» Environment minister requesting Fukushima authority to check safety of planned interim storage facilities

2015/02/09

The environment minister proposed to give Fukushima Prefecture and two prefectural towns the authority to check the safety of planned interim storage facilities for radioactive waste as part of a safety agreement proposal.

Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki met with Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori at the prefectural government office on Feb. 8 to present the safety agreement proposal over interim storage plans for contaminated soil and other radioactive waste generated by the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The government plans to build interim storage facilities in the Fukushima towns of Okuma and Futaba.

The ministry offered the prefectural and municipal governments the authority to carry out on-site inspections, and when the safety of the facilities cannot be confirmed, the local governments will be able to demand a halt to construction of the storehouses and to accepting the contaminated waste.

As the construction plans for interim storage facilities have not been finalized as the government is facing difficulty in reaching agreement with local landowners, the Environment Ministry started construction work for different temporary storage sites on Feb. 3 to keep the radioactive soil and other waste for the time being. The ministry is looking to transfer the contaminated waste to the temporary storage sites by March 11, the fourth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

<Media report>
Gov’t offers Fukushima Pref. authority to check safety of radioactive waste storage facilities (Mainichi Newspaper)

Tags:japanese government, news, nuclear waste

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