Waste Management

Japan Plans To Identify ‘Multiple Candidate Sits’ For Repository

By David Dalton
12 August 2016

12 Aug (NucNet): The Japanese government wants to identify “multiple candidate sites” for a deep geological radioactive waste repository by the end of the year, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said. A technical working group formed by Japan’s Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy has published an interim report which reevaluates possible technology for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), Jaif said. The report classifies various potential sites into three groups according to their suitability. Jaif said the report will be finalised after it has been made available for public comment. “It should then contribute to the mapping of scientifically promising sites across Japan,” Jaif said. Japan has around 17,000 tonnes of HLW in spent fuel pools. Japan’s Nuclear Waste Management Organisation, known as Numo, has been searching for a permanent HLW storage site for years, initially inviting districts to apply as a host. In 2007, the mayor of a town called Toyo, in Kochi Prefecture, southern Japan, registered the town’s interest, but Toyo’s residents opposed the idea and voted him out of office. His successor cancelled the plan. In May 2015 Numo abandoned the idea of waiting for a volunteer. Instead, scientists will nominate suitable regions. According to Numo, Japan wants to start construction of a repository in 2025 and have the facility operational by between 2033 and 2037.

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