Environment Minister Goshi Hosono denied on Friday a media report that the government has asked the town of Minamiosumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, to be the host for final disposal of radiation-contaminated soil and other waste generated by the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

"We've been looking into various possibilities, but we haven't officially asked any specific municipalities (about the final disposal site) yet," Hosono told reporters, noting there are many complex factors involved so final decisions are still a long way off.

But Hosono did not clearly deny that the town on the Osumi Peninsula, at nearly the southernmost point of Kyushu, is not a candidate site.