Win people's approval

January 1, 2013

Govt. to seek local consent for storage facilities

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140101_19.html

Japanese government officials are getting ready to explain to people in Fukushima the details of a plan to store radioactive waste collected from decontamination work.

The intermediate storage facilities would be designed to hold contaminated soil and debris for up to 30 years.
Last month, the central government asked three towns around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to host them.

Officials plan to spend two months telling local people about the safety of the facilities. They will also explain how they plan to compensate for land or buildings they need to expropriate.

They're aiming to win approval for the plan as soon as possible so they can start using the facilities in January 2015.

But some locals say they don't want to give up land their families have owned for generations. Others say they're afraid the existence of the facilities would hamper rebuilding efforts.

Jan. 1, 2014 - Updated 08:14 UTC