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Rokkasho 六ヶ所村
Village
Rokkasho Nuclear Reprocessing Plant
FlagSeal
Location of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture
Rokkasho
Coordinates: 40°58′02″N 141°22′28″E / 40.96722°N 141.37444°E / 40.96722; 141.37444
Country	Japan
Region	Tōhoku
Prefecture	Aomori
District	Kamikita
Area
• Total	252.68 km (97.56 sq mi)
Population
• Total	9,845
• Density	39/km (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
Phone number	0175-72-2111
Address	475 Noduki Obuchi, Rokkasho-mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori 039-3212
Climate	Cfb/Dfb
Website	Official website
Symbols
Bird	White-tailed eagle
Flower	Daylily
Tree	Japanese black pine

Rokkasho (六ヶ所村, Rokkasho-mura) is a village in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 March 2023, the village had an estimated population of 9,845 in 4988 households, and a population density of 40 persons per km². The total area of the village is 252.68 square kilometres (97.56 sq mi).

Geography

Rokkasho occupies the eastern coastline of the base of Shimokita Peninsula, facing the Pacific Ocean to the east. The village forms the northern shoreline of Lake Ogawara.

Neighbouring municipalities

Aomori Prefecture

• Misawa
• Shimokita District
  • Higashidōri
• Kamikita District
  • Noheji
  • Tōhoku
  • Yokohama

Climate

The village has a warm summer Humid Continental Climate characterized by cool short summers and long cold winters with heavy snowfall (Köppen climate classification Dfb) bordering on the rare Oceanic Climate (Cfb). The average annual temperature in Rokkasho is 9.4 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1410 mm with August as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 21.3 °C, and lowest in January, at around -1.5 °C as per the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Rokkasho has remained relatively stable over the past 70 years.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1920 5,802 —     1930 6,554 +13.0% 1940 7,977 +21.7% 1950 10,702 +34.2% 1960 13,523 +26.4% 1970 11,749 −13.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 11,104 −5.5% 1990 10,071 −9.3% 2000 11,849 +17.7% 2010 11,095 −6.4% 2020 10,367 −6.6%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

History

The area around Rokkasho was known for raising horses during the Kamakura period. During the Edo period, it was controlled by the Nanbu clan of Morioka Domain, becoming part of the territories of Shichinohe Domain in the latter half of the Edo period. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after the start of the Meiji period, on April 1, 1889, the village of Rokkasho was created following the merger of six small hamlets.

Government

Rokkasho has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral village council of 18 members. Rokkasho is part of Kamikita District which contributes four members to the Aomori Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Aomori 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Education

Rokkasho has four public elementary schools and three public middle schools operated by the village government and one public high school operated by the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education.

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 economy. Rokkasho's per capita income was $129,676 (1557,8000 Yen $1= 120.13 Yen )

Nuclear industry and research

Nuclear fuel cycle related facilities:

• Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited headquarters
• The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (currently under test operation)
• A uranium enrichment plant and plutonium reprocessing plant.
• A MOX fuel fabrication facility with an 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 also has multiple facilities at the site like the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) devoted to the Fusion Energy Development Programme under the European Union-Japan Broader Approach agreement.

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 has been hosting the Helios high-performance supercomputer centre capable of performing complex plasma physics calculations for fusion research, since January 2012.

Gas and wind power

• Mutsu-Ogawara Oil Storage Facility
  • Completed: September 1985
  • Max capacity: around 5,700 megaliters in 51 tanks
  • Current usage: 4,920 megaliters at end of March 2003
  • Managing company：Mutsu-Ogawara Oil Storage Co Ltd
• Mutsu-Ogawara Wind Farm
  • Established: January 2003
  • Power: 31,500 kW (1,500 kW × 21 units)
  • Managing company: Eco power
• Rokkashomura Futamata Wind Power Plant
  • Established: December 2003
  • Power: 31,850 kW (1,500 kW × 20 units; 1,425 KW x 2 units)
  • Managing company: Japan Wind Development Company Ltd
• Rokkashomura Wind Power Plant
  • Established: May 2007
  • Power: 51,000 kW (1,500 kW × 34 units)
  • Managing company: Japan Wind Development Company Ltd
• Battery energy storage facility
  • 34 MW (204 MWh) grid energy storage facility using sodium–sulfur batteries, manufactured by NGK, installed since 2008

Agriculture

Stock raising is prevalent.

