» Building a town for decommissioning as a part of reconstruction plans

2014/06/09

The government’s reconstruction plans for Fukushima Prefecture include creating a town for 5,000 people tasked with decommissioning the Fukushima No.1 plant, but some local leaders doubt anyone else will want to live there.

According to the proposal of the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the new town will help to create jobs and prompt evacuees to return to their homes near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The decommissioning process for the four reactors at the plant is expected to take between 30 and 40 years to complete.

However, some local officials said that emphasizing the decommissioning work could underline the severity of the nuclear accident and further delay the return of residents who fled their homes after the 2011 nuclear accident started.
One proposal in the plan is to rebuild the coastal area of Fukushima by focusing on decommissioning work.

According to the plan, an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 engineers and workers will be needed to handle technological development and actual decommissioning work. Several hundred researchers would also be required for the task.

<Media Report>
‘Reactor decommissioning town’ planned to rebuild Fukushima (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:evacuation, news, plant workers, TEPCO

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