Work began Friday to transport 10 tons of debris caused by last year's earthquake and tsunami from Yamada, a coastal town in Iwate Prefecture, to Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Shimada, which plans to incinerate 5,000 tons of debris a year from Yamada and Otsuchi in Iwate, is so far the only place aside from Tokyo and municipalities in the disaster-hit Tohoku region to be engaged in the disposal of debris from the disaster.
To quell radiation fears among local residents, the Shimada Municipal Government confirmed the safety of the operation in February by incinerating debris and measuring radiation contamination level in the ash.