Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura said Wednesday his prefecture will accept a request from the central government to host a research center related to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor to be built in France.
"The Aomori Prefectural Government will accept the request as it would like to help the ITER project," the governor said during a meeting with Nariaki Nakayama, minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology.
Representatives from five nations and the EU agreed in June to invest 92 billion yen to build the research center in Japan in exchange for Japan giving up its bid to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor.
The research center, located in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, will have four facilities, including those related to operating an experimental reactor by remote control and next-generation reactor designs.