The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute on Friday named the 25 sites that its predecessor selected in the late 1980s as suitable places to dump highly radioactive waste.
Last month, the Nagoya District Court ordered JNC to name the sites selected by Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. (PNC). JNC gave the list to a civic group.
In December 2002, the state-backed institute revealed which prefectures had been selected but refused to name the specific municipalities considered as radioactive waste dump sites.
The prefectures named were Hokkaido, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, Niigata, Nagano, Gifu, Ehime, Kochi, Nagasaki, Miyazaki and Kagoshima.
The court ruling followed the filing of a suit in February 2003 by the head of the civic group, urging JNC to disclose the information.
Subject to the order are five of 15 reports compiled by PNC, concerning 25 candidate sites in nine prefectures. The 25 sites included the town of Okoppe, Hokkaido, the city of Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, the village of Hiraya, Nagano Prefecture, and Tottori.
JNC is expected to release the remaining 10 reports in March. The reports are believed to specify another two dozen candidate sites. Municipalities selected as possible nuclear waste dumps by PNC without any consultation are expected to react negatively.