TOKYO - Japan's industry ministry sought Monday to conduct a preliminary survey in a city in Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, with a view to selecting it as a potential disposal site for highly radioactive waste.
Hitachiomiya would become the fifth location for such a preliminary survey if it accepts the plan.
The selection process involves three stages spanning around 20 years.
The preliminary survey, the first stage, takes about two years and participating municipalities can receive up to 2 billion yen ($13 million) in subsidies.
Hitachiomiya Mayor Sadayuki Suzuki said, "Personally, I view the proposal positively. I will listen to the opinions of city assembly members before making a final decision."
However, some local residents have expressed concerns.
"I'm worried about what could happen, especially with so many earthquakes occurring lately," said a 29-year-old woman who works at a local dental clinic. "I want the city and the national government to provide evidence that it is safe."
With a population of approximately 35,000, Hitachiomiya is a landlocked city in northern Ibaraki Prefecture, bordering Tochigi Prefecture to the west.
On a map released by the central government in 2017 identifying areas with geological characteristics potentially favorable for the underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste, the city was classified as having a "relatively high potential for suitability."
The process can begin either when municipalities apply to become candidate sites or when the government seeks their consent. Hitachiomiya is the second location eyed by the central government as a potential disposal site, following the Ogasawara Islands administered by the Tokyo metropolitan government that includes Minamitori Island at the easternmost edge of the country's territorial waters in the Pacific.
Suttsu and Kamoenai, both in Hokkaido, northern Japan, and Genkai in the southwestern prefecture of Saga, are also being considered.
In January 2007, a town in western Japan's Kochi Prefecture applied for a preliminary survey but ultimately withdrew its application following opposition from local residents.
Meanwhile, in September 2023, the mayor of Tsushima, in Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan, decided against accepting a preliminary survey despite the city assembly's urging him to do so.
The disposal of nuclear waste involves solidifying the liquid waste generated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel into glass and burying it more than 300 meters underground.
Because the waste emits extremely strong radiation, it must remain buried and isolated from human populations for tens of thousands of years.
