We are organizations in Japan concerned with the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The Japanese people have in our collective memory the devastating effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are therefore seriously concerned with the current build-up in nuclear tensions in the Far East — the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This, more than anything, urges us to write to you today.
Japan has a program to use massive quantities of plutonium for civil use. In spite of there being no demand for plutonium in Japan due to a standstill in the implementation of this program, Japan is going forward with preparations to operate a huge reprocessing plant capable of separating out massive quantities of plutonium.
The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (800 tons HM/year) will be the first large-scale reprocessing plant located in a non-nuclear weapons state. Rokkasho, if operated, would be capable of separating 7 tons of plutonium a year.
Now is the time to stop the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. The plant is scheduled to begin reprocessing in 2005. Testing with depleted uranium is to begin later on this year (2003). The testing will contaminate the plant, thus furthering Japan’s commitment to reprocessing and making Rokkasho even more difficult to stop.
Japan already has a huge plutonium surplus. As of the end of 2001 there were 4.1 tons of surplus plutonium in Japan, and 32.4 tons of Japanese plutonium stockpiled at reprocessing plants in Europe (France and Britain).
Rokkasho’s plutonium was originally intended to be consumed at Japanese commercial nuclear power plants. However, the program has not been implemented. Two of the three governors of the prefectures scheduled to first use this fuel have rescinded their prior approval for the program.
In the meantime, Japan’s fast breeder reactor program — four decades under development and yet to produce but one hour of electricity in total — received a severe blow this January when a Japanese High Court revoked the original license granted by the national government for Japan’s prototype fast breeder reactor Monju.
Monju is capable of producing enough weapons-grade plutonium in two weeks to make one nuclear weapon. There are no plans to commercialize fast breeder reactor technology under Japan’s current Long-Term Program for Research, Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy. In spite of this, the Japanese government is pressing for early restart of Monju.
Japan has a problematic track record when it comes to plutonium management.A 70 kilogram hold-up of plutonium occurred in 1994 at the Plutonium Fuel Production Facility (PFPF) during fabrication of Monju fuel with a subsequent long delay in clean up. The problem provoked the then Nagasaki mayor to state that plutonium management at the plant was "careless to the extreme".
This year an SRD (Shipper/Receiver Difference) of 206 kilograms (recently revised to 59 kilograms) of plutonium was recorded at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant (120 tons HM/year). Japanese sloppiness with plutonium management is a serious concern considering the scheduled operation of the much larger scale Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
We ask all nations concerned with security in Asia to immediately urge Japan not to go forward with separation of plutonium at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan.
We wish to thank you for your persevering efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, and as states party to the NPT meeting in Geneva to discuss the many critical challenges facing the non-proliiferation regime, we hope that you will consider the request stated in this appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Hideyuki BAN
Co-director
Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center
Yoko TOMIYAMA
Chairperson
Consumers Union of Japan
Aileen Mioko SMITH
Director
Green Action
Masashi KIMURA
Executive Director
Greenpeace Japan
Hideyuki KOYAMA
Director
Mihama-no-Kai (Osaka)
Daisuke SATO
Executive Director
No Nukes Asia Forum (Japan)
Satomi OBA
Director
Plutonium Action Hiroshima
Fukiko IKEJIMA
Director
Stop the Monju
- Green Action
- Tel: +81-75-701-7223 Fax: +81-75-702-1952 amsmith@gol.com
- Plutonium Action Hiroshima
- 2258-14, Ichikawa, Shiraki-cho Asakita-ku, Hiroshima 739-141 Japan
Suite 103, 22-75 Tanaka Sekiden-cho, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8203 Japan
T + 81 75 701 7223
F + 81 75 702 1952
E-mail amsmith@gol.com
Plutonium Action Hiroshima
2258-14, Ichikawa, Shiraki-cho Asakita-ku, Hiroshima
739-141Japan