KAMINOSEKI, YAMAGUCHI PREF. ¨C It is feasible for the town of Kaminoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture to host an interim storage facility for spent fuel from nuclear power plants, Chugoku Electric Power said Friday.
The focal point now is whether the town will decide to accept the construction.
In a meeting at the Kaminoseki municipal office Friday morning, Chugoku Electric Managing Executive Officer Satoshi Osedo informed Tetsuo Nishi, mayor of the town, of the result of its feasibility study conducted at the planned construction site, saying that ¡°no problems have been found on setting up the storage facility¡± in the town.
¡°We will carefully examine the result of the on-site survey while confirming what kind of judgment the town assembly and citizens will make,¡± Nishi told reporters after the meeting.
In August 2023, Chugoku Electric said that it would consider building the spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the town on the condition that the facility would be jointly developed with Kansai Electric Power. The drilling survey was completed in November 2024.
Chugoku Electric determined that it is technically possible to construct the storage facility at the planned site as no active faults were detected through a review of 11 sets of underground samples taken during the survey. The company also confirmed that ¡°there is no problem¡± regarding other risk factors such as volcanic activity and tsunami.
¡°We would like to sincerely explain the safety of the planned facility to local residents,¡± Osedo said in a news conference. ¡°The basic point is to have residents understand the necessity for the facility,¡± he added, indicating the company¡¯s plan to brief them on the result of the survey.
Chugoku Electric is working to create a specific plan to build the facility, Osedo said. But he added that it remains to be seen when the plan is worked out.
Elsewhere in Japan, a spent nuclear fuel storage facility built in the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, with investment from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and Japan Atomic Power Co., went into operation in November 2024.
The possible storage facility in Kaminoseki would be the second in Japan to be operated outside a nuclear power plant site.
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