Where will Fukushima’s nuclear waste go? Japanese governors reject tainted soil

South China Morning Post · Mar 2, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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None of Japan’s prefectural governors are willing to accept soil collected in decontamination work near the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex without further safety information and support from the central government, according to a Kyodo News survey.A search for final disposal sites for 14 million cubic metres (500 million cubic feet) of removed soil and other waste in Fukushima after the March 2011 nuclear disaster is a key part of the government’s reconstruction efforts in the eastern Japan prefecture.The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, suffered fuel meltdowns at three of its nuclear reactors, releasing radiation into the atmosphere. Clean-up work in nearby areas led to the accumulation of contaminated soil.The government plans to start selecting candidates for soil disposal sites around 2030. The soil waste currently at an interim storage facility near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant must be moved outside the prefecture by March 2045, by law.A robotic arm shows the removal of melted nuclear fuel debris during a simulation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday. Photo: Kiki Press/AFPIn the survey conducted from January to February among all 47 prefectural governors except Fukushima’s, 24 said they were not prepared to consider hosting disposal sites due to insufficient information from the central government.