核ごみ争点、現新２氏の争い　北海道神恵内村、３６年ぶり村長選

　高レベル放射性廃棄物（核のごみ）最終処分地選定の文献調査が進む北海道神恵内村で２２日、任期満了に伴う村長選が告示され、調査の受け入れを決めた現職と脱原発活動に取り組む新人の２人による争いが確定した。３６年ぶりとなる選挙戦では、調査の是非が争点となる。投開票は２７日。
　立候補したのは、現職で６期目を目指す高橋昌幸氏（７１）と、新人で元会社社長の瀬尾英幸氏（７９）の無所属２人。（2022/02/22-17:45）

A village in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido kicked off the campaign period for its first mayoral election in 36 years, amid a row over the ongoing survey there on a possible final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste.
   For Sunday's mayoral poll in the village of Kamoenai, Masayuki Takahashi, the 71-year-old incumbent backing the survey and seeking his sixth term, and first-time candidate Hideyuki Seo, 79, a former company president calling for nuclear power to be abandoned, filed their candidacies on Tuesday.
   Takahashi, who decided to accept the survey in 2020, partly based on a petition from the local chamber of commerce and industry, plans to manage his municipality while utilizing subsidies from the central government for accepting the survey.
   Seo, meanwhile, is opposed to advancing to the next-stage survey.
   After filing his candidacy, the incumbent said before his supporters that he would make a decision on what to do about the next stage after carefully listening to opinions of village residents.