Industry ministry officials on Friday briefed the city of Kushima in Miyazaki Prefecture about a possible literature survey, the first phase of the three-stage process to select a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, according to Kushima Mayor Koichi Takeda.

Takeda told reporters after the briefing that the ministry did not ask the city to accept the survey, saying that nothing had been decided on the matter.

Literature surveys were conducted or are continuing at five locations — the town of Suttsu and the village of Kamoenai in Hokkaido; the town of Genkai in Saga Prefecture; Minamitorishima, an island in Tokyo’s Ogasawara chain; and the city of Hitachiomiya in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Kushima may be asked by the ministry to allow a survey.…