Transportation of radioactive waste will have to wait (2)

January 16, 2015

Govt. delays transportation of radioactive waste

Jan. 16, 2015 - Updated 09:21 UTC+1

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

Japan's government has decided to delay the start of moving radioactive waste created by the Fukushima nuclear accident to intermediate storage facilities.

Environment Minister Yoshio Mochiduki said on Friday that the ministry had given up its initial plan to begin the work by the end of January.

Mochiduki expressed hope to start the work by March 11th, the 4th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that led to the nuclear accident.

He said the government has to ask local authorities and residents to keep waste at temporary storage sites for several more years because it's impossible to transport the large amount of waste all at once.

The government has chosen a 16-square-kilometer area straddling Futaba and Okuma towns in Fukushima Prefecture for the facilities. But the project has made little progress.

Radioactive soil and other waste stemming from decontamination work have been kept at 1,037 sites in 53 out of 59 municipalities in the prefecture.

75,000 other locations, including private property and parking lots, are also used as temporary storage sites.

Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori said the intermediate facilities are a huge nuisance for local communities, but essential for the reconstruction of his prefecture.

He urged the central government to answer the prefecture's request to ensure safety during transportation of contaminated waste.

The governor added that he will deal with the matter by taking into account the public's wish to get rid of the waste and the troubles the intermediate storage facilities bring to the host municipalities.

Gov't to postpone moving radioactive waste to interim storage sites

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150116p2g00m0dm075000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki said Friday the government has given up its plan to begin this month transporting radioactively contaminated soil and other waste, collected during decontamination work following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, to interim storage sites at nearby towns.

The government now aims to begin such transportation by March 11 this year on the fourth anniversary of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, Environment Ministry officials said.

The delay was due to difficulties obtaining agreement from residents near the interim storage sites and local municipalities, the officials said.

Under the government plan, the radioactively contaminated waste will be kept in the interim facilities in the towns of Futaba and Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture and will be permanently disposed of outside the prefecture within 30 years, as requested by the Fukushima prefectural government in accepting the storage.

The site for final disposal of the radioactive waste has yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, Reconstruction Minister Wataru Takeshita offered an apology over the delay.

In October 2011, the government led by then Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda released the target to begin the delivery of contaminated waste to interim storage sites in January 2015.