November 4, 2014
Lower House approves Fukushima waste bill
Nov. 4, 2014 - Updated 10:15 UTC+1
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
The Lower House of Japan's Diet passed a bill on Tuesday governing the storage of radioactive waste in Fukushima. It promises that the waste will be moved out of the prefecture within 30 years.
The government plans to build intermediate storage facilities in the towns of Futaba and Okuma, near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The people in those towns have been demanding that the waste be disposed of outside the prefecture.
The bill obliges the government to ensure the waste is safely stored in the prefecture, and moved out within 30 years to a final disposal site. The bill provides for a state company handling disposal of PCBs to engage in the business of storing nuclear waste.
It also urges that the government study ways to reduce the concentration of radioactive substances in the soil, and develop recycling technologies before final disposal.
It now goes to the Upper House for final approval.
Storage site for radioactive debris near Fukushima No. 1 is one step closer
JIJI
KAGOSHIMA – The Lower House on Tuesday approved a bill for the construction of temporary storage facilities for radioactive waste on land near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Thebill is expected to be enacted during the current extraordinary session of the Diet following debate in the Upper House.
The bill calls on the government to ensure the safety of the facilities and complete within 30 years the final disposal of radioactive waste, including contaminated soil, after moving it outside Fukushima Prefecture.
The government hopes to begin the transport of radioactive soil to the facilities in January.
The Lower House Environment Committee adopted a supplementary resolution calling on the government to select candidate sites and create a road map for final disposal.
The temporary storage facility is planned to be built on a site measuring 16 sq. km straddling the Fukushima towns of Okuma and Futaba. The government has been in talks with more than 2,000 landowners to acquire the necessary land.
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