information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
27 Février 2012
February 28, 2012
Futaba Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa, who boycotted a meeting between the central government and municipalities near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Sunday, said he strongly mistrusts the government regarding the planned construction of intermediate storage facilities for contaminated soil.
Sunday's meeting between the government and eight towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture's Futaba County was canceled after the mayors of Futaba, Hirono and Namie refused to attend.
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono and Tatsuo Hirano, state minister for disaster reconstruction, were scheduled to explain at the meeting about the government's policy concerning the location and conditions of the planned intermediate storage facilities.
Construction of the intermediate storage facilities remains uncertain with the eight municipalities divided over the plan.
"The government lies all the time," Idogawa reportedly told Hirano when Idogawa telephoned him at about 10 a.m. Sunday. "I don't know what to believe."
Idogawa told Hirano he would boycott the meeting scheduled for later Sunday. He said the reason was that the local newspaper reported earlier on the day that the government would explain during the meeting about the purchase of sites for intermediate storage facilities, a topic that was not originally included in the agenda of the meeting.
Idogawa opposes the construction of intermediate storage facilities in Futaba County.
In contrast, Naraha Mayor Takashi Kusano said there is no choice but to accept the facilities to help bring about residents' early return.
The meeting to be attended by eight town and village mayors was to have been the first venue for the government and the municipalities to exchange opinions. It was meant to discuss residents' return to their homes as well as the order of decontamination work.
In April, the government will reorganize the 20-kilometer no-entry zone and expanded evacuation zone into three areas on the basis of estimated annual levels of radiation exposure. Decontamination work will then start from areas with low radiation levels.
However, without intermediate storage facilities for contaminated soil, it is impossible to proceed with decontamination. This could delay residents' return.
The Environment Ministry therefore plans, acting upon a request from local municipalities, to construct four intermediate storage facilities instead of one as previously considered. The ministry has already prepared schematics for them.
The ministry estimated the maximum amount of contaminated soil in Fukushima Prefecture at 28 million cubic meters. As a result of its survey on characteristics of the terrain and ground of Futaba County, the ministry concluded it would be difficult to construct a single intermediate storage facility that could hold such a large amount of contaminated soil.
However, opinions were divided within the ministry whether to present the plan to construct four intermediate storage facilities at the meeting.
"If we talk about the intermediate storage facilities, the meeting will stop because the Futaba mayor will likely leave the room," said a ministry official who was reluctant to discuss the facilities at the meeting.
Another official said, "Choosing locations for the facilities has to come first [before anything else can be done], so we should present the plan [to construct facilities at the meeting]."
A senior Environment Ministry official said, "Eventually, we made reconstruction the major agenda at the meeting because it would be attended by Hirano, the state minister for disaster reconstruction, and decided to explain [about the facilities] if the mayors asked."
Tomioka Mayor Katsuya Endo, who came to the venue, said, "It's regrettable [it was canceled] because we were to start discussions with the government on all the problems."
Hirono Mayor Motohoshi Yamada, who boycotted the meeting, said: "If Mayor Idogawa, chairman of the Futaba mayors group, decided not to attend, I had to refuse as deputy chairman.
"I also was mistrustful of the government."
Namie Mayor Tamotsu Baba said, "I want the government to explain how to solve problems and understand our requests."
Hosono said: "I'd like to apologize to those who did not attend the meeting. It's entirely our responsibility."
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