Mayor pushing for spent nuclear-fuel facility reelected in Yamaguchi

Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Pref. – Tetsuo Nishi, mayor of Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, won reelection on Sunday, assuring a continuity in his policy of hosting an interim storage facility for spent fuel from nuclear power plants.

The election was the first mayoral poll in Kaminoseki since a plan to build such a facility in the town emerged in 2023.

After starting his first term as mayor in 2022, Nishi, 79, accepted the following year a survey necessary to construct the storage facility. The survey plan, proposed by Chugoku Electric Power, came at a time when preparatory work to build a nuclear power plant for the company in the town had been suspended.

During the campaign period for Sunday’s election, Nishi highlighted the need to accept the spent nuclear fuel facility, saying that nuclear power-related subsidies from the state would help fund the town’s child-rearing and resident-welfare measures.

On the other hand, Koji Hara, a 54-year-old sole proprietor, who ran unsuccessfully against the incumbent mayor in the one-on-one election, criticized Nishi for creating a divide among town residents over nuclear policies.