Ogasawara Mayor Effectively Tolerates N-Waste Site Survey

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)–Masaaki Shibuya, mayor of the island village of Ogasawara, on Monday showed his effective tolerance of the Japanese government conducting a literature survey on the feasibility of constructing a final disposal facility for highly radioactive waste on Minamitorishima, one of the Ogasawara Islands. The central government should decide whether to conduct the survey on Minamitorishima, Shibuya said in a closed-door meeting with local residents. Two such meetings were held on the day, with one on Chichijima and the other on Hahajima, both inhabited islands of the Ogasawara chain in the Pacific Ocean, which belongs to Tokyo. According to the village government, the mayor said in the meetings that accepting a literature survey does not mean that the construction of a disposal facility is decided. Speaking to reporters online after the briefings, Shibuya said he will ask the central government to provide village residents with explanations by experts. The mayor also said he will not indicate his stance on the next stage of the facility site selection process until the central government asks other local governments to accept literature surveys. Minamitorishima, Japan’s easternmost island, about 1,950 kilometers southeast of central Tokyo, would be the fourth site to accept the 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. On March 3, the industry ministry asked the village of Ogasawara to accept the literature survey on Minamitorishima, marking the first case in which it has sought approval for the survey without a request for such a move from relevant local governments. On March 14 and 21, it held a total of four community meetings jointly with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, or NUMO, to explain how radioactive waste from nuclear power stations will be disposed of and how the survey will be conducted. A total of 308 residents attended the events, with some expressing concerns about the impact on the natural environment and others voicing anxiety over harmful rumors. The process to select a site to host a final disposal facility consists of three stages–literature survey, preliminary investigation and detailed investigation. The whole process is seen taking about 20 years. In the first stage, desk-based research and analysis on geological data such as volcanoes and active faults is carried out for about two years without drilling work. The first-stage survey has already been completed in Suttsu and Kamoenai, and is ongoing in Genkai. The central government will provide up to 2 billion yen in grants to a local government that accepts the literature survey. While belonging to Tokyo, Minamitorishima, about 1,200 km from Chichijima and Hahajima, is entirely owned by the state and has no ordinary residents, while officials of the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Maritime Self-Defense Force are stationed on the island. There are no volcanoes or active faults nearby, according to the scientific features map. The 1.5-square-kilometer island is also believed to be a desirable site for a final disposal facility for radioactive waste in terms of transportation. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]