With an unpopular return to nuclear power generation, Japan can no longer ignore the elephant in the room: where is the country's highly radioactive nuclear waste going?
The reboot Tuesday of a reactor at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture comes as the government struggles to find a final disposal site for high-level nuclear waste.
Currently, around 17,000 tons is sitting in temporary storage pools across the country, and the restart means the generation of even more.