TEPCO to Return J-Village to #Fukushima Prefecture by 2018 for Use in Preparation for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

TEPCO's President Naomi Hirose says, "2020 Olympics seems like a good target."

J-Village, located in Naraha-machi about 20 kilometers south of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, has been used as the staging area for the emergency and restoration work at the plant since March 15, 2011. It was originally built as a non-monetary "donation" by TEPCO to Naraha-machi and Fukushima Prefecture to compensate for the "inconvenience" of having TEPCO's nuclear power plants, in line with the common practice in prefectures in Japan where nuclear power plants are located or being planned.

Naraha-machi was designated as "no-entry zone" around Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant until August 10, 2012. Since then, it has been designated as "areas in preparation for the lifting of evacuation order" - i.e. residents are allowed to return.

It was the ex-mayor of Naraha-machi who demanded that J-Village be "returned" so that the town could use it for the original purpose (soccer (football) training).

Optimism abounds in Fukushima and in Japan in general these days.

From Jiji Tsushin (1/8/2014):

福島のＪヴィレッジ、１８年返還＝東京五輪で活用目指す－東電社長

J-Village to be returned to Fukushima Prefecture in 2018 to be utilized for prep for Tokyo Olympics [in 2020], says TEPCO president

東京電力の広瀬直己社長は８日、福島県庁で佐藤雄平知事と会談し、福島第１原発事故対応の拠点を置いている運動施設、Ｊヴィレッジ（福島県楢葉町）について、「２０２０年の東京五輪は良い目標だ。１８年ごろまでに五輪に向けて活用できるようにしたい」と述べ、１８年ごろ県に返還することを目指す考えを示した。

TEPCO's president Naomi Hirose met with Governor Yuhei Sato on January 8 at the Fukushima prefectural government building, and indicated TEPCO will return J-Village (in Naraha-machi, Fukushima Prefecture) to Fukushima Prefecture. Hirose said, "Tokyo Olympics in 2020 is a good target. I would like to have it [J-Village] ready by 2018 to be utilized for the Olympic." J-Village has been used as the staging area for the work dealing with the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Ｊヴィレッジは、日本サッカー協会などが運営し、サッカー日本代表などの合宿に使われていたが、原発事故後は東電が利用。賠償や除染などを担う福島復興本社を置いている。

J-Village was operated by the Football Association of Japan and was used as a training camp for the national team. Since the nuclear accident, it has been used by TEPCO. It is where TEPCO's Fukushima Revitalization Company is located, which deals with compensations and decontamination.

J-Village, by the way, was one of the three locations where a small amount of plutonium-241 of Fukushima origin was found by the researchers at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). The researchers measured the soil samples as early as April of 2011, and didn't tell the world until March 8, 2012. Half life of plutonium-241 is relatively short at 14 years, and it decays into americium-241 which is readily absorbed into legumes.

TEPCO's Japanese homepage showing the sign of Fukushima Revitalization Company at J-Village:

"Revitalization of Fukushima is our starting point," TEPCO says.

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