MITO, Japan - The mayor of a city in Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, said Wednesday it will accept a preliminary survey that the industry ministry wants to conduct on its suitability as a potential disposal site for highly radioactive waste.
Hitachiomiya will become the fifth location in the country to conduct such a preliminary survey. The inland city in northern Ibaraki Prefecture, bordering Tochigi Prefecture to the west, has a population of approximately 35,000.
Hitachiomiya Mayor Sadayuki Suzuki announced at a press conference that he had approved the preliminary survey, the first part of a three-stage selection process spanning around 20 years.
The preliminary survey, involving checking land erosion and other conditions based on published geological sources such as maps and academic papers, is expected to take around two years. Municipalities that agree to the survey can receive up to 2 billion yen ($13 million) in subsidies.
The mayor had earlier postponed making a decision, in response to residents' concerns about reputational damage and requests for explanations from experts. He stated at a city assembly meeting on Sept. 18 that he wished to "confirm the government's position."
After meeting with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa in Tokyo on Tuesday, Suzuki told reporters that concerns regarding reputational damage have largely been resolved.
The disposal of nuclear waste involves solidifying liquid waste generated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel into glass and burying it more than 300 meters underground.
Because such waste emits high levels of radiation, it must remain buried and isolated from human populations for tens of thousands of years.
