During her first visit to the area damaged by an earthquake and nuclear accident in 2011, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged on Tuesday to expedite government efforts toward reconstruction in Fukushima Prefecture.
She told reporters, “With the determination that all of my cabinet ministers are ‘reconstruction ministers,’ we will further accelerate our efforts,” adding that the government will carry out its obligations regarding Fukushima “to the end.”
Following a powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced a multiple-reactor meltdown that released enormous volumes of radioactive chemicals into the atmosphere and contaminated nearby land.
Takaichi, who became prime minister in October, received a briefing at the plant from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on the progress of decommissioning and toured an interim storage facility for soil removed during decontamination efforts.
With the government legally required to move soil waste outside of Fukushima Prefecture by March 2045, Takaichi said her administration would build on her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba’s road map by clarifying steps toward selecting final candidates from 2030.
To promote its use, soil removed from Fukushima has been used in the front yard of the prime minister’s office since July and in flowerbeds outside government ministries since September.