Temporary waste storage: Convincing municipalities

October 6, 2015

Govt. sets plan to promote nuclear waste storage

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

Oct. 6, 2015 - Updated 09:57 UTC+2

Japan's government plans to make it easier for municipalities to accept radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.

The government is promoting a program to reprocess spent nuclear fuel for reuse. But a reprocessing plant under construction at Rokkasho Village in northern Japan has not been able to fully accept such fuel due to a series of problems.

The uncollected fuel remains in pools at nuclear plants across the country. Some pools could fill up as more reactors are restarted.

The plan finalized on Tuesday is aimed at pushing for building intermediate storage facilities and introducing so-called dry cask storage systems.

It calls for setting up a council of officials from the central government and power company, and urging each firm to draw up a specific plan to urge local governments to accept nuclear waste.

The plan also includes increasing grants to local governments based on how much nuclear waste they accept.

Municipalities are wary of having to keep nuclear waste for long periods. The government and power companies face the challenge of convincing municipalities that the waste will be kept there safely and temporarily.