No.142 Resumption of out-of-town business trips after the coronavirus

This year marks the fourth year of the coronavirus pandemic, but since the country's status under the Infectious Disease Control Law was downgraded to Category 5, social life and economic activity have gradually returned to normal.
　
In the second half of this year, Bon dances, local festivals, annual shrine festivals, sports days, and other events were held without restrictions for the first time in four years, and all were very successful. Approximately 70,000 people came to the I-no-Machi Inagi Citizen Festival over two days, October 21st and 22nd, setting a new record for the number of visitors.
　
With the end of the coronavirus, restrictions are being lifted, with not only the resumption of events, but also the resumption of out-of-town business trips by mayors, councilors, public officials, etc. I also had a lot of business trips in October for the first time in a while. I will tell you part of it.
　
I visited Taiwan from October 2nd to 5th. This is the first official visit by an association of volunteer mayors called the Japan-Taiwan Mayors Federation for Co-Prosperity, of which I am a member. Since Japan does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the project aims to deepen exchanges at the local government level, and aims to deepen ties beyond the traditional economic and cultural realm.
　
This time, the Taiwanese government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively welcomed me, and I was able to meet and exchange opinions with government officials such as President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-toku at the Presidential Palace, which is under strict security by the Taiwanese military. Ta.
　
From October 11th to 13th, I attended an urban issues conference sponsored by the National Association of Mayors held in Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture. We stayed the night before on the 11th, and on the 12th, the keynote speech, main report, and general report based on the theme were held. This year's theme was ``The attractiveness and development of cities created by culture, art, and sports,'' and Katsuhiko Hibino, president of Tokyo University of the Arts and artist, gave a keynote speech entitled ``What is the role of art?'' Mayor Kumagai of Hachinohe City, the host city, gave the main report on ``town development through culture and sports in Hachinohe City.''
　
All of these projects are aimed at promoting town development not only from the perspective of simple tourism, but also from the perspective of regional development, including culture and sports, and will serve as a reference for our city in the future.
　
On the second day, the 13th, we changed the schedule to a symposium in the morning and an administrative inspection in the afternoon, and we decided to tour a nuclear fuel cycle facility in Rokkasho Village. I was invited to participate by Mayor Yanagita of Saku City, Nagano Prefecture, with whom I have a close friendship.
　
First, they received an overview of the facility at the PR Center of Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, and then boarded a bus and toured each facility on the premises.
　
Photography is prohibited outside of the PR Center, and electronic devices with camera functions are prohibited. Renovation work was being carried out in many parts of the venue to ensure extremely high levels of safety and anti-terrorism measures. The plant was buzzing with activity, with an average of 7,000 workers working each day.
　
The main operations of the nuclear fuel cycle facility are (1) uranium enrichment plant, (2) low-level radioactive waste burial center, (3) high-level radioactive waste storage management center, (4) reprocessing plant, and (5) MOX fuel factory.
　
Of these, (1) began operations in March 1992 and (2) in December 1992. (3) began operations in April 1995, (4) began construction in April 1993, and (5) began construction in October 2010, with each scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2024.
　
At the reprocessing plant, countermeasure construction is underway, which is a condition for passing the new regulatory standards conformity review, and it is expected that domestic processing will be possible after completion. The main focus of the series of countermeasures was to strengthen the building to withstand natural disasters such as tornadoes that were larger than expected.
　
There are few opportunities to come into contact with accurate information regarding nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and the entire project has been delayed, giving the impression that there is no prospect of full-scale operation. We learned that the entire business is expected to be operational in the near future.
　
In this way, out-of-town business trips and on-site training are important for learning about the efforts of other local governments and obtaining accurate information, and are also useful for deepening knowledge. We will continue to work to contribute the knowledge we have gained to Inagi town development.