Local industry groups of a town in western Japan have made a request to the town's assembly to take the initial steps to allow the town to accept a preparatory survey for a disposal site of high-level radioactive waste.
Three industry groups of Genkai Town, Saga Prefecture, on Monday respectively submitted to the town assembly a petition urging the town to take steps so that it could apply for a first stage survey by the government for selecting a final disposal site of high-level radioactive waste.
The three groups consist of the local accommodation operators' association, the restaurant business association and the disaster management council.
A Japanese law requires the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear plants to be buried in a site more than 300 meters underground as it continues to emit intense radiation for a very long time.
The law also requires surveys to be carried out in three stages to select possible final disposal sites.
The petition submitted by the three industry groups calls on the town assembly to convince the town to apply for a first-stage survey.
The assembly is to convene an ad-hoc committee meeting before the end of the month to discuss its response.
The town hosts the Genkai nuclear power plant having four reactors operated by the Kyushu Electric Power Company. The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors have been suspended for decommissioning.
The No. 3 and No. 4 reactors restarted operations after clearing government requirements adopted after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.
The mayor of Genkai town, Wakiyama Shintaro, issued a comment saying he takes the petition seriously. He noted he will confirm the contents of the petition while observing the discussions that will be made in the assembly.
In February, two municipalities in Hokkaido, northern Japan, which applied for the first-stage search to select the final disposal site, have been found suitable to proceed to the second stage after the survey was carried out.
Some local residents of the two municipalities are calling for more similar surveys to be carried out outside Hokkaido.
Against this backdrop, the Tsushima City Assembly in Nagasaki Prefecture, western Japan, last year approved a petition to call on the city to conduct the first stage survey, but the mayor turned it down.
The Japanese government provides subsidies of up to 2 billion yen, or nearly 13 million dollars, for the first-stage survey, and up to 7 billion yen, or over 45 million dollars, to municipalities that have applied for the second stage survey.