Court orders JNC to give info on candidate sites for nuke waste

Court orders JNC to give info on candidate sites for nuke waste

NAGOYA, Dec. 17 (The Associated Press) - Dec 17

The Nagoya District Court ordered the state-backed Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute on Friday to fully disclose information on the sites selected by the institute's predecessor in the late 1980s as candidates for disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Naofumi Nakamura rejected a claim by the nuclear energy developer that the disclosure would obstruct the proper implementation of its operations.

Nakamura said the institute's withholding the disclosure "is not acceptable," and that the disclosure will not affect the institute's business.

The institute disclosed in December 2002 the names of the prefectures but not the names of municipalities that are candidate sites for radioactive waste disposal, which were picked by its predecessor, Power Reactor and Nuclear fuel Development Corp. (Donen), from 1986 to 1988.

The prefectures are Hokkaido, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, Niigata, Nagano, Gifu, Ehime, Kochi, Nagasaki, Miyazaki and Kagoshima.

Friday's ruling was made on a suit filed in February 2003 by the head of a civic group, which urged the institute to fully disclose the information.

While the district court initially ordered the institute to disclose the information in May 2003, the Nagoya High Court remanded the case to the lower court to examine it again.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan is now soliciting for disposal sites nationwide, but no municipalities have expressed an intention to accept such radioactive waste.

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