In recent years, research results have suggested that even Minamitorishima may not be able to avoid the effects of volcanic activities. The study shows that \u201cpetit-spot volcanoes,\u201d which arise from the bending of the oceanic plate, have occurred in the vicinity of Minamitorishima.[ii] <\/strong><\/a>The volcanic field, which was confirmed to have been active in the last 3 million years, is located, at the shortest distance, approximately 46km from Minamitorishima. [iii]<\/strong><\/a> Since this research is still in its early stages, it cannot be ruled out that the future studies may reveal volcanic activities at even closer distances to the island.<\/p>\n The government and the disposal operator, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) held total of four briefings for residents in Chichijima Island and Hahajima Island on March 14 and 21. However, these issues were not mentioned in the explanatory materials provided by the government and NUMO. Perhaps, the government and NUMO are taking that position that they wish to conduct a literature survey because they are not aware of the issues. Yet, the layout of the surface and underground facilities of the disposal site in the NUMO document shows that they are aware of the small size of Minamitorishima.<\/p>\n Furthermore, there is also a fact that was not fully addressed during the briefings. As we pointed out in our previous statement, regarding the disposal plan for Minamitorishima, an alternative disposal method called Deep Borehole Disposal, which involves burying waste at a depth of several to 10km, has been proposed besides the currently considered methods of geological disposal at depths of 300m or more. This is because Minamitorishima is a small island with a steep seabed structure, and moreover, limestone, which has a high water permeability, has been deposited to a depth of more than several hundred meters, making it difficult to ensure safe and secure burial. At the same time, if Deep Borehole Disposal is to be selected, as this method differs from the currently considered geological disposal approach, it will be necessary to establish the design and safety measures of the disposal site from scratch. If the government is to propose a literature survey on Minamitorishima, wouldn\u2019t it be a matter of integrity to inform the residents that such a consideration could be raised in the future?<\/p>\n Since there is very little literature regarding Minamitorishima, the findings from a literature survey will not amount to much. It is therefore quite possible that a final feasibility assessment cannot be made without proceeding to a preliminary survey which involves a drilling investigation, and possibly to a detailed investigation. With Minamitorishima, that poses many difficult challenges as a potential final disposal site. Keeping the option of Minamitorishima on the table indefinitely could lead to a waste of valuable time and resources.<\/p>\n Documents listing questions raised by residents at the briefing suggest that consensus among the residents is still far from being reached. In the past, in the municipalities named as candidate sites for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste, the debate over whether to accept the survey has caused deep divisions among residents. It is not yet too late; we call for a prudent judgement that takes into account the diverse perspectives of both residents and experts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Reference: Ocean depth around Minamitorishima <\/strong><\/p>\n [i]<\/a>\u00a0cnic.jp\/english\/?p=8967<\/a> (in English)<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> www.tohoku.ac.jp\/en\/press\/a_new_petitspot_in_the_pacific.html<\/a> (in English)<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a> chibatech.j p\/english\/news\/r9arg100000003zt-att\/onnkyoutannsaEN.pdf<\/a> (in English)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" April 13, 2026 \u00a0 On April 13, Shibuya Masaaki, Mayor of Ogasawara Village, Tokyo, stated at a public briefing regarding the government\u2019s request to conduct a literature survey on Minamitorishima that \u201ca decision should...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cnic-statements","category-press-release","category-rw"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9106"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9115,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106\/revisions\/9115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ad7f182085df5088fd3db4e256baf9f4-e1776146293108.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n