Will Japan’s Nuclear Regulator Approve Plans to Restart Reactors Near Super Volcanoes?

Lessons the G8 Can Learn from Japan: the Nuclear Fuel Cycle is an Economic Failure Providing No Energy [Word Doc (US Letter size): 226kb] [Word Doc (A4 size): 234kb] For Immediate Release: 14 July 2006Contact: Philip White (CNIC) 03-5330-9520 Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan—-Japan has opportunistically jumped on President George Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) bandwagon in the hope of aiding its troubled nuclear fuel cycle program and gaining recognition for Japan’s unique position as the only Non Nuclear Weapons State (NNWS) member of the Non Proliferation Treaty with access to the full nuclear fuel cycle. It is difficult to imagine, however, that Japan could play a significant role in…

[PDF: 584KB] Media Release7 September 2007 Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake – Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power PlantNGO’s demand the IAEA stop misleading the international community and TEPCO improve transparency NGOs today demanded that there be greater international accountability from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) improve its transparency surrounding the impact of the Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant. In a letter to the IAEA and TEPCO, Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, Green Action, and Greenpeace Japan criticized the IAEA Expert Mission to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant for making misleading statements about the impact of the earthquake on the plant1. They also criticized Philippe Jamet,…

For further information contact: Aileen Mioko Smith, Cell: +81-90-3620-9251, Email: amsmith@gol.com Secret preparations are underway in Britain and France for shipping 1.8 tons of plutonium, the largest quantity of plutonium every shipped by sea. The plutonium is contained in 65 assemblies of MOX (mixed plutonium and uranium oxide) fuel and is being shipped to Japan for use in the nuclear power plants of three Japanese electric utilities. No details have been revealed, but it is reported that the fuel will be transported by two British-flagged vessels, escorting each other. The vessels are to depart Europe anytime on or after March 1st. Neither the hour of departure nor the maritime route…

May 29, 2005 (Revised) WHAT IS MONJU Monju (280MW) is Japan’s prototype fast breeder reactor located at the tip of the Tsuruga Peninsula in Fukui Prefecture. On January 27, 2003, the Nagoya Court of Appeals (Kanazawa Branch) handed down a verdict in favor of Fukui citizens suing to stop the reactor from operating. The court found the license issued by the national government for Monju illegal due to serious deficiencies in the government’s safety review. On January 31, 2003, the national government appealed the decision. The Supreme Court verdict on Monju is to be handed down May 30, 2005 in Tokyo. Monju has been shut down since December 8, 1995…

Japanese court rejects plaintiff demand to shut down Ohi Units 3 and 4 Plaintiffs will immediately appeal ruling Court recognizes interaction of 3 earthquake faults near Ohi but declares Ohi prima facie safe (safe for now unless proven otherwise) Court states there is no legal time limit for shutting down reactors in the event of an accident/earthquake Press Release For Immediate Release (Kyoto, Japan): 16 April 2013 Contact: Aileen Mioko Smith +81-90-3620-9251 (co-lead plaintiff) For Japanese statement issued by plaintiffs’ group see: http://greenaction-japan.org/internal/130416_statement.pdf The judgment in the legal case against the only two nuclear power plants currently operating in Japan, Ohi Nuclear Power Station Units 3 and 4, owned and…

10 July 2006Statement by Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center and Green Action [Word Doc (US Letter size): 255kb][Word Doc (A4 size): 253kb] Japan has opportunistically jumped on President George Bush’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) bandwagon. Just when doubts were being expressed about the proliferation dangers of separating plutonium at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture, GNEP was like a gift from Uncle George. The government is treating GNEP as a great opportunity to gain recognition of Japan’s unique position as the only Non Nuclear Weapons State (NNWS) member of the Non Proliferation Treaty with access to the full nuclear fuel cycle. Japan is the only NNWS with industrial scale…