Futaba says OK (2)

January 14, 2015

Futaba to accept radioactive soil storage facilities

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/14/national/futaba-accept-radioactive-soil-storage-facilities/#.VLYhlHt1Cos

JIJI

IWAKI, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – The Fukushima Prefecture town of Futaba will accept planned interim facilities to store radioactive soil left over from decontamination work stemming from the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, Mayor Shiro Izawa said Tuesday.

Izawa signaled the approval in talks with reporters at the town’s temporary office in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.

The central government plans to establish the storage facilities on a site straddling Futaba and the neighboring Fukushima town of Okuma. The Tepco plant was damaged heavily in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Last August, Yuhei Sato, then governor of Fukushima, approved the construction of the facilities, but the Futaba authorities did not clarify the town’s stance at the time. Okuma voiced its readiness to accept the plan in December.

At a meeting of Futaba assembly members on Tuesday, Izawa explained his intention to accept the storage facilities.

Later he told reporters, “We cannot move forward toward reconstruction unless we make a tough decision.”

But he said it is absolutely necessary that the central government will fully explain the plan to the owners of the land for the planned storage facilities.

Town near crippled nuclear facility OKs plan to build storage facility for waste

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201501140031

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

A town that co-hosts the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has agreed to the construction of an intermediate storage facility for radioactive debris generated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

"I decided we have no choice but to agree to hosting the facility. It was a difficult decision that was made purely for the sake of rebuilding and revitalizing Fukushima," Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa said Jan. 13 after a town assembly meeting.

The assembly members endorsed the mayor's decision, which essentially was a formality as the town had earlier approved the central government subsidy plan related to the site.

The town of Okuma, also a candidate site for a waste facility, as well as the Fukushima prefectural government, have already given approval to the plan.