SENDAI – Residents of three Miyagi Prefecture towns selected as candidate sites for hosting a permanent nuclear waste disposal facility barred the entry of Environment Ministry officials seeking to visit to carry out survey work on Monday. Local residents in the towns of Kami, Kurihara and Taiwa stalled the government officials’ plan to conduct geological surveys needed to determine which of the three locations would be best to host the dump site, which will permanently store radioactive waste that was spewed from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant following the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake. In the Tashirodake area of Kami on Monday morning, some 350 residents braved drizzle to protest the government officials’ visit, holding banners and signs and yelling “Protect children’s future!” and “Get lost!” They also physically blocked the officials’ access to the areas. A ministry official meanwhile said the ministry will consider holding a town meeting in Kami in line with the municipality’s request. Plans to start a ground survey in the three towns have been stalled since October, when the Environment Ministry began visiting the towns. Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai criticized the residents’ demonstrations, saying they should wage their battle against the nuclear dump site in the courts. “They should open the land for a government survey without hesitating,” Murai said. “If they disagree with the government plan, they should go to court.” Post-3/11 nuclear waste has been temporarily stored on farms around the prefecture. Farmers hosting the waste are demanding the government build a proper storage site for the radioactive waste.