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[Compiled 5 January 2006 by Green Action]
Statements on Rokkasho, Surplus Plutonium and MOX Fuel
Fukushima governor Eisaku Sato’s statement to the Japan Atomic Energy Commission about the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and surplus plutonium:
“Why rush to operate a new reprocessing facility when there is still no solution for disposing the 40 tons of plutonium Japan already possesses?”
Submission to Public Comment on draft of “Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy”, August 2005
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Of the 430 tons of spent nuclear fuel to be reprocessed during the active testing scheduled to start at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in February, 310 tons belong to the two largest electric utilities in Japan – 170 tons from Tokyo Electric and 140 tons from Kansai Electric. Neither utility, however, can consume the plutonium that will be produced at Rokkasho.
All seventeen Tokyo Electric nuclear power plants are located in two prefectures, Niigata and Fukushima. As a result of public opposition andTokyo Electric’s safety data falsification in 2002, both prefectures withdrew authorization for MOX fuel use. Their opposition remains adamant.
Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida:
“The Pluthermal (MOX fuel utilization) issue is not even at a stage for discussion. It would be deplorable and damage the trust of the public and Niigata regional authorities if the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant site were to be included in plutonium utilization plans and announced to the public.”
Excerpt from December 2005 letter submitted to Tokyo Electric president Tsunehisa Katsumata.
Source: Kyodo“Niigata Governor Lodges Warning to Tokyo Electric Regarding Pluthermal (MOX utilization) Plans”
26 December, 2005“In the middle of all of this, we have heard that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant site is being listed in the company’s Plutonium Utilization Plans….It is deplorable* that the Atomic Energy Commission is calling for public release of plutonium utilization plans at this time… We petition your committee that you understand this situation in our prefecture and take it into consideration in some manner.”
Excerpt from letter etter submitted to Shunsuke Kondo, Chair, Japan Atomic Energy Commission
27 December 2005
Fukushima Governor Eisaku Sato:
“I do not care what Tokyo Electric says. It is inconceivable that MOX fuel utilization takes place in this prefecture. I believe that Tokyo Electric understands the (prefecture’s) position.”
Excerpt from governor’s regular monthly press conference
26 December 2005Source: Fukushima Minyu Newspaper (Morning News)
“Pluthermal (MOX fuel utilization) Inconceivable”
27 December 2005“The governor, in giving his reasons, referred to the statement he had made during the September 2002 prefectural legislative session in which he stated, ﾔPrior consent (for MOX fuel utilization) has been withdrawn because the necessary conditions for granting it have collapsed.’ This statement by the governor was made after revelations in August (2002) that Tokyo Electric had concealed problems at its nuclear power plants. The governor (also) referred to the prefectural legislative assembly’s resolution in opposition and stated, ﾔWe have decided not to have the program implemented in our prefecture in accordance with the collective will of our citizens.’”
Excerpt from the Fukushima Minyu Newspaper article
“Pluthermal (MOX fuel utilization) Inconceivable”
27 December 2005Meanwhile, due to the 2004 accident at Kansai Electric’s Mihama nuclear power plant, the utility itself admits implementing the MOX program is at present impossible.
Kansai Electric on MOX Program Status:
“At present we are concentrating fully on Mihama Unit 3 post-accident measures and are therefore not in the position to consider MOX fuel use.”
Kansai Electric
Osaka Headquarters
20 October 2005 (Repeated 20 December 2005)
[Informal English translation of news articles and statements are by Green Action.]
Status of Light Water Reactors using MOX Fuel in Japan
No electric utility in Japan has the go-ahead to consume MOX fuel.
Tables detailing the status for light water reactors using MOX fuel are available in English at:
”Japanese Nuclear Power Companies’ Pluthermal* Plans”
http://cnic.jp/english/topics/cycle/MOX/pluthermplans.html.
The tables have been compiled by Kakujoho (http://kakujoho.net/e/index.html) from publicly available documents and translated into English by Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center.
* In Japan, the program to use MOX (plutonium-urainum mixed oxide) fuel in light water reactors is called the “pluthernmal” program.
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