Tokyo (AsiaNews) – Japan has been producing nuclear energy for over half a century, but still doesn't know where to permanently dispose of the highly radioactive waste.
The latest attempt to find a suitable site involves Hitachiomiya, a city of about 35,000 in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
On 31 August, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) asked the local administration to accept a preliminary survey into the feasibility of a future nuclear waste site.
Mayor Sadayuki Suzuki's response is expected by 18 September. So far, he has expressed support for a survey, the first of three stages envisaged in the Japanese procedure for identifying the final site.
However, the proposal has already sparked protests among residents.
Economic incentives
About 60 per cent of Hitachiomiya's territory is covered by forest, and the local economy (like many other areas of the country) is struggling with declining population and activities. The city is located in the Naka River Valley, a tourist area offering natural hot springs and nature trails.
For the mayor, the government's proposal represents a potential economic opportunity. During the first stage, the survey, the municipality can receive grants of up to two billion yen, approximately US$ 12-13 million. If the project advances to the second phase, incentives could reach up to seven billion yen.
Suzuki stressed, however, that accepting the first stage does not mean committing to building a repository.
The review of the sources takes about two years and consists of examining existing geological data and documentation, like analysing the possible presence of active faults or volcanoes and studying the area's seismic history.
The government maintains that the Hitachiomiya area presents relatively favourable geological features as indicated in the Scientific Characteristics Map, published in 2017.
But money isn't enough
The memory of the 2011 Fukushima accident is still vivid among residents. Hitachiomiya is about 110 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that caused the most serious nuclear accident in history after Chernobyl.
Local businesses linked to the tourism sector are afraid that the association between the city's name and radioactive waste could become permanent, as was the case for the city of Fukushima after the disaster.
For residents, the main risk is that the funds promised today won't offset the price the community could pay tomorrow if the name of Hitachiomiya became associated with nuclear waste.
The reactions seen so far in the local population have offset the mayor's optimism. In recent days, a group of residents rallied in front of the town hall, expressing fears of possible radioactive leaks.
A decades-long quest
For years, Japan has been trying to deal with the highly radioactive waste produced by the nuclear energy cycle.
The solution identified by the government consists of placing the waste in metal containers, surrounded by buffer materials and buried at a depth of at least 300 metres in geological formations considered seismically stable, so that the radioactive substances cannot re-enter the human environment for tens of thousands of years.
In 2000, the government established the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO), a body responsible for identifying the site and building the repository. Two years later, a process began that required voluntary applications from interested municipalities. For nearly 20 years, no one came forward.
Only in 2020, two small towns in Hokkaido, Suttsu and Kamoenai, agreed to undergo a review of the sources, which ended in 2024 with areas where it would be possible to proceed to the next stage.
Progressing to the second stage requires, however, the consent of the mayor and the prefectural governor, which they have so far refused.
In 2024, Genkai, Saga Prefecture, also saw a review of sources, while in June of this year, a survey was launched in Minamitorishima, a remote island in the Ogasawara Archipelago with no resident population.
With Hitachiomiya, therefore, the number of areas that have accepted or been involved in the first stage rose to four.
If the city in Ibaraki Prefecture agrees to proceed, it would be the first municipality on the main island of Honshu to undergo the survey.
The way the government is trying to expand the range of potential storage sites highlights all the problems related to waste.
Originally, the system was based on voluntary participation by municipalities, but now it seeks to persuade local governments to start at least the preliminary survey. All three stages are expected to last about 20 years.
Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa reiterated that selecting the site for the final repository is a matter of national importance and that the government will continue to engage with local communities.
