Japan launches investigation into setting up nuclear waste landfill near Tokyo

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 15th According to Japanese media reports on the 15th, relevant Japanese agencies launched a preliminary investigation on the establishment of a nuclear waste landfill in Hitachi-Omiya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, near the capital Tokyo on the same day.

Kyodo News quoted the Japan Atomic Power Environmental Preparation Agency, which is responsible for nuclear waste disposal, as reporting that the investigation included examining local land erosion and other conditions based on published geological data such as maps and academic papers to determine whether the local area is suitable as a nuclear waste landfill.

The preliminary investigation is the first phase of the site selection process for the nuclear waste landfill, which is expected to last two years. There may be two phases of investigation in the future, and the overall investigation work is expected to take 20 years.

This is the first time such a survey has been conducted in Japan in a city located on Honshu Island. Hitachi Omiya City, with a population of about 35,000, is located in the northwest of Ibaraki Prefecture, about 110 kilometers from the center of Tokyo. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry believes that Hitachi Omiya City has a large amount of unused land and is more likely to be suitable as a landfill for highly radioactive nuclear waste.

Previously, the Japanese government has launched investigations in the towns of Jutsu and Kameuchi in Hokkaido in the north, Genkai Town in Saga Prefecture on Kyushu Island in the southwest, and Minamitori Island on Japan's easternmost Ogasawara Islands. None of the above locations have yet entered the second phase of investigation.

Such investigations have been met with resistance in some quarters. In 2007, Toyo Town in Kochi Prefecture intended to apply for investigation, but withdrew due to opposition from local residents. The Tsushima City Council in Nagasaki Prefecture approved a petition to launch an investigation in 2023, but it failed to become an alternative site because the mayor refused.