Chosen municipalities not happy about it

 January 21, 2014

Gov't seeks to designate Miyagi Pref. municipality as final nuke waste disposal site

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140121p2a00m0na003000c.html

SENDAI -- The Ministry of the Environment said on Jan. 20 that it wants to designate three municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture as candidate sites for permanently storing so-called "designated waste" including radioactive materials, asking them to accept its plan to conduct geological surveys there with an eye to singling out the most suitable site.

The municipalities selected for candidate disposal sites are Kurihara, Kami and Taiwa. The government wants to bury such waste, produced in Miyagi Prefecture in connection with the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, underground in one of the municipalities. The waste does not include radioactive soil produced in Fukushima Prefecture in the process of decontamination efforts.

It is the first time the government led by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito has shown a list of candidate disposal sites for designated waste. The government plans to eventually select one municipality as the final disposal site.

The proposal was presented to Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai and mayors of all municipalities in the prefecture at a mayors' meeting held at a hotel in Sendai. Senior Vice Minister of the Environment Shinji Inoue said, "We will put an enormous burden on municipalities that are selected as candidate sites, but we want to ask for your cooperation in disposing of designated waste from across the prefecture."

In selecting candidate sites, the government initially ruled out those areas that could suffer from natural disasters such as tsunami and landslides as well as areas near tourist spots which had attracted at least 500,000 visitors annually over five years prior to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The government then selected a government-owned site in each of the three municipalities from among 17 locations in six municipalities owned by the central government and the Miyagi Prefectural Government that could each provide 2.5 hectares of land necessary for the project.

The selection of the three candidate sites was based on assessments of three factors -- distance from local communities, distance from water sources and the availability of nature. After conducting underground excavations to confirm the safety of the sites, the government plans to eventually pick one location. For any municipality that accepts the government proposal, the government promised to take measures to promote the local economy and prevent harmful rumors.

Kami Mayor Hirobumi Inomata said, "This is the worst location as local residents strongly opposed even a plan to store pasture grass contaminated with low levels of radiation. We can't cooperate."

The mayors of the other two municipalities also expressed reservations about the plan, saying in part that they had already been receiving a flood of protests against the scheme. But on the morning of Jan. 21, Kurihara Mayor Isamu Sato expressed his intention to accept the government's plan to conduct a geological survey on condition that the two other municipalities do the same and a resident briefing is held. Miyagi Gov. Murai, meanwhile, expressed his intention to play a mediator role, saying, "Nothing will move forward if we say 'no' because of opposition from residents."

Separately, the government plans to store soil contaminated with more than 100,000 becquerels of radiation per kilogram, which has been produced in the process of decontamination efforts in Fukushima Prefecture, for 30 years in interim storage facilities in three municipalities -- Okuma, Futaba and Naraha -- near the crippled nuclear complex in the prefecture. However the government plans to ultimately bury and dispose of the soil outside the prefecture, although no final storage sites for the waste have been decided.

January 21, 2014(Mainichi Japan)

See also :

Three candidate sites picked in Miyagi for radioactive waste disposal

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/21/national/three-candidate-sites-picked-in-miyagi-for-radioactive-waste-disposal/#.Ut5Kt7TjJ1s

JIJI

SENDAI – Three state-owned candidate sites for the final disposal of radioactive waste have been selected in Miyagi Prefecture, the Environment Ministry said Monday.

The three municipalities involved are the city of Kurihara and the towns of Kami and Taiwa, the ministry said at a meeting in Sendai.

Facilities to be built on one of the sites will dispose of waste tainted with over 8,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive fallout from the March 2011 triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The meeting was attended by representatives from all municipalities in Miyagi.

The ministry plans to eventually select one site after conducting extensive surveys. But participants from the three municipalities denied involvement in the selection process.

The ministry said the sites were chosen based on their risk of being affected by natural disasters and how far they are from sources of water.

The ministry excluded municipalities that hosted more than 500,000 tourists a year from 2006 to 2010, in line with criteria set out by Miyagi.

After the meeting, Kami Mayor Hirobumi Inomata said his town cannot cooperate with a plan worked out behind a desk.

Kurihara Mayor Isamu Sato complained that the site chosen in his city had suffered landslides caused by earthquakes in the past.

Taiwa Mayor Hajimu Asao said he wants to know how and why the site in his town was selected, adding that he has many more questions to ask the ministry.

The government also plans to pick final disposal sites in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba Prefectures.

January 20, 2014

Govt. lists candidate sites for radioactive debris

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

Japan's Environment Ministry has chosen 3 possible locations for disposing highly radioactive materials spread by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

The 3 are in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima.

Ministry officials made the announcement at a meeting attended by local mayors from the prefecture on Monday.

Storage built on the site will contain contaminated ash and mud with more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram.

Ministry officials say they chose the sites after taking into account the distance from water sources and residential areas. Environmental protection was also considered. Geological surveys will be conducted.

The government drew criticism after presenting candidate sites in 2 prefectures in 2012 without consulting local authorities.

The government reviewed its selection process and agreed to involve the mayors.

Miyagi is the first prefecture that has chosen candidate sites under the revised process.

The final plan is to build a storage site in Miyagi and sites in 4 other prefectures in eastern Japan.