OSAKA - Local residents in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan on Tuesday blocked the delivery of debris from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan to the city for trial incineration, Kyodo News reported.

Some 30 residents, who apparently feared radiation, prevented six trucks which arrived outside a collection space for waste in the city at around 9 am local time from entering by surrounding them or staging a sit-in. The trucks carried debris from the disaster-hit coastal city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

An estimation of 22.5 million tons of debris has been created from the three most heavily destroyed prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. As of May 8 this year, only 12.3 percent of the debris has been disposed. The Japanese government has called on local governments to help dispose the debris but acceptance of the debris has hit snags due mainly to concerns over radiation in the wake of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi complex.

The municipal government of Kitakyushu was to formally decide whether to accept more debris after examining radiation levels in the ash and the air around the two incineration plants to be used for the trial between Wednesday and Friday, the first such move in western Japan, according to the report.