The Failures of Japan’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Program, 1956 – 2007

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…

[Translated from Japanese] [March 13, 2006] METI officials responded along the following lines to the demands of Dr. Kang and five Japanese organizations. They promised to consider providing a written response to demands 1 through 3. Response to 1: Mr. Shinichi Mizumoto, Planning Officer (responsible for international nuclear energy issues), Nuclear Energy Policy Division, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, METI: The MOX issue is only one aspect of the holistic measures which consist of safeguards, physical protection, etc. We object to it being taken up independently. Since precautions are taken to prevent theft, I cannot respond to the question regarding the different degree of concern between MOX and plutonium…

Press Release——Fukushima Coalition Sends Urgent Request for UN Intervention to Stabilize the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel For immediate release: 2 May 2012 Kyoto, Japan―On 30 April, seventy-two Japanese NGO organizations lead by Shut Tomari and Green Action send an urgent request to the UN and Japanese government urging immediate action to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel. The letter was endorsed by experts from Japan and abroad. The letter warned that the seriously damaged Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool contains Cesium-137 (Cs-137) that is equivalent to 10 times the amount released at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. If an…

[English translation] Joint Statement Protesting: Nuclear Regulatory Authority’s Draft Approval of Sendai Nuclear Power Plant’s Conformation to New Nuclear Regulatory Standards 16 July 2014 Issued by: The Nuclear Regulation Authority Citizen Watchdog Group and 7 other organizations Today, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) issued a draft report on Kyushu Electric’s Sendai Nuclear Power Plant application for restart, stating the NRA’s review found the plant conforming to the New Regulatory Standards. We strongly protest this report. The NRA review to inspect conformation to the New Regulatory Standards does not learn from the lessons of Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Daiichi accident, and, for the following reasons it is clearly evident that the situation…

Japan’s Worst Pollution Disaster MINAMATA DISEASE:　Mercury poisoning from industrial waste Will Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Government Ram Through Bill Shutting off Relief for Minamata Disease Victims? For immediate release: 29 June 2009 Contact: Aileen Mioko Smith Cell: +81-75-701-7223 (Press conference in Japanese at 16:00 today in Nagata-cho area. Location to be determined.) Tokyo, Japan—-A delegation of wheelchair-bound congenital Minamata disease victims is arriving in Tokyo this morning seeking a meeting with Yukio Hatoyama and the Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) leadership in a last minute effort to halt passage of a Minamata disease bill which will have devastating effects on relief for victims. It was reported in the media yesterday…

[18 January 2006] PDF version (472KB) Japan’s 1997 Pledge 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…