Will it be Chiba?

April 24, 2015

Radioactive waste storage site proposed

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150424_43.html

Apr. 24, 2015 - Updated 13:31 UTC+2

The government has presented Chiba City and Chiba Prefecture with a plan to build a facility to store radioactive waste at a Tokyo Electric Power Company site in Chiba City.

TEPCO is the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant.

The government plans to build facilities to store radioactive waste in 5 prefectures. This follows the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima Daiichi. The waste has cesium levels of more than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram.

State Minister for the Environment Yasuhiro Ozato on Friday met Chiba Mayor Yasuhiro Kumagai and Chiba Prefectural Governor Kensaku Morita.

Ozato proposed the site in Chiba and asked for their cooperation in studying it. The environment ministry chose the location from a list of about 5,000.

The candidate site is an approximately 34 thousand-square kilometer-field within TEPCO's thermal power plant compound. It's in an industrial zone along Tokyo Bay, and is several kilometers from any residential area.

Mayor Kumagai said he cannot make a quick decision, He added he will consider the proposal carefully, based on the residents' safety and security.

He also asked the ministry to explain the plan to the residents and local assembly.

The ministry had proposed building storage sites in Miyagi and Tochigi Prefectures but met strong local opposition.