While the central government concluded its final explanatory session on June 15 for areas near planned intermediate storage facilities for radioactive debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster, few residents or local officials came away satisfied from the series of briefings.
While the central government concluded its final explanatory session on June 15 for areas near planned intermediate storage facilities for radioactive debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster, few residents or local officials came away satisfied from the series of briefings.
Despite residents’ repeated calls for an explanation about concrete steps to be taken, government officials failed to provide specifics of the plan to process and temporarily store contaminated soil and other radioactive materials.
“The government’s explanation did not include any details,” said Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa following the final briefing held on June 15 in Sendai. “We also feel that residents have not been reasonably satisfied.”
Sixteen public sessions have been held in Tokyo and another five prefectures, for residents of the Fukushima Prefecture towns of Futaba and Okuma, where an intermediate storage facility is planned. A total of 2,605 people have participated in the 16 meetings.
Most areas of Futaba and Okuma are designated difficult-to-return zones, where radiation levels remain so high that evacuees will not be allowed to return to their homes until at least 2017.
Although three years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami triggered the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, the central government has not given an estimate on when the residents will likely be able to return.
“The government is trying to keep us suspended in limbo and waiting for us to give up,” said a male Futaba resident who participated in the June 15 public briefing.
Concerns of the residents of Futaba and Okuma can be summarized in two points: how much the government plans to spend to purchase land and buildings in planned construction sites; and whether radioactive materials will be transferred out of Fukushima Prefecture within 30 years as the government promises.
In the 16 sessions, government officials repeatedly stressed they will determine the purchase price of lands and buildings on a case-by-case basis, and that they plan to introduce new legislation guaranteeing that radioactive debris will end up being processed outside the prefecture, though where the final disposal facilities will be constructed has yet to be decided.
Many municipal officials and residents believe that intermediate storage facilities are necessary for decontamination and reconstruction of the entire prefecture, but even those people say the government’s explanation is insufficient.
“I recognize the necessity (of the facilities), but I’m feeling somewhat dissatisfied,” said a man from Okuma at the briefing session in Sendai.
While the central government plans to start hauling radioactive debris in January from next year to an intermediate storage site in Futaba and Okuma, it is currently working to respond to requests and criticism from local officials and residents.
Fearing that their lands will be used as a final disposal site for contaminated materials, some residents of Futaba and Okuma hope to lease their properties to the government instead of selling them.
The Environment Ministry is weighing additional options to purchasing private lands. The ministry is, for example, considering borrowing private land after it is sold to the town governments of Futaba and Okuma. The ministry is also considering purchasing the rights to use lands while allowing their owners to continue holding their proprietary rights, as well as signing lease agreements that guarantee the central government will not cancel the contracts during the 30-year debris storage period.
According to government sources, the central government intends to provide special subsidies totaling several billions of yen (several tens of millions of dollars) to the two towns, which is comparable to their annual budgets. The central government plans to present the special subsidiary proposal to Futaba and Okuma in the near future.
The central government is also considering holding additional explanatory sessions in and outside Fukushima Prefecture.
(This article was compiled from reports by Yoshitaka Ito, Takuro Negishi, Teru Okumura and Nobuyoshi Nakamura.)