放射性廃棄物 政府は最終処分に責任を持て

The Yomiuri Shimbun November 23, 2013
Govt must act responsibly to find site for final N-waste repository
放射性廃棄物　政府は最終処分に責任を持て（11月22日付・読売社説）

No time must be wasted in strengthening government efforts to secure a site for a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste generated from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants.
　原子力発電所から出る高レベル放射性廃棄物の最終処分場の用地確保へ向け、政府の取り組みを強化する必要がある。

An expert panel of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has hammered out a set of new steps regarding how to secure candidate sites for a final repository, focusing on a recommendation that the government should be at the forefront of efforts to make progress on the issue.
　経済産業省の有識者会議が、候補地の確保に関し、政府が前面に出て進展を目指すという新たな方針を打ち出した。

Currently, candidate sites are being sought through open solicitation, inviting volunteer candidates among municipal governments to host a final disposal site for radioactive waste. As a result, the opinions of local communities are being given great weight in the matter. So far, the government has just waited for municipalities to volunteer, but no candidates sites have been found since open solicitation began in 2002.
　現在は市町村からの応募を前提としている。地域の意思を重視するという理由からだ。政府も「待ち」の姿勢に終始してきたが、２００２年の公募開始から、これまで候補地は見つかっていない。

To break the impasse, it is reasonable for the expert panel to propose that the government take on the responsibility of designating areas where high-level radioactive waste can safely be disposed of. This is the same policy followed by Sweden, which has selected a final disposal site. We hope to see the planned approach result in progress in locating candidate sites.
　現状を打開するため、有識者会議が「安全に処分できる地域を国の責任で示す」とする方針を示したのは適切な判断と言えよう。
　新たな方針は、最終処分場の選定に成功したスウェーデンと同じ手法だ。日本でも、候補地探しの前進を期待したい。

Authorities envision burying high-level radioactive waste deep underground, at least 300 meters below the surface, by constructing a disposal facility in stable rock formations in an area where there are no volcanoes or other threats.
　高レベル放射性廃棄物は、火山などのない安定した地盤の地域を選び、地下３００メートルより深い地層に埋設する計画だ。

Similar methods have been employed overseas, since they make it possible to dispose of nuclear waste in a stable manner for more than 100,000 years.
　海外も同様の方法を採用している。適した場所を選べば、１０万年以上、安定して廃棄物を処分できるためだ。

Radioactivity lessens with time, more than 99 percent of it ceasing to exist in about 1,000 years.
放射能は時間とともに減少し、約１０００年後には９９％以上が消滅する。

Excessive political risks

It should be noted that there is little public understanding of the current technological level and safety of geological disposal, hindering efforts to find a candidate site. Government efforts to widely disseminate correct, scientific knowledge about the matter are indispensable.
　最終処分場の技術や安全性に対する理解が、ほとんど広まっていないことが、候補地探しの障害になってきたと言えよう。政府が、正しい知識を積極的に周知していくことが欠かせない。

Open solicitation of volunteer candidates is problematic in that municipal leaders put themselves at great political risk if they support hosting a disposal facility. When the mayor of Toyo, Kochi Prefecture, applied to be a candidate site, residents fiercely opposed the idea and the mayor was in danger of having to resign. The town’s application was withdrawn.
　公募方式では、手を挙げた市町村長が過大な政治的リスクを抱えることも問題だ。０７年に高知県東洋町が応募した際は、反対運動が激化し、町長は辞任に追い込まれた。応募も取り下げられた。

The selection process of candidate sites can hardly make progress without wide-ranging support from the central government.
　候補地には、政府の幅広い支援が欠かせない。

On Wednesday, urging the government to redouble its efforts to find candidate sites, the ministry’s expert panel cited the need to boost government efforts to promote the local economies of the municipalities concerned. The panel also proposed a forum in which the government and local residents closely exchange views on the matter. Both suggestions are very important.
有識者会議は、地域振興策の強化を挙げた。政府が地域住民と密接に意見交換する場を設けることも提案している。いずれも重要な指摘である。

The task of establishing a final disposal repository has been undertaken by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, which was established by power utilities and other organizations under the Specified Nuclear Waste Final Disposal Law enacted in 2000. Reform of the waste management organization, which has failed to produce any tangible results, is also urgently needed.
　処分場探しは、２０００年制定の最終処分法に基づき、電力会社などが設立した「原子力発電環境整備機構（ＮＵＭＯ）」が担当してきた。成果を上げられないＮＵＭＯの改革も急務だ。

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has continued making unrealistic calls to completely stop the nation’s nuclear power generation, saying it is “too optimistic and irresponsible” to assume that a site can be found for a final disposal facility.
　小泉元首相は、最終処分場の確保について、「めどを付けられると思う方が楽観的で無責任だ」とし、非現実的な「原発ゼロ」をなお主張している。

Even if the nation’s nuclear power generation should be eliminated, the problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste remains. It is impermissible to pass the burden of inaction on the matter to the next generation.
だが、仮に「ゼロ」でも廃棄物は残る。次世代にツケを回すわけにはいかない。

The Liberal Democratic Party is also studying ways to secure a final disposal facility, and there are moves in the Diet to create a suprapartisan group of legislators to address the problem of a final repository. They should engage in discussions with a strong sense of responsibility.
　自民党も、最終処分場の確保策の検討に乗り出した。国会には超党派議連を設ける動きもある。責任ある議論が求められる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 22, 2013)
（2013年11月22日01時31分  読売新聞）