{"id":8018,"date":"2026-10-02T08:44:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/?p=8018"},"modified":"2026-10-02T08:50:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:50:27","slug":"hitachiomiya-accepts-literature-survey-for-hlw-repository-site-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/news\/8018","title":{"rendered":"Hitachiomiya Accepts Literature Survey for HLW Repository Site Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At a press conference held at Hitachiomiya City Hall the same day, Suzuki cited several reasons for the decision. First, he said that efforts toward the geological disposal of HLW are a matter of national policy and that contributing to this policy as a municipality would be highly significant.<\/p>\n<p>Second, Hitachiomiya has been identified as a municipality at risk of population decline<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_8018_1('footnote_plugin_reference_8018_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_8018_1('footnote_plugin_reference_8018_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_8018_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_8018_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Hitachiomiya was identified as a \u201cmunicipality at risk of population decline\u201d in a 2024 report by the private-sector Population Strategy Council.\u00a0The designation applies to municipalities where&nbsp;&#x2026; <span class=\"footnote_tooltip_continue\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_8018_1('footnote_plugin_reference_8018_1_1');\">Continue reading<\/span><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_8018_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_8018_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> , and Suzuki said that contributing to geological disposal could potentially help strengthen the foundations for the city\u2019s long-term sustainability. He said the city intends to explore that potential for the future through discussions involving local residents.<\/p>\n<p>Third, Suzuki said that conducting a scientific and intensive analysis of Hitachiomiya\u2019s underground environment through the literature survey could also become a valuable asset for the community from the perspective of disaster prevention and mitigation.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki said the city had been considering the government\u2019s request positively and described the literature survey as \u201ca stage before even reaching the starting line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The city plans to issue a special edition of its public information newsletter to explain the literature survey and address residents\u2019 concerns and questions. It will also assign specialist staff to provide information and explanations to local residents.<\/p>\n<p>YAMAGUCHI Akira, president of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO), issued a statement saying: \u201cWe deeply appreciate the interest shown and discussions held regarding the final disposal of specified radioactive waste and the literature survey, and we sincerely thank Mayor Suzuki for his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yamaguchi added that NUMO would work to address the interests, questions and concerns of Hitachiomiya residents regarding final disposal and the literature survey, and to help deepen public understanding and discussion.<\/p>\n<p>Hitachiomiya was also home for many years to a radiation breeding facility known as the Gamma Field, where radiation was used for plant breeding research. The facility was closed at the end of September 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_8018_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_8018_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_8018_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_8018_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_8018_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_8018_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_8018_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Hitachiomiya was identified as a \u201cmunicipality at risk of population decline\u201d in a 2024 report by the private-sector Population Strategy Council.\u00a0The designation applies to municipalities where the population of women aged 20\u201339 is projected to decline by more than half over the 30-year period to 2050.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_8018_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_8018_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_8018_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_8018_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_8018_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_8018_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_8018_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_8018_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_8018_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_8018_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_8018_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_8018_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_8018_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_8018_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At a press conference held at Hitachiomiya City Hall the same day, Suzuki cited several reasons for the decision. First, he said that efforts toward the geological disposal of HLW are a matter of national policy and that contributing to this policy as a municipality would be highly significant. Second, Hitachiomiya has been identified as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,8],"tags":[1605,1604,1217,409,1143,51,1606],"class_list":["post-8018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-npps","category-policies","tag-gamma-field","tag-hitachiomiya","tag-hlw-disposal-site","tag-ibaraki","tag-literature-survay","tag-numo","tag-radiation-breeding-facility"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8018"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8025,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions\/8025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}