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The government on Sunday announced that it has chosen three towns in Fukushima Prefecture as potential locations for long-term storage of radioactive debris and topsoil resulting from decontamination activities in the area around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Environment minister Goshi Hosono, who is also the minister in charge of the nuclear crisis, said 12 sites will be built in Futaba (two), Okuma (nine) and Naraha (one), Fuji TV reported. Speaking at a meeting of municipal officials, Hosono said the government plans to conduct geological surveys to establish the suitability of the 12 sites for the storage of radioactive materials.
Hosono told a news conference after the meeting that the government plans to ask for further cooperation from other towns and villages in the future, Fuji reported.
Officials from the three towns appeared lukewarm toward the idea after the meeting. They have reportedly been resisting the selection due to a lack of agreement on compensation packages. They also said they cannot give a reply until they have had a chance to discuss the matter with residents.
All of the sites are said to be situated on the east side of National Highway Route 6. The government has announced its intention to perform geological tests at the sites, to check their suitability for embankment building, drilling and other construction operations, Fuji reported.
© Japan Today
18 Comments
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Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
There are state of the art storage facilities in France, can we ship them there?
hereforever
"Officials from the three towns appeared lukewarm toward the idea after the meeting. They have reportedly been resisting the selection due to a lack of agreement on compensation packages." I guess money talks.
tmarie
Keep it where it belongs! And keep the public away from it!
philly1
Don't forget that it's also just a few OLD people. Many of the affected towns had high numbers of aging and elderly people. The longer the government delays, the greater the chances that more will die off. That's money saved on compensation and new the new housing--not to mention hospitals & care homes--needed for them.
That 200 elderly people with nowhere else to go are still living in a school between cardboard partitions is appalling.
How quickly a nation forgets that these same people re-built and fed Japan in the aftermath of WWII. Their collective knowledge and skill base is an untapped asset going to waste--no longer valued by the fast-paced modern world that is happy to leave them behind. They're not even properly taken care of after everything they have done for their country.
Utrack
Oh man, 100 millisieverts or higher. The workers building the facilities to house the debris are going to be working in that. The workers who have to actually pick the debris and put it in the storage buildings too. I hope they all have leadlined suits and everything they need to minimize exposure.
Judith Kelman
On the one hand you might think that, as it's already overloaded with radioactivity, that's the right place to dump waste. then, on the other hand, what if there is another earthquake?
Time to stop building these disgusting things.
Utrack
Has anyone seen the radiation level readings for the areas in question where the debris is to be housed. I just thinking about the folks who have to build the facilities to house the debris. This website below gives readings for all Japan and SK but the readings don't make sense to me. I was thinking that maybe in Japan they are taking radiation reading higher up like meters in higher than they do in SK. Here is the link:
http://stubbytour.com/nuc/index_en.asp
nath
Because...
(1) It's an admission that there is a problem, when the government has done so much to try and convince people there isn't one.
(2) It costs a lot of money that they want to spend on other things like buying a couple of islands.
(3) They don't care. It's just a few people to them.
whiskeysour
Hopefully in the future, they will develop a (SAFE) rocket transport system and launch it into the Sun. It's the only safe way to dispose of Nuclear Waste.
Utrack
I don't see how those folks have not received compensation yet. J Govt owns TEPCO right. The Officials in those towns were probably looking forward to the meeting to discuss about the compensation of the citizens from their towns. J Govt needs to understand that All take and no give is not the way to run a Govt. Look out for your people J Govt.
But it is a good descision to keep the debris in the area in which it was created.
Ranger_Miffy2
Better than hauling it all over Japan and burning it in Tokyo and Shizuoka, in the middle of the tea plantations, etc. Sorry, but keep it where people already can't return. And for pity sake, resolve the compensation issues so people can find a home elsewhere!
MasterBape
Sad to note that the debris has found a new home, while evacuees still have no replacement home and continue to live in temporary housing.
Almost a year and a half on and why does the government choose to ignore the well-being of its people?
nath
So true, nichi. It's really sad.