Mayor Shintaro Wakiyama of Genkai, Saga Prefecture, said Friday that the town will accept a so-called literature survey to determine whether it is suitable to host a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.
The mayor announced the decision at a news conference after a closed-door meeting of the town's assembly earlier in the day.
"I hope what we are doing in the town will stir a debate on the national level," Wakiyama said, adding that he didn't make the decision for the purpose of getting subsidies.
The town will be the third municipality in the country to accept a literature survey, the first step in the process of selecting a final disposal site, after the town of Suttsu and the village of Kamoenai, both in Hokkaido.
The town in Saga Prefecture is home to Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai nuclear power plant, and it will be the first time for a literature survey to be conducted in a town with a nuclear power plant.
On April 26, the Genkai town assembly approved a petition submitted by local business groups calling on the town to apply for a literature survey. Following the move, senior officials of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy visited the town on May 1 to ask it to accept such a survey.
The survey examines the suitability of a municipality as a final disposal site, based on geological data and documents. The central government will provide up to ¥2 billion over two years to municipalities accepting a survey.