A plan by Chugoku Electric Power and Kansai Electric Power to build an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the town of Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, has stalled. More than three years after the two utilities announced they were considering construction, there is still no prospect of breaking ground, and opposition from surrounding municipalities has highlighted how hard it is to site nuclear-related facilities in Japan.
The facility would hold spent fuel — nuclear fuel that has been used in a reactor — temporarily before it is reprocessed or otherwise handled. Japan's nuclear policy rests on a nuclear fuel cycle in which spent fuel is reused, but that cycle has not been realized, which is why interim storage is needed. At present the only such facility is in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture.
Survey done, business plan still missing
Chugoku Electric announced in August 2023 that it was considering building in Kaminoseki, and stated that joint development with Kansai Electric was a precondition. The company later surveyed the ground and in August 2025 reported to the town that construction was feasible at the site. It has still not presented a concrete business plan.
Kaminoseki Mayor Tetsuo Nishi has said he does not think the various adjustments with surrounding municipalities and others can be worked out. In the town's mayoral election in October, he made whether the town needs an interim storage facility the central issue and won re-election with 70% of the vote. Asked the next day what he wanted from Chugoku Electric, he told reporters he has told the company each time to present a business plan as soon as possible.
The impasse leaves the two utilities without a destination for spent fuel while the town that would host the site waits for details of a project it has been asked to accept.