Increase Gov't involvement

 November 4, 2013

Govt. to be more involved in Fukushima cleanup

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131104_18.html

The Japanese government plans to increase its involvement in recovery efforts from the Fukushima nuclear accident. Efforts include financing work to remove radioactive material from soil and decommission reactors at the Fukushima plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a speech in Tokyo on Monday that it's high time to review the policy for recovery efforts.

Suga said the previous government, led by the Democratic Party, chose to have Tokyo Electric Power Company respond to the accident on its own, even though the government could have taken charge of some of the work.

Suga said the government will coordinate its policy with proposals from the main governing Liberal Democratic Party.

An LDP taskforce came up with proposals last week, suggesting that after current decontamination plans are carried out, the government could finance further cleanup efforts as a public works project.

It also called for a greater government role in decommissioning damaged reactors, building and managing facilities for storing soil removed in the decontamination process, and addressing the problem of tainted water leaks.

On Friday, Finance Minister Taro Aso said he respects and will carefully study the proposal