The government on Friday offered to give ¥301 billion in subsidies to local authorities in Fukushima Prefecture if they agree to store soil tainted by the Fukushima nuclear disaster for the next 30 years.

After an unofficial proposal of around ¥100 billion was dismissed last month, the central government decided to triple down on its offer as it searches for places to store debris accumulating from decontamination operations for about 30 years.

Including existing subsidies, total assistance is expected to surpass ¥500 billion.