Comments on the Remarks Made by METI and NUMO at the Interactive Briefing on January 23
January 30, 2025
On January 23, 2025 (Thu), the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO), the operator of the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste, held a national interactive briefing in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. According to the Hokkaido Shinbun newspaper published on January 28, a participant in the briefing expressed his opinion by asking, “How about if we propose to Russia to return the four islands to Japan on the condition that a final disposal site for both Japan’s and Russia’s radioactive waste would be built in the Northern Territories?” In response, an executive of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said, “If it could be realized, it would be an attractive proposal,” and a NUMO executive said, “That’s like killing three or four birds with one stone.”
A senior METI official told the Hokkaido Shinbun newspaper that they apologized for the thoughtless expression of their comments. NUMO released its view on its website explaining that the comment that killing three or four birds with one stone was made just to confirm the purpose of the participants’ proposals, and “we regret and deeply apologize for the fact that the remarks lacked deep consideration when considering the feelings of the people of Hokkaido.” However, the problems of the thoughtlessness of the expressions and the harm done to the feelings of the people of Hokkaido are by no means the only problems arising from these utterances.
Hokkaido has an “Ordinance on Designated Radioactive Waste in Hokkaido,” the so-called Hokkaido nuclear refusal ordinance, which declares that “the introduction of designated radioactive waste should be handled with caution, and it will not be easily accepted.” If the Northern Territories are an integral part of Japan, the local government to which the Northern Territories belongs is Hokkaido. If a final disposal site were to be built in the Northern Territories, it would no doubt conflict with the Hokkaido ordinance. In other words, the comments made by METI and NUMO can be interpreted as harboring the possibility that, if necessary, these organizations might disregard the Hokkaido nuclear refusal ordinance.
This instills immeasurable distrust among the Governor and the people of Hokkaido, who are calling for respect for the nuclear refusal ordinance. Moreover, the statuary briefings on the literature survey reports for Suttsu Town and Kamoenai Village are currently ongoing, and this incident took place in the midst of a time when transparent and fair dialogue is strongly required. We at the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center express our deep concern over METI’s and NUMO’s perception which leads to comments that disregard the Hokkaido ordinance and greatly undermine the public’s confidence.
