Haruo Kataoka, 76, who has led the fishing town of Suttsu for 24 years, won his seventh term on Sunday, defeating challenger Shingo Ogushi, a 42-year-old former town councillor who campaigned against continuing the government-led site selection process.
Suttsu in 2020 became the first municipality in Japan to undergo a “literature survey”, the initial stage in identifying a permanent disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.
Following the publication of the survey report last November, the town is now eligible to advance to a “preliminary investigation” that involves drilling and geological studies. The move would make Suttsu eligible for government subsidies worth up to ¥7 billion (US$45 million), but it requires the consent of both the town mayor and Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki, who has publicly opposed locating the nuclear waste site in Suttsu.
Kataoka has described Suttsu’s current status as “midway” in the process and called for continued dialogue with Tokyo, saying cooperation with the central government is essential to secure funding and ensure local development.
“I want to spread this conversation across the entire country to make it so that talking about nuclear waste becomes something people can discuss naturally, as part of everyday conversation,” said Kataoka during a media briefing on 28 October.
The election marks the first time a local leader has faced voters after completing the literature survey phase, drawing national attention to how far communities are willing to go in Japan’s stalled effort to find a final resting place for its nuclear waste.
Kataoka has pledged to hold a local referendum before deciding whether to advance to the next stage, saying he will respect the outcome if residents vote against it. Even if a majority supports the move, he said the town would withhold its response until the issue sparks wider public debate across Japan.
Japan’s nuclear energy dilemma
Japan has struggled for decades to secure a host community for its high-level radioactive waste, which is produced from reprocessed spent nuclear fuel. The country currently stores such waste at an interim facility in Aomori Prefecture and at reactor sites nationwide.
Despite a legal framework set in 2000 to establish an underground repository, no permanent site has been chosen. Public opposition intensified after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, which eroded trust in nuclear regulators and operators.
Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, most of the country’s 54 reactors have remained offline, and efforts to restart them have faced local resistance, lengthy safety reviews and court injunctions. As of late 2024, only a dozen reactors are operational, leaving Japan heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels for nearly 90 per cent of its energy needs.
The former Kishida administration argued that nuclear power was essential for both energy security and decarbonisation, positioning it alongside renewables as a pillar of Japan’s 2050 net-zero strategy.
Under its updated draft energy plan released in December, Tokyo aims to lift renewables to 40–50 per cent of the electricity mix and keep nuclear at around 20 per cent by 2040, while extending the lifespan of existing reactors and developing next-generation plants.
Critics, however, say the plan downplays safety and public consent. Environmental groups and opposition lawmakers have accused the government of “backtracking” on its previous commitment to reduce reliance on nuclear energy, noting that the new policy shifts emphasis to “maximising” it instead.
Others warn that focusing on reactor restarts could divert resources from expanding renewables, which still face structural hurdles such as limited land availability, grid congestion and slow permitting.
Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has reaffirmed that nuclear power will remain central to the country’s energy mix.
In her first policy speech to parliament on 24 October, she said Japan must ensure “the stable and inexpensive supply of energy”, adding that “domestically produced energy sources, particularly nuclear power and perovskite solar cells, will be critical.”
Takaichi also vowed to “maximise the use of decarbonised power sources” and accelerate the development of next-generation reactors, signalling that Tokyo would continue its broader plan to revive nuclear energy as part of its 2050 carbon-neutral strategy.
