The town assembly of Yaku, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Monday passed a resolution opposing the construction of a nuclear storage facility on islands near the town and plans to adopt an ordinance rejecting the introduction of radioactive materials.
A bill on the ordinance is likely to be approved at the assembly's plenary session scheduled for March 27, according to sources in the town, located on Yakushima Island.
Such an ordinance would make Yaku the first municipality in Japan to ban the introduction of radioactive materials, according to the Natural Resources and Energy Agency.
The town of Yubara, in Okayama Prefecture, and Toki, in Gifu Prefecture, have ordinances banning the introduction of nuclear waste, but no municipality in Japan had previously prohibited the arrival of radioactive materials, the agency said.