[NukeNet] MOX Plant: another proliferation issue

[Citizens' Nuclear Information Center]

The agreement referred to in the statement below is a step towards 
building yet another facility with nuclear proliferation potential. 
Hardly what one would call setting a good example in the lead up to the 
NPT Review Conference.

Philip White
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MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant Site Agreement

CNIC statement of protest, 19 April 2005

A basic cooperative site agreement has been signed between Aomori 
Prefecture, Rokkasho Village, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) and the 
Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO) for a MOX Fuel 
Fabrication Plant. The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center protests 
Aomori Prefecture's decision to sign this agreement for another nuclear 
facility and demands that it rescind the agreement.

It is planned that the Rokkasho MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant will be 
built within the precincts of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. It will 
fabricate MOX fuel using the plutonium separated at the reprocessing 
plant. However, plans for the use of this fuel are still at the drawing 
board stage. Ten years have passed since the MOX use plan (pluthermal) 
was established in 1995, but it has not been implemented anywhere. 
Furthermore, due to a series of accidents and scandals, the trust of 
the local people around nuclear power plants has been completely lost. 
Tokyo Electric Power Company forged inspection data and concealed 
problems at its nuclear power plants. An accident involving a burst 
pipe at Kansai Electric Power Company's Mihama-3 reactor resulted in 
the deaths of five people. There has been one problem after another 
involving Chubu Electric Power Company. As a result of these incidents 
there is no reason to believe that the pluthermal plan can be 
implemented. With the pluthermal plan for the 35 tons of plutonium held 
in France and the UK deadlocked, even though FEPCO wants to announce a 
new MOX use plan before active trials begin at the Rokkasho 
Reprocessing Plant, it is clear that this can only be an exercise on 
paper.

Public distrust is directed towards the pluthermal plan, the nuclear 
fuel cycle and nuclear power in general. In Aomori Prefecture, 83% of 
the citizens feel anxiety regarding the safety of nuclear facilities. 
This is a very serious state of affairs. It speaks volumes for the 
situation where nuclear plans are foisted on the public. Nuclear 
facilities are built first then explanations and attempts to gain 
public understanding come later. There has been insufficient debate 
within the Aomori Prefectural Assembly and among the general public. 
The New Long-term Nuclear Plan is now being debated. There is no doubt 
that the debate will continue in regard to the nuclear fuel cycle 
policy. A debate involving the general public regarding Japan's use of 
nuclear energy, including the pros and cons of the nuclear fuel cycle, 
is necessary. Aomori Prefecture's rough and ready approach to the site 
agreement for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant narrows its future options 
and makes Japan's nuclear power policy even more rigid. We at the 
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center once again strongly demand that 
the site agreement for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant be rescinded.

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
3F Kotobuki Bdg, 1-58-15, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003
Phone: 81-3-5330-9520
Fax: 81-3-5330-9530
http://cnic.jp/english/
cnic at nifty.com