Seventy-six percent of residents from candidate areas to store soil contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima disaster would reluctantly accept interim storage facilities in their neighborhoods, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
Seventy-six percent of residents from candidate areas to store soil contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima disaster would reluctantly accept interim storage facilities in their neighborhoods, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.
The survey results showed that some respondents are abandoning hope of returning to their homes around the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, and are now moving to rebuild their lives elsewhere.
The Asahi Shimbun sent questionnaires to 788 residents of the candidate areas and their surroundings in early December, and obtained responses from 305, or 39 percent.
The candidate areas, designated by the Environment Ministry, are located in the three towns of Futaba, Okuma and Naraha in Fukushima Prefecture.
Almost all of the respondents live away from their homes.
On the question of how they would feel if an interim storage facility were built at or near their homes, 76 percent of the respondents said they would "understand" or "be inclined to understand" the need for such a plan. Twenty-four percent said they would either "not understand" or "be inclined to not understand" the necessity of the plan.
Eighty-two percent of those who would “understand” or be inclined to accept such plans cited the difficulty in returning to their old homes, while 62 percent noted that radiation levels are higher there than elsewhere.
Fifty-eight percent said they hope their land will soon be purchased so that they can start rebuilding their lives, while 52 percent called for further decontamination efforts across Fukushima Prefecture.
When asked to provide comments, some of the respondents expressed a sense of resignation over their inability to move back home and impatience about the delay in rebuilding efforts.
Those who signaled their approval were also asked to list conditions for their acceptance of the interim storage facilities. Seventy percent said "continual assistance to help end the evacuation and rebuild lives," while 67 percent cited "acceptable land purchase prices."
Sixty-three percent cited "safety of the facility."
Thirty-three percent of those who expressed opposition to the storage plans said they could change their stance if certain conditions are met.
When asked to name these conditions, 50 percent cited "acceptable terms for (land) purchases," 36 percent said "a decision on the location of the final disposal site," and 36 percent pointed to "assistance measures to help rebuild lives."
Nineteen percent of the opponents said they would not change their views under any condition.
(This article was written by Takayuki Kihara and Shunsuke Kimura.)