No local consent without a plan for final disposal

December 17, 2013

Editorial: Gov't must offer convincing rationale for interim storage facilities in Fukushima

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20131217p2a00m0na011000c.html

The government has officially requested approval from the Fukushima Prefectural Government and three local municipalities to host interim storage facilities for radioactive waste generated through decontamination work following the outbreak of the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

Local governments and residents who now face the prospect of having interim storage facilities built in their communities in addition to the effects of the disaster itself are in a tortuous position. Without storage facilities, neither decontamination nor reconstruction can proceed.

The government must make the effort to thoroughly explain its plans for compensation and reconstruction assistance measures, and obtain consent for construction of storage facilities while guaranteeing the safety of the facilities.

Bags filled with soil contaminated with radiation have been left out in the open on privately owned land and temporary storage yards across Fukushima Prefecture because of a lack of interim storage facilities.

According to government plans, the interim storage facilities would be located on a total area of 19 square kilometers -- 11 square kilometers and five square kilometers in the towns of Okuma and Futaba, respectively, which surround the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant; and three square kilometers in the town of Naraha, adjacent to the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant -- that the government hopes to acquire, and have a total capacity of up to 28 million cubic meters.

Each town would house facilities to store contaminated soil, volume reduction systems and buffer zones. The construction of the facilities would cost approximately 1 trillion yen in total, and the government is aiming to begin installation in January 2015. The government has also requested approval from the town of Tomioka to use an existing disposal site.

Local municipalities are wavering, because despite a Cabinet resolution to dispose of the contaminated soil at a final disposal site outside Fukushima Prefecture within 30 years, they fear the interim storage facilities will wind up becoming final disposal sites. Even if interim storage lasts for only 30 years as promised, residents living in the proposed construction areas will be forced to give up returning to their homes.

The government says it intends to write its vow for final disposal outside the prefecture into law, but there are no prospects for securing a final disposal site. Local residents' concerns will not be dispelled unless the government comes up with a specific plan for securing a final disposal site.

The majority of Futaba and Okuma have been classified as difficult-to-return zones, while Naraha is an area preparing for the lifting of evacuation orders. This has some Naraha residents asking why an interim storage facility should be built in a community where people will likely be able to return.

As a total of at least 2,000 different people are said to own the land the government hopes to buy in Okuma, Futaba and Naraha, sale negotiations will not be easy. The government must provide compensation sufficient for residents to rebuild their lives in their new communities, and this runs the risk of cutting a chasm through residents based on interim storage facility candidacy and the provision of government compensation payments. It is a reminder that the repercussions of the nuclear disaster are far-reaching.

The government must demonstrate rationally why these three municipalities were selected, and hammer out a recovery-assistance plan that takes into consideration a wide range of input from residents.

Mass volumes of contaminated soil will be transported to storage facilities by trucks. Building dedicated roadways and otherwise readying transportation networks for traffic jams and accidents is another challenge that must be overcome.

Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato said the national government's request brought the issue to the "starting line." The prefectural government's ability for consensus-building will be put to the test.