As the Environment Ministry on Friday geared up to take soil samples at two of the three locations selected to store radioactive waste, work at a third site was stalled by demonstrations.
The surveying work at Kurihara and Taiwa, both in Miyagi Prefecture, began after the ministry selected them in January as candidate sites for the final disposal of radioactive fallout from the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The third site is in the town of Kami, where local authorities prevented work from beginning Friday after residents mounted protests.