Hokkaido village mayor backing nuclear site survey wins reelection

Kamoenai, Hokkaido –

The incumbent mayor of Kamoenai, Hokkaido, who supports a survey for selecting a nuclear waste disposal site, secured reelection in Sunday’s mayoral poll.

Masayuki Takahashi, 75, fended off two challengers to win a seventh term.

During the campaign, Takahashi expressed his support for a plan to conduct a second-stage survey for a possible disposal site in the village, where a first-stage literature survey has already been completed.

He said that accepting the second-stage boring survey does not mean that the village is set to host the disposal site.

Of his two contenders, Kazuo Ida, 73, opposed the second-stage survey, while Shinichi Kishi, 46, suggested conditional support.

The second-stage survey requires the consent of both the prefectural governor and the mayor of the local municipality. Hokkaido Mayor Naomichi Suzuki currently opposes conducting the survey in Kamoenai.

In the Hokkaido town of Suttsu, which has also undergone a first-stage survey, its mayor, who is also positive about a second-stage survey, was reelected last October.