Facing strong criticism from Fukushima prefectural government officials, the central government said it will expand the range of areas in the prefecture subject to decontamination from radiation--and pay for the extra costs.
Facing strong criticism from Fukushima prefectural government officials, the central government said it will expand the range of areas in the prefecture subject to decontamination from radiation--and pay for the extra costs.
The new contamination standard could cover not only major cities in central Fukushima Prefecture, such as Fukushima and Koriyama, but also areas in the neighboring prefectures of Tochigi and Gunma that have been affected by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident, informed Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato on Oct. 2 that Tokyo would pay for cleaning up areas with annual radiation levels above 1 millisievert.
In September, an Environment Ministry official said the central government would not pay for decontamination in areas recording less than 5 millisieverts of radiation.
"Decontamination will be the responsibility of the central government," Hosono said in his meeting with Sato. "Our goal is to reduce radiation levels to under 1 millisievert. Those areas with radiation levels between 1 millisievert and 5 millisieverts will naturally be covered."
Hosono later confirmed with reporters that the central government would take responsibility for the decontamination efforts.
"If we were to abandon the people of Fukushima, Japan could no longer be considered an advanced nation," Hosono said.
However, he stopped short of saying if the new standard would be applied to areas outside of Fukushima Prefecture.
Under the initial plan to decontaminate areas with annual radiation levels of 5 millisieverts or greater, about 1,778 square kilometers, or 13 percent of Fukushima Prefecture's total area, would have been covered.
The central government had estimated that total expenditures for decontamination, including the figures to be included in the third supplementary budget and the budget for fiscal 2012, would reach 1.14 trillion yen ($14.8 billion).
But additional funds will be needed if the central government plans to pay for decontamination measures in areas with more than 1 millisievert of radiation.
A high-ranking Environment Ministry official said the ministry had not even determined how large of an area would be covered, and that there was no way of knowing how much it would all cost.