Extra 11 billion yen requested for decontamination

January 8, 2013

Ministry seeks 11 bil. yen for decontamination centers in Fukushima

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130108p2g00m0dm019000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Environment Ministry said Monday that it requested around 11 billion yen as part of an envisioned extra budget for fiscal 2012 to build centers for research on radiation decontamination in Fukushima Prefecture.

The government earlier allocated 8 billion yen for the centers to the northeastern prefecture that is struggling in the aftermath of the devastating accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011.

The centers, with the cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and domestic institutions, are expected to conduct research and development of technologies to clean the environment and dispose of contaminated waste, a ministry official said.

According to a plan unveiled by the prefecture last October, the centers will also have radiation monitoring functions, while developing human resources with knowledge on environmental radioactivity.

The prefecture plans to place the centers at two locations, one in the town of Miharu and another in the city of Minamisoma, at an area just outside the 20-kilometer radius of the crippled nuclear complex.