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Further Delays at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Ing Plant Project Should Be Cancelled Before Similar Problems Arise in Japan

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Further Delays at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Ing Plant Project Should Be Cancelled Before Similar Problems Arise in Japan TOKYONov./Dec. 2005 NUKECitizens' Nuclear INFO Information Center No. 109 3F Kotobuki Bldg., 1-58-15, Higashi-nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003, JAPAN URL: http://cnic.jp/english/ e-mail : [email protected] Further delays at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant ing Plant project should be cancelled before similar problems arise in Japan. Pro- fessor Hong Seong Tae of People's Solidarity for Par- ticipatory Democracy gave a South Korean perspective on Rokkasho, stressing prolifer- ation and environmental con- cerns. Martin also spoke in Morioka (Iwate Prefecture) on the 20th and in Aomori on the 21st. The major reason for the two-month delay is modifications to the vitri- Sit-in outside Ministry for Economy Trade and Industry fied high-level waste storage n November 18th Japan Nuclear Fuel facility (see NIT 105). It was discovered that, Ltd. (JNFL) announced that active tri- due to a design error, the cooling system of als (using spent nuclear fuel) at the buildings in this facility was inadequate. The ORokkasho Reprocessing Plant will be delayed governor of Aomori Prefecture indicated that two months to February 2006. Start-up of he wouldn't give his approval for active trials Rokkasho will also be pushed back two months until this problem was fixed. JNFL now says to July 2007. that these modifications will be completed by The announcement was made while demon- the end of this year. strations were being held in Tokyo opposing the reprocessing plant in general and the CONTENTS impending active trials in particular. Sit-ins, Further delays at Rokkasho 1,2 demonstrations and public meetings were held Nuclear Policy Planning Council 3,4 from November 16th - 19th. Two overseas The birth of Japan Atomic Energy Agency 5 speakers were invited to participate. Martin Aircraft crew cosmic ray exposure 6 Forwood of Cumbrians Opposed to a Radio- Plutonium data 7 active Environment spoke about problems at South Korean nuclear waste dump vote 8,9 the THORP reprocessing plant in the UK. He Anti-nuclear who’s who: Koshiro Ishimaru 10 emphasized that the Rokkasho Reprocess- News Watch 11,12 Nov./Dec. 005 No.109 Nuke Info Tokyo On November 9th JNFL released its latest Haiku Group Introduction progress report on the uranium trials (using Since the beginning of this year, we have depleted uranium), which are currently included a haiku in each issue of NIT. These being conducted. The report failed to provide haiku were provided by members of the Aoba evidence to support JNFL's claim that the ura- English Haiku Circle, named after the ward nium trials are proceeding smoothly. Rather, in Yokohama city where the group is based. it showed that JNFL is nowhere near ready to "Aoba" means "green leaf" and the members enter the active trial phase. Of greatest con- say they try to remain as fresh as "aoba". cern, there is no indication that JNFL plans The group has fifteen members and has been to undertake a true test of the whole process. meeting once a month since 1997. JNFL claims that it will conduct comprehen- Haiku has been one of the mainstreams of sive trials of the whole plant, but there is no Japanese culture since the haiku poets Basho indication that it will run uranium from begin- and Buson, who were active in the 17th and ning to end in such a way that inputs and out- 18th centuries respectively. In recent years, puts can be quantitatively compared. Unless more and more people all over the world are a test is conducted showing how accurately writing haiku in their own languages. With inputs and outputs balance, it will be impos- just 17 syllables, haiku is the shortest form sible to judge whether it is safe to proceed to of poetry. Haiku express the writer's love of active trials. nature and the four seasons. In addition to the general problem of testing Members of the Aoba English Haiku Cir- the whole plant, CNIC is also unsatisfied cle submit haiku based on seasonal words to with the information that has been released. each monthly meeting. They hope you enjoy While we recognize that nuclear safeguards their contributions to NIT. requirements impose limits on what can be made public, in this case essential information is being withheld simply for commercial con- Haiku for the Season fidentiality reasons. On the basis of the infor- mation released, it is impossible to ascertain Autumn leaves how much progress has really been made with form a shifting mosaic the uranium trials. The report repeats formulas on the wind-swept pond such as "within the target level", providing few numerical values to back up its assertions. by Michiko Murai Active trials entail far greater dangers than the uranium trials. They involve much Continued from page 6 o f a w o m a n c r e w higher levels of radioactivity and they carry person in the early and undetected stages of pregnancy. While it is not possible to manage the risk of a criticality accident. These are not things to be treated lightly for the sake of meet- perfectly radiation exposure from cosmic rays, or to avoid all risk completely, it is important ing arbitrary schedules. It is simply not good to develop more concrete guidelines to lessen enough for JNFL to say 'trust us' and expect to unnecessary exposure. be allowed to proceed to active trials. Further, this investigation covered aircraft crew only and did not include debate on persons Philip White (NIT Editor) who frequently use aircraft for work (such as tour conductors, etc.). It is necessary to make sure that in the future the radiation exposure of such persons can also be managed. Ikuko Kuwabara (CNIC) Nuke Info Tokyo Nov./Dec. 005 No.109 Nuclear Policy Planning Council in review n September 29th the Nuclear Policy times. Planning Council (Planning Council) Basically unchanged from past policy submitted its final draft of the Nuclear However, the Policy Outline continues the OEnergy Policy Outline (Policy Outline) to the nuclear fuel cycle policy of the past. I was Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). AEC totally opposed to this, so I submitted a minority endorsed the Policy Outline on October 11th and, opinion. I had submitted written comments to three days later, on the 14th it was authorized by almost all of the meetings, so my 'minority opin- a Cabinet decision, which stated, "The Policy ion' was basically a summary of those comments. Outline will be respected as the basic direction Two members of the Planning Council submitted of nuclear energy policy, and research into and minority opinions. This might be common prac- development and utilization of nuclear energy tice overseas, but it was strongly opposed within will be promoted." the Planning Council. Those opposed took the As stated in NIT 108, in the past the equiva- view that it was unnecessary to append minor- lent document was referred to as the Long-term ity opinions to the report for reasons such as the Program for Research, Development, and Uti- following: the members' written and oral com- lization of Nuclear Energy. The name change ments are publicly available; there was sufficient stems from a reorganization of government discussion within the Planning Council; public agencies. In 2001, the agency responsible for comments were called for on two occasions; the the promotion of nuclear energy, the Science Policy Outline is the outcome of this process. In and Technology Agency (STA), was dissolved. the end the chairman decided that the minority Its responsibilities were divided between the opinions would be appended to the Policy Coun- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science cil's draft report. and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of I submitted a minority opinion, because Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Previ- the draft Policy Outline contained things with ously the Minister in charge of STA was also the which I was fundamentally unable to agree. One chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. problem was the inclusion of numerical goals However, after the reorganization, AEC was no for nuclear power production, development of longer chaired by a government minister. Con- the fast breeder reactor (FBR), and so on. The sequently, it was no longer possible for the AEC