Japanese Government policy position

The steps to be taken and the roles of concerned organizations for the final disposal of high level radioactive waste are described in the Atomic Energy Commission's "Long-Term Program for Research, Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy" (June 1994; revised in 2000 ; henceforth Long-Term Program).

The Long-term Program required JNC to "steadily carry on research and development activities to verify the reliability of geological disposal technologies and to establish a safety assessment method, using research facilities for deep geological environment". Also that "These research facility for deep geological environments will serve not only as a place for scientific investigation, but also as a place for deepening public understanding of research and development activities related to the geological disposal of waste. Accordingly, this research facility project should be clearly distinguished from the disposal facility."

Further to the requirements of the Long-Term Program, JNC is implementing "scientific studies of the deep geological environment and development of technologies to enhance the reliability of geological disposal technology" at the Tono Geoscience Center(TGC). Geoscientific research is the study of the geological aspects of HLW disposal, and will form the basis for the research and development regarding geological disposal.