Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) cast doubt on the practicality of building a permanent facility for highly radioactive waste on Minamitorishima, a remote island that is part of Tokyo and the Ogasawara Archipelago. It is located approximately 2,000 kilometers south of Tokyo in the vast Pacific Ocean.

On March 3, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) proposed to Ogasawara Village that it conduct a literature survey, the first step in selecting a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste on Minamitorishima Island. SHIBUYA Masaaki, the mayor of Ogasawara Village, supports this initiative.

The CNIC acknowledged Minamitorishima’s geological stability, given its distance from plate boundaries, but warned that significant safety risks persist. The island’s tiny footprint, the plunging seabed, logistical hurdles in moving materials over long distances, and the looming threat of flooding from rising seas all pose serious challenges. These issues could also drive up the cost of disposal.

Studies reveal that “petit-spot volcanoes” have emerged near Minamitorishima, yet the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) has remained silent on the matter, CNIC said. Doubts also linger over the chosen disposal method, such as Deep Borehole Disposal.

The CNIC points to documents filled with residents’ questions as evidence that consensus remains elusive. In the past, even the suggestion of a survey in other towns ignited heated debate and deep divisions among locals.

According to the Ogasawara World Heritage Center, the Ogasawara Islands are a group of more than 30 small subtropical islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located approximately 1,000 km south of Tokyo Bay.

The Ogasawara Islands extend about 400 km from north to south and consist of the Ogasawara Archipelago (the Mukojima, Chichijima, and Hahajima Island Groups), the Kazan (Iwo) Island Group, and isolated islands in the surrounding area such as Nishinoshima.