The Mayor of Genkai in Japan’s Saga Prefecture, Shintaro Wakiyama has agreed to the central government’s request to conduct a “literature review” for selection as a final disposal site for radioactive waste. A literature review is the first of three steps in the process that will take more than 20 years to select a suitable site. Once a municipality accepts the literature review, it can receive a central government grant of up to JPY2bn ($12.85m). The review will be conducted by the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation of Japan (NUMO). This will involve studying geological and other data over a period of about two years.
Genkai is the third municipality to accept a literature review, following Suttsu town and Kamoenai village, both in Hokkaido Prefecture. However, Genkai is the first candidate municipality that hosts a NPP – Kyushu Electric Power Co’s Genkai NPP. The Genkai town assembly in April approved petitions, submitted by three local groups, to accept the literature review. Earlier in May Industry Ministry officials visited the town and made an official request. Industry minister Ken Saito met Wakiyama to request cooperation.
Wakiyama had previously repeatedly said he had no intention of accepting the literature review because he thought the town would be rejected due to its geographical conditions and other factors. However, he told a press conference: “After discussions at town assembly meetings and other venues and careful consideration of the central government’s request, I have come to the decision to accept (a literature review).” He said it was “very significant that the petition was approved at the town assembly, where representatives of residents gather”.
He added: “I hope that our town’s initiative will help promote a nationwide debate (on the nuclear waste issue). Although there may be concerns among the town’s residents, (accepting the survey) will not directly lead to the town hosting a final disposal site.” With respect to the state subsidies available for accepting a literature survey, the mayor said that his decision was not for money as the town’s financial situation was stable.
If the town completes the literature review, it will proceed to the second phase called an “overview review”, which requires consent from the prefectural governor. Saga Governor Yoshinori Yamaguchi has said, “I have no intention of accepting any new burden, including a final disposal site.”
The central government began to accept municipal government applications for literature reviews in 2002. In 2015, the government changed the system so that the government could make the requests. Suttsu and Kamoenai accepted the request in 2020. In 2023, the city assembly of Tsushima in Nagasaki Prefecture, had also adopted a petition calling for acceptance of a literature survey. However, the mayor refused, and the process has stalled.
