Rokkasho, Aomori
Encyclopedia
is a village
located in the Kamikita District
of northeastern Aomori Prefecture
in the Tōhoku region
of Japan
. As of 2009, the village had an estimated population
of 10,890 and a density
of 43 persons per km². Its total area was 253.01 km².
, facing the Pacific Ocean
. The village has a cold maritime climate characterized by cool short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The village forms the northern shoreline of Lake Ogawara
.
. During the Edo period
, it was controlled by the Nambu clan of Morioka Domain
. During the cadastral reform of 1889, Rokkasho Village was proclaimed from the merger of six small hamlets.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency
also has multiple facilities at the site.
Since the 1970s local opposition to plans to operate Japan's first large commercial plutonium plant at Rokkasho have focused on the threat of a large-scale release of radioactivity. During the 1990s anti-nuclear groups in Japan released studies showing the risks of routine operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. The facility in full operation is designed to separate as much as 8 tons of plutonium each year from spent reactor fuel from Japan's domestic nuclear reactors. As of 2006 Japan owned approximately 45 tons of separated plutonium.
In May, 2006 an international awareness campaign about the dangers of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, Stop Rokkasho
, was launched by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto
. Greenpeace
has opposed operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant under a campaign called "Wings of Peace: No more Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Stop Rokkasho", since 2002 and has launched a cyberaction to stop the project.
Rokkasho was a candidate to host the plasma fusion reactor
ITER
, but lost out to Cadarache
, France
. Rokkasho will host high-performance supercomputer centre capable of performing complex plasma physics calculations for fusion research, starting from January 2012.
Villages of Japan
A is a local administrative unit in Japan.It is a local public body along with , , and . Geographically, a village's extent is contained within a prefecture....
located in the Kamikita District
Kamikita District, Aomori
is a district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the east-central portion of the prefecture, south of Shimokita Peninsula.As of 2010, the district has an estimated population of 100,526 and a density of 78.5 persons per km². The total area was 1281.05 km².- Towns and villages...
of northeastern Aomori Prefecture
Aomori Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
in the Tōhoku region
Tohoku region
The is a geographical area of Japan. The region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region consists of six prefectures : Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata....
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. As of 2009, the village had an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 10,890 and a density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 43 persons per km². Its total area was 253.01 km².
Geography
Rokkasho occupies the eastern coastline of the base of Shimokita PeninsulaShimokita Peninsula
The Shimokita Peninsula is the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshū, stretching out towards Hokkaidō. Administratively the area is a part of Aomori Prefecture....
, facing the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The village has a cold maritime climate characterized by cool short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall. The village forms the northern shoreline of Lake Ogawara
Lake Ogawara
is Japan's eleventh largest lake and the largest in Aomori Prefecture. It spans the boundaries of the city of Misawa and the town of Tohoku and the village of Rokkasho in Kamikita District.-Data:...
.
Neighbouring municipalities
- MisawaMisawa, Aomoriis a city located in eastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 42,399 and a density of 353 persons per km²...
- Shimokita DistrictShimokita District, Aomoriis a district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It occupies most of the northern handle of Shimokita Peninsula with the exception of Mutsu City and contains the most northern point on the island of Honshū...
- HigashidōriHigashidori, Aomoriis a village located in northeastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the village had an estimated population of 7,544 and a density of 25.6 persons per km²...
- Higashidōri
- Kamikita DistrictKamikita District, Aomoriis a district located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It occupies the east-central portion of the prefecture, south of Shimokita Peninsula.As of 2010, the district has an estimated population of 100,526 and a density of 78.5 persons per km². The total area was 1281.05 km².- Towns and villages...
- Yokohama
- NohejiNoheji, Aomoriis a town located in the Kamikita District of northeastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the town had an estimated population of 14,721 and a density of 175 persons per km². Its total area was 81.61 km².-Geography:...
- TohokuTohoku, Aomoriis a town located in the Kamikita District of northeastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the village had an estimated population of 19,051 and a density of 58.3 persons per km². Its total area was 326.71 km².-Geography:...
History
The area around Rokkasho was known for its horses during the Kamakura periodKamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
. During the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, it was controlled by the Nambu clan of Morioka Domain
Morioka Domain
The was a han or feudal domain that encompasses present-day the middle-northern part of Iwate Prefecture and eastern part of Aomori Prefecture. It is sometimes colloquially called . The domain was tozama daimyo and was governed by the Satake clan. Its income was 100,000...
. During the cadastral reform of 1889, Rokkasho Village was proclaimed from the merger of six small hamlets.
Economy
The economy of Rokkasho has traditionally been dependent on agriculture and commercial fishing. From the 1980s onwards, the village has become a center for various energy developments, which now dominate the local economyNuclear industry
Nuclear fuel cycle related facilities:- Japan Nuclear Fuel LimitedJapan Nuclear Fuel LimitedJapan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. is a nuclear energy company based in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, Japan involved in the production of nuclear fuel, as well as the reprocessing, storage and disposal of nuclear waste...
headquarters - The Rokkasho Reprocessing PlantRokkasho Reprocessing PlantThe is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium, owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited located in the village of Rokkasho in northeast Aomori Prefecture, Japan approximately 17 miles north of the US Air Force's Misawa Air Base...
(currently under test operation) - A uranium enrichment plant and plutoniumPlutoniumPlutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
reprocessing plant. - A MOX fuelMOX fuelMixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material. MOX fuel contains plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an alternative to the low-enriched uranium fuel used in the...
fabrication facility with a 800 ton per year capacity when completed - A low level nuclear waste storage facility
- A high level nuclear waste temporary storage and monitoring facility
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Japan Atomic Energy Agency
The was formed October 1, 2005 by a merger of two previous semi-governmental organizations. While it inherited the activities of both PNC and JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of JAERI, "Genken" 原研, an abbreviated word for "nuclear research"....
also has multiple facilities at the site.
Since the 1970s local opposition to plans to operate Japan's first large commercial plutonium plant at Rokkasho have focused on the threat of a large-scale release of radioactivity. During the 1990s anti-nuclear groups in Japan released studies showing the risks of routine operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. The facility in full operation is designed to separate as much as 8 tons of plutonium each year from spent reactor fuel from Japan's domestic nuclear reactors. As of 2006 Japan owned approximately 45 tons of separated plutonium.
In May, 2006 an international awareness campaign about the dangers of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, Stop Rokkasho
Stop Rokkasho
Stop Rokkasho is a project run by the Japanese NGO Boomerang Net and headed up by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. In order to bring attention to the nuclear reprocessing plant in Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, they get artists to contribute songs and other art to the cause. The music and other media are...
, was launched by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
. Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
has opposed operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant under a campaign called "Wings of Peace: No more Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Stop Rokkasho", since 2002 and has launched a cyberaction to stop the project.
Rokkasho was a candidate to host the plasma fusion reactor
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
ITER
ITER
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
, but lost out to Cadarache
Cadarache
The CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Rokkasho will host high-performance supercomputer centre capable of performing complex plasma physics calculations for fusion research, starting from January 2012.
Gas and wind power
- An oil stockpile facility
- Completed: September 1985
- Max capacity: around 5700 megaliters
- Current usage: 4920 megaliters at end of March 2003
- Managing company：むつ小川原石油備蓄株式会社
- Wind Farm
- Begin of operations: January 2003
- Power: 33,000 kW (1,500 kW×22 units)
- Managing company: Eco Power