Fukushima residents torn over nuclear waste storage plan

"JESCO, a taxpayer-backed group with no experience in dealing with nuclear radiation, was put in charge of operating the trash facility,...."

that's nice....what could possibly go wrong?

Turbo,

This guys land IS CLOSE, hence being used for storage!!

There should be plenty of space available near the destroyed nuclear power plant to put all the country's radioactive waste. They are not going to use that land for anything else any time soon.

I'd say take the money for the land and leave. Better to just start somewhere else. We all know that the cleanup will take at least 30, maybe 40 years so why staying around that area? I know I'm not in their shoes so I don't really know how difficult it must be but land will be needed for all that storage. Better use that land around the plant rather spreading it around the nation.

I feel for this guy, his losses are HUGE........................that said its 4yrs now since 3/11 he needs to realize he can NEVER go back to live on his land, it pains me to be blunt, however this kind of "thinking" along with massive govt incompetence & corruption is really screwing any chances of solving problems.

Time enough has passed common sense needs to prevail & as tough as it is people need to accept compensation & move on elsewhere, the majority aren't going to be able to move back.

And a lot of this "decontamination" is just STUPID, proper options for people to make new lives elsewhere need to implemented & pronto

Hope Mitsubishi will be able to create a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Calif Solar Energy subsidiary there leasing lands. Nuclear energy industry hates solar energy business in Japan, though.

"radioactive waste"

Wow, if other industries produced waste this toxic, they would be out of business, but the nuclear industry gets away with it because... what was the reason again?

This is the social and psychological damage that continues to this day and can only change when there is genuine truth, credibility, and accountability.

You'll never find those qualities when nuclear industry is involved, and not only in Japan. I'm against nuclear power everywhere. No matter how they try to say that it's "safe". No. It's never safe. But without nuclear reactors you are not able to build nuclear weapons...so, it's impossible for us, ordinary people, trying to stop the nuclear business. In Italy, thans to two referendum we were able to say "no" to nuclear reactors in Italy. But we buy energy produced by nuclear reactors from France.

The Japanese government and the nuclear authorities have never established trust nor developed genuine empathy for the victims. This lack of trust and empathy are so obvious that those who have suffered see only calculation and cynicism.

This is the social and psychological damage that continues to this day and can only change when there is genuine truth, credibility, and accountability. These are the minimal bases for trust and empathy.

No matter how you feel about nuclear power or the government, it is a simple fact that the waste exists and has to be put somewhere. The other option is to stop the clean-up, in which case these people will not have any chance of EVER getting their land back. At least this plan gives them some hope.

Yes, a final storage solution is needed. But does waiting until a final location is found and ready do anybody any good?

Increase my risk of cancer or not? Hhmmm, tough call.

Nice ironic touch. at least they won't have to transport it far.....

That's an interesting comment about what the governement is going to do with the thousands of tons of waste after 30 years. My guess is, nothing! They don't have anywhere to store it now, so why would they have anywhere to store it in another 30 years? They haven't thought that far ahead. They currently have nowhere to store the waste generated by normal use of the other 52 reactors either. They suggested one plan, which is to bury it in a deep dark hole somewhere along a fault line for future generations to deal with. In other words, just sweep it under the carpet! Perfect! They are gonna need a big hole for the thousands of tone of scraped soil, building materials, cars, ships and anything that was irradiated during their 'man-made' truck up!

Einstein: “The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. (1945)”

“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”

The land in question is uninhabitable and will remain so for decades. Most of the people complaining will not live to see the day they can return to their land. Given this, I find it strange that they still resist taking the government's money. Do they really expect the nuclear waste to be moved somewhere else? The people of Fukushima took the bribes/subsidies to have the nuclear plants located there, now they must pay the price.

But the government are also lying when they talk about "temporary" storage for 30 years: everyone knows the land will be used in perpetuity. Why not admit it?

Oh my god. He lost his wife, daughter, father and his home people.

Do you really expect him to make rational decisions under such distress?

Really people, stop pretending his life can get back to normal in a pinch.

The fact that he is risking his life to keep searching for the bodies of his loved ones every day...

The most we can do on this comment page is offer sympathy.

“We understand that residents have concerns. But we have made this promise at the highest level.”

Ha ha ha! Thanks for my morning laugh. Statements like this are all the more cause for concern.

I agree with Nikeya. There really are no other choices.

"Norio Kimura fears he may lose his land, too" Good Point! http://netc.com/

klausdorth,

Those are good questions. I am not sure if they need that much land, I was thinking 1 or 2 sq. kilometres...but what do I know?

As I have said before, figure a way to cut this piece of land off from the mainland, tug it out to sea and dump it at some deep point. The contanimated area just grows and grows ... and soon it will occupy way too much space. If it keeps going as it is, government officials will have to keep looking for new places to dump it. Just so they don't bring it into the heavily populated Kanto area.

I just feel sorry for Kimurasan. Poor guy lost everything. Land and money mean nothing compared to the loss of his daughter, wife and father. The Japanese government is as greasy as it ever was. Nothing has change regarding politics in Japan for thousands of years. Normal hard working people are still being screwed.

This may sound cruel, but what else can he do with that land? It's not like he'll be able to live there again. The government should give them land in a different location as compensation, though.

I am sorry to say this but, yes, it should be handled by the host city. So the next time people and authorities in other cities around Japan, feel greedy and want to vote for building or restarting a nuc power plant, maybe, they will consider this outcome.

I assume they would be more than fairly compensated? (And this money should come out of Tepco's cash/ other assets first).

And where does the gov't propose to move the stuff after 30 years?

If I were one of these landowners, I'd take the money and start over elsewhere.

Go where I know is clean and free from radiation and start a new life.

There is no future in the immediate surrounds of Fukushima Dai Ichi. There's nothing to hold out for.

Ah, but, nuclear power is cheap and so wonderful, isn't it? Somehow, I don't think the residents of Fukushima or the majority of the population would agree. It still boggles my mind as to why the LDP is so committed to reinstating nuclear power. They have clearly reached the point where economics surpasses common sense.