Letter to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei concerning Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant and Japanese Electric Utilities’ Plutonium Utilization Plans

[Joint letter sent from Green Action, Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, and Greenpeace Japan]

Director General Mohamed ElBaradei
International Atomic Energy Agency
IAEA Secretariat
Headquarters Offices
A-1400 Vienna, Austria

Re: ROKKASHO REPROCESSING PLANT AND JAPANESE ELECTRIC UTILITIES’ PLUTONIUM UTILIZATION PLANS

Dear Director General ElBaradei:

On 5 January 2006 we sent you a petition urging you to ensure that Japan does not breach its international commitment to the principle of “no surplus plutonium” and to quickly take appropriate action before active testing begins at Rokkasho and plutonium is accumulated. The following day the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPCO) published its Plutonium Utilization Plan.

Attached please find a media briefing we issued today. It is a critique of the plutonium utilization plans of Japanese electric utilities. It addresses the concern that the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) may be approving these plans later this month in order to start “active testing” at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant.

While some of the numbers in the latest Plutonium Utilization Plan are slightly different from those previously released, the plan confirms the basic substance of our petition. We therefore reiterate our appeal for the IAEA Secretariat and Board of Governors to immediately discuss this matter and quickly take appropriate action.

Sincerely yours,

アイリーン・美緒子・スミスのサイン

Aileen Mioko Smith
Director, Green Action

cc: IAEA Board of Governors