Overview
- Mayor Masaaki Shibuya will present his decision on the requested literature survey at two village briefings on April 13, one each on Chichijima and Hahajima.
- METI delivered the formal request on March 3 for a literature survey, which is the first of Japan’s three stages for picking a final site for high-level radioactive waste.
- If the village accepts, Minamitorishima would become the fourth site in Japan to enter the first-stage review and would qualify for up to ¥2 billion in government funding.
- The government’s request is unusual because it went directly to the municipality without a local petition or council resolution, a first in this process, according to reporting.
- About 300 people took part in March briefings that flagged worries over environmental impacts, transport to the remote island, rare-earth seabed development nearby, and how a repository would coexist with existing Self-Defense Force and government facilities.