Workers began building temporary storage facilities near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to store contaminated soil and other waste collected during cleanup work across Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday, reports Japan Times.
The storage facility will cover 16 sq. km and will be located in the seaside towns of Okuma and Futaba. Reportedly, it will be able to contain 30 million tons of soil and other waste such as radioactive ash. It will not receive waste produced from the plant itself.
The project will cost ¥1.1 trillion, which the central government will provide.
The reclamation process was stopped at the "Fukushima-1" and "Fukushima-2" nuclear power plants due to an accident in January that resulted in the death of two workers. After the mishap, the company-operator declared an emergency and decided to review security measures at the facility to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.