Japan Eyes Pacific Island for Nuclear Waste Disposal Site

Newsfrom Japan

Economy

Mar 3, 2026 15:10 (JST)

Tokyo, March 3 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is considering Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo island in the Pacific, as a possible site for the final disposal of highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, it was learned Tuesday.

At a press conference on the day, industry minister Ryosei Akazawa said that the government will submit a request for a related literature survey to the Tokyo village of Ogasawara, where the island is located, as early as later in the day.

“Minamitorishima is considered to be an area with favorable conditions (for a nuclear waste disposal site),” Akazawa said.

Similar surveys have so far been conducted in the town of Suttsu and the village of Kamoenai, both in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, and the southwestern town of Genkai, Saga Prefecture.

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