Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste repository project

Suttsu and Kamoenai, two small municipalities in Hokkaido, are debating over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan’s nuclear waste. Residents have expressed conflicting views on the issue, influenced by safety concerns, financial incentives, and land rights issues. According to American scholar Ann-Elise Iewallen, who is conducting a yearlong research project on the intersection between nuclear waste and indigenous land rights in Hokkaido, the repository project is an “Ainu problem” due to land rights issues. The Ainu are the indigenous group that inhabited Hokkaido before it was annexed by Japan in the 19th century. Iewallen said that Ainu consent to the project is essential under United Nations principles to safeguard indigenous rights. However, Japan currently has no law recognizing the Ainu people’s rights to Hokkaido’s land.
Last March, Japanese authorities acknowledged for the first time the issue of Ainu consent during a meeting with Suttsu residents. Nobuyuki Kawashima, spokesperson for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO), said the organization is open to addressing Ainu people’s concerns about the safety of the project, but did not clarify if it will also look for their consent. The Hokkaido government’s Ainu Policy Division officially opposes the project because it transforms the area into a dumping ground for the country’s nuclear waste. Reactions in the Ainu community are more mixed, with some supporting the project and others opposing it. To convince local communities to volunteer to store nuclear waste under their land, the Japanese government offers ¥2 billion ($14 million) to any municipality that consents to literature surveys, including a study of past earthquake records. If the municipality is considered a suitable site for storage, a further ¥7 billion will be paid out for entering the second stage of the site selection process. After that, the third and last stage will see a more detailed assessment with test tunnels and mock facilities, but the subsidy amount has yet to be determined.