Since then referendums have been held, or are being sought, on such varied topics as waste-disposal methods, public-works projects and American military bases.

ECONOMIST: Reclaiming Japan from the bureaucrats

Funding for the program will be scaled back while the administration works on a new strategy for nuclear waste disposal, the document says.

CNN: Obama unveils budget blueprint

Private bomb disposal teams are contracted by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and other companies to check that sites are safe when building works are planned.

CNN: Experts defuse unexploded WWII bomb in central Berlin

Their presence is sufficiently common that private bomb disposal teams are contracted by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and other companies to check that sites are safe when building works are planned.

CNN: Experts defuse unexploded WWII bomb in central Berlin