Japan Govt Asks Tokyo Island to Accept N-Waste Site Survey

Tokyo, March 3 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Tuesday asked for a “literature survey” for selecting a final disposal site for highly radioactive waste from nuclear plants to be conducted on Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo island in the Ogasawara chain in the Pacific. A senior ministry official visited the Ogasawara village office on Chichijima, another island in the chain, and submitted a written request to Mayor Masaaki Shibuya. “I’ll make a decision based on the voices of our residents and the village assembly,” Shibuya said. If realized, Minamitorishima, which is part of the Tokyo village, would be the fourth site in Japan to accept a literature survey, after the town of Suttsu and the village of Kamoenai, both in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, and the town of Genkai in the southwestern prefecture of Saga. It was the first time for the Japanese government to go ahead and ask for such a survey to be conducted without local governments requesting such a move first. According to the ministry, the central government in February asked the village of Ogasawara for an opportunity to explain the necessity of the final disposal of highly radioactive waste. Responding to the village’s calls for briefing sessions for local residents, the ministry side will hold such sessions in Chichijima on March 14 and in Hahajima, also in the Ogasawara chain and part of the village, the following day. The central government plans to spend about 20 years on selecting a final disposal site, a process that will be divided up into three stages. The literature survey, the first of the three parts, is aimed at weeding out areas not fit to host such a site due to faults or volcanic activities, based on past records and data. The surveys have been completed in Suttsu and Kamoenai, and that in Genkai is currently underway. While the site selection process was launched in 2002, most municipalities remain reluctant to accept the survey request. In January this year, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa requested prefectural governors in writing for their understanding over encouraging municipalities to be more open to the survey. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said, “I’d like to carefully monitor (Ogasawara’s) decision over the literature survey request.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]