Japan city forgoes applying for gov’t survey on nuclear waste site

The mayor of Tsushima in southwestern Japan said Wednesday he has decided against applying for a preliminary survey to gauge the city’s suitability to host an underground disposal site for highly radioactive waste.

Mayor Naoki Hitakatsu’s decision comes despite the city assembly’s approval earlier this month of a request filed by local construction groups urging the city to accept a survey. The groups had said doing so could bring up to 2 billion yen ($13.4 million) in state subsidies for the shrinking Nagasaki Prefecture city.

Hitakatsu apparently wished to avoid causing division among local ...