gardens by stopping  to spread contaminated ashes coming
from their stoves to fertilize the gardens.
I do hope this is clear now. Do not hesitate to contact me if you need
further explanations for your translation.
All the best.
Jacques