Japan’s push for nuclear power deters from the country addressing the climate crisis. Find out why.

“Has fast breeder Monju been good for Japan’s energy?” Fast breeder’s electricity is expensive. Download PDF version (266 KB)

Green Action and Mihama-no-Kai Petition Government and Kansai Electric to Investigate Return Shipment MOX Transport Cask for Possible Corrosion For immediate release: 14 June 2002 For more information contact: Aileen Mioko Smith or Stephen Ready Mobile: 090-3620-9251 Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, Japan—- Two Japanese citizen organizations, Green Action and Mihama-no-Kai, who were instrumental in December 1999 in successfully identifying the falsification of safety data for fuel fabricated at BNFL for Japan’s plutonium (MOX) program, joined local citizen groups in Takahama today to protest the arrival of the British-flagged vessel the Pacific Pintail into the port of Takahama. The ship arrived to drop off the transport cask that is scheduled to carry…

[For international release: February 28, 2007] [Word version: 76KB] Today the prime ministers of Japan and Russia are meeting in Tokyo. According to media reports, part of the negotiations will focus on a new nuclear agreement allowing Japanese nuclear material to be sent to Russia. It is planned that uranium extracted from spent nuclear fuel reprocessed in the UK and France will be enriched in Russia for use as nuclear fuel for Japanese nuclear power plants. Earlier this month, the Yomiuri Shimbun (1) and various Russian media (2)(3) reported that “Japan has entered into final negotiations that would see Russia enriching Japan’s uranium. It is clear that the Russian uranium…

Japan’s Two Operating Reactors won’t meet New Post-Fukushima Standards Will the Nuclear Regulation Authority Still Allow Them to Operate? For immediate release: 19 June 2013 Contact: Aileen Mioko Smith Kyoto, Japan—-The Nuclear Regulation Authority today approved new post-Fukushima regulatory standards. The standards will now be sent to the Cabinet for approval. They are scheduled to take effect on 8 July. Will the NRA ignore compliance with its new standards from day one by allowing the two currently operating nuclear reactors in Japan, Ohi Units 3 and 4 to continue to operate, thus setting the precedent for further non-compliance? At issue is whether Japan has learned the lessons of the Fukushima…

Dangerous shipment of Japanese High-Level Radioactive Nuclear Waste Crossing Pacific Ocean on Defective Vessel 08 February 2010 (Kyoto, Japan) For more information contact: +81-90-3620-9251 (Smith) For immediate release: A shipment of 28 canisters of highly toxic Japanese vitrified high level radioactive waste departed Sellafield, UK on 20 January aboard the Pacific Sandpiper bound for Japan. The cargo is today passing through the Panama Canal and will be entering the Pacific Ocean momentarily. The high level waste (HLW) has been produced by the reprocessing of spent reactor fuel from Japanese electric utilities. It is the first of this kind of shipment from the UK. A press release issued 25 January by…