Will Japan Uphold its International Commitment to Not Produce Surplus Plutonium?—The Japan Atomic Energy Commission Will Decide

ByRick E

[18 January 2006]

PDF version (472KB)

The Japan Atomic Energy Commission

Japan’s 1997 Pledge

IAEA Information Circular

The government of Japan made a written and unequivocal pledge to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in December 1997 to uphold the “principle of no surplus plutonium.”*1

To honor this commitment, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission issued a Decision on 5 August 2003*2 which specified that electric utilities present concrete plans for utilizing plutonium before separating it from spent nuclear fuel at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant.

On 6 January 2006, the Federation of Electric Power Companies released its “Plutonium Utilization Plan.”*3 The Plan, however, does not comply with the specifications set forth by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Defects of the Plan Released by the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO):

  • None of the nuclear power plants specified under the plan has approval from the local authorities to use plutonium (MOX) fuel
  • Tokyo Electric, head of FEPCO, does not specify in which plant it will use the plutonium, yet says it will consume it
  • Nuclear power plants where consent from local authorities have not been applied for are included
  • The Ohma “full-MOX” nuclear power plant which does not exist and does not have a reactor installation license is included

Will the AEC Approve the FEPCO Plan?

If the AEC approves the FEPCO Plan, surplus plutonium with nowhere to go will pile up at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant.

In the rush to start the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, will the Atomic Energy Commission trash its own 2003 Decision, rubber-stamp the Federation of Electric Power Companies’ Plan, and renege on Japan’s commitment to the IAEA and to the international community?

Or, will the AEC honor Japan’s commitment to not produce surplus plutonium.

The eyes of the world are watching.

Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC)
3F Kotobuki Bldg., 1-58-15 Higashi-nakano
Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-0003, Japan
Phone: +81 3 5330 9520

Green Action
Suite 103, 22-75, Tanaka Sekiden-cho
Sakyo-ku Kyoto, 606-8203, Japan
Phone: +81 75 701 7223

Greenpeace Japan
N F bldg. 2F 8-13-11 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan
Phone: +81 3 5338 9800

*1 Available at http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/1998/infcirc549a1.pdf

*2 Available (in Japanese) at: http://aec.jst.go.jp/jicst/NC/iinkai/teirei/siryo2003/kettei/kettei030805.pdf

*3 Available (in English translation) at: http://cnic.jp/english/topics/cycle/MOX/pluplanFEPCO6Jan06.html

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