Japan's Genkai Town mayor accepts first-stage nuclear waste site survey

The mayor of a town in western Japan, Genkai, said on Friday that he has decided to accept a first-stage survey to choose a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste.

The town in Saga Prefecture is the third Japanese municipality to accept this type of survey. The survey will be the first of its kind in a municipality where a nuclear plant is located. In April, the town assembly approved a petition calling for the initial survey. The central government asked the town to accept the survey in last week.