A town in Tochigi Prefecture has found a novel way to block the construction of a final disposal site for radioactive waste from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis by passing an ordinance that will protect its natural resources.
A town in Tochigi Prefecture has found a novel way to block the construction of a final disposal site for radioactive waste from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis by passing an ordinance that will protect its natural resources.
The ordinance, passed unanimously by the Shioya town assembly on Sept. 19, will protect an area that includes local springs, as well as mountain forest that was designated by the Environment Ministry as a candidate for the final disposal facility.
The ministry plans to use the site to store designated waste which contains more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactivity per kilogram.
Under the ordinance, the town government aims to protect the quality and quantity of water in springs, including the Shojinzawa Yusui, recognized by the ministry as one of the best 100 natural waters in Japan.
The protected zone covers about 5,000 hectares of land, including the mountain forest. The official designation will be made after deliberations at an advisory council.
All projects to be undertaken in the area, including those by the central government, will require approval by the town government. Violators will be asked or ordered by the town government to suspend the projects.
After the ordinance was passed, Shioya Mayor Kazuhisa Mikata said: “Shioya is a water resource town. The disposal site problem is not a challenge for Shioya alone. We have to eliminate potential sources of water contamination.”
A group opposed to the construction of the disposal site had gathered more than 60,000 signatures inside and outside the prefecture as of Sept. 19, more than five times the town's population.
Vice Environment Minister Masaki Suzuki said: “The residents' concerns must not be taken lightly. We must consider how to assuage their anxieties."
Hirobumi Inomata, mayor of Kami in Miyagi Prefecture, said on Sept. 19 that his town will also enact an ordinance for water-quality protection to block construction of a final disposal site being considered there.
The town government aims to submit a proposal for the ordinance to the assembly in December.
(This article was compiled from reports by Hajime Hattori and Hiroshi Shimada.)