Transfer of Fukushima Clean-Up Waste gets Go-Ahead

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Related Environmental Issues

Date posted: 03/04/15

World Nuclear News reports that the transfer of radioactive soil and waste generated from clean-up work following the March 2011 tidal waves at the Fukushima Daiichi plant to a provisional storage site has been approved by the Governor of Fukushima Prefecture and the Mayors of Futaba and Okuma. In August 2014, the then governor of Fukushima Prefecture Yuhei Sato approved a central government plan to construct an interim storage facility on land on the border between the neighbouring towns of Futaba and Okuma. Governor Masao Uchibori met with Shiro Izawa and Toshitsuna Watanabe - the Mayors of the towns of Futaba and Okuma, respectively - on 24 February to discuss the construction of the facility. Both mayors indicated they would permit the transfer of contaminated soil to a provisional site, part of the planned interim facility. Watanabe was cited as saying that it was a difficult decision to accept the transfer of waste to the site, but that there is no alternative. In January, 2015, the Japanese government allotted JPY 75.8 billion 645 million dollars, for the construction of temporary storage facilities for waste from clean-up activities in Fukushima Prefecture. This figure includes JPY 4.4 billion - 37 million dollars for land purchases, JPY 70.7 billion 601 million for construction, and JPY 700 million 6 million dollars for research. The government plans to start deliveries of the radioactive soil and waste to the interim facility by 11 March, 2015.