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Official asks for survey of waste storage sites

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140121_26.html 

A senior Environment Ministry official has visited 3 candidate municipalities for storage of radioactive waste caused by the Fukushima disaster to seek consent for field surveys. But one mayor called the site selection process defective, and said he cannot agree to a survey.

The ministry plans to build final disposal facilities to store sewage sludge, incinerated ash and other waste contaminated with more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. The proposed facilities would be located in 5 prefectures, including Miyagi.

On Tuesday, Senior Vice Minister Shinji Inoue visited candidate municipalities Kurihara, Kami and Taiwa in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima. He asked the mayors for their cooperation in a geological survey that would narrow the candidate locations down to one in the prefecture.

But Kami Mayor Hirobumi Inomata said the site selection process is flawed, and he cannot accept a survey unless the ministry clarifies why his town was chosen.

The mayor pointed out that the ministry has said areas near sightseeing spots visited annually by more than 500,000 people should be exempt from becoming candidate sites. He stressed that more than 1 million tourists a year visit a mountain near the proposed site in his town.

Kurihara City Mayor Isamu Sato also expressed concern about hosting a storage facility, noting that the flow of water from the candidate site may flow into a reservoir.