Fishing

Three small fishing ports.

Transportation

Railway

• Rokkasho is not served by any passenger train service. The closest train station is either Noheji Station or Otomo Station on the Aomori Railway or Fukikoshi Station on the Ominato Line

Highway

• Shimokita Expressway
• National Route 338
• National Route 394

International relations

Waren, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, sister city since 1994.

Local attractions

• Rokkasho Prefectural History Museum

In popular media

A documentary, Rokkasho Rhapsody, came out in 2006, which portrays the Rokkasho community's views on the nuclear reprocessing plant.

References

1. "Rokkasho village official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
2. Rokkasho climate data
3. 観測史上1～10位の値（年間を通じての値）. JMA. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
4. 気象庁 / 平年値（年・月ごとの値）. JMA. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
5. Rokkasho population statistics
6. "Rokkasho and a hard place". The Economist. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
7. "県民平均所得、六ケ所村９年連続トップ 全体、前年度比０．１％増 １４年度 ／青森". 毎日新聞. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
8. "What is Reprocessing?". Green Action. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
9. "ROKKASHO-MURA TO BE WORLD'S LARGEST SOURCE OF RADIOACTIVE KRYPTON GREENPEACE CALLS FOR FULL DISCLOSURE" (Press release). Greenpeace Japan. 22 November 2002. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
10. Barnaby, Frank; Burnie, Shaun (12 November 2002). "Planning for failure: International nuclear safeguards and the Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant" (PDF). Greenpeace. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
11. "Rokkasho and Japan's Nuclear Fuel Cycle Policy". Citizens' Nuclear Information Center. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
12. Barnabie, Frank; Burnie, Shaun (8 September 2005). "Thinking the Unthinkable: Japanese nuclear power and proliferation in East Asia". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
13. "Japanese, South Korean Plutonium Plants Raise Security Concerns in Region". WMD Insights. February 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
14. Salzberg, Chris (21 March 2008). "Japan: Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant fuels debate". Global Voices Online. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
15. Norrie, Justin (26 April 2008). "Japan's nuclear waste will spill from new plant's chimney". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
16. "stop-rokkasho.org". Stop Rokkasho. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
17. "Wings of Peace: No more Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Stop Rokkasho". Greenpeace Japan. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
18. "No more Hiroshima Nagasaki Stop the plutonium production plant at Rokkasho!". Greenpeace Japan. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
19. "Helios". TOP500. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
20. "Rokkasho to host supercomputer for fusion research". ITER. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
21. Mutsu-Ogawara Oil Storage Co home page
22. Eco Power home page
23. ^ Japan Wind Development Company Ltd home page
24. "NAS Battery energy storage system" (PDF). NGK Insulators. 2013. Retrieved 2015-01-24.
25. "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
26. Rokkashomura Rhapsody at IMDb

External links

• Official Website (in Japanese)

v t e Aomori Prefecture
Aomori (capital)
Core cities	Aomori Hachinohe
Cities	Goshogawara Hirakawa Hirosaki Kuroishi Misawa Mutsu Towada Tsugaru
Districts	Higashitsugaru District Hiranai Imabetsu Sotogahama Yomogita Kamikita District Noheji Oirase Rokunohe Shichinohe Tōhoku Yokohama Rokkasho Kitatsugaru District Itayanagi Nakadomari Tsuruta Minamitsugaru District Fujisaki Inakadate Ōwani Nakatsugaru District Nishimeya Nishitsugaru District Ajigasawa Fukaura Sannohe District Gonohe Hashikami Nanbu Sannohe Takko Shingō Shimokita District Ōma Higashidōri Kazamaura Sai
List of mergers in Aomori Prefecture

• Rokkasho, Aomori
• Populated coastal places in Japan
• Radioactive waste repositories
• Villages in Aomori Prefecture