Photo/Illutration Tsushima Mayor Naoki Hitakatsu at a municipal assembly session in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Sept. 27 (Takashi Ogawa)

TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki Prefecture--Tsushima Mayor Naoki Hitakatsu announced on Sept. 27 that the city will not apply for a survey to host a nuclear waste repository despite the backing of the municipal assembly and 2 billion yen ($13.4 million) offered in subsidies. 

The mayor disclosed his rejection of the “bunken chosa” survey of research papers and data for selecting the site of an underground repository at the municipal assembly on its last day of session. 

The survey is the first of the three-stage site selection process for the final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste generated by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. 

The city has been split over the issue since the municipal assembly on Sept. 12 adopted by a majority vote a petition submitted in June by a construction industry organization calling for proceeding with the survey to revitalize the local economy.

Tsushima, located on an island near the border with South Korea, has been suffering from a shrinking population and a declining industry.

The site selection process starts only after a municipality applies for the bunken chosa survey or accepts an offer from the central government.

A municipality can receive up to 2 billion yen in subsidies for agreeing to the survey, which lasts for about two years.

Hitakatsu has been concerned about adverse effects on the local economy associated with a nuclear facility, particularly reputational damage to the mainstay fishing industry, which employs 14 percent of the city’s working population.

In late August, he asked whether the city can expect support from the central government for reputational damage in a list of 13 questions he sent to the industry ministry, which is in charge of the project.

The ministry replied that the city can allocate the government subsidies to counter any damage to the reputation of the local fishing industry but additional support will not be available.

The city’s annual fish catches amount to about 16 billion yen.

Hitakatsu said the 2 billion yen would be gone quickly if negative publicity about a nuclear facility spread, according to a senior official of an industry organization.

Some municipal assembly members argued the city should just collect the 2 billion yen for agreeing to the survey, saying the prefectural governor would eventually block the construction of the final disposal facility because Nagasaki suffered an atomic bombing in World War II.

But Hitakatsu told reporters in May that he had no intention of simply applying for the survey, pocketing the money and then calling it quits.

“A majority of residents are worried about accepting (the survey),” a source quoted Hitakatsu as saying recently. “I want to heal the rift on the island and put an end to the dispute.”

However, whether the city should join the site selection process could re-emerge as a campaign issue in a mayoral election scheduled in March.

While Hitakatsu intends to run for a third term, municipal assembly members who support the project may enlist a rival candidate.

The town of Suttsu and the village of Kamoenai, both in Hokkaido, each received 2 billion yen over the two years through fiscal 2022 after they applied for the bunken chosa survey.

The survey will be followed by a four-year boring survey, for which up to 7 billion yen will be offered in subsidies, and a 14-year final-stage survey in which an underground research facility will be built.

(This article was compiled from reports by Yusuke Ogawa and Takashi Ogawa.)

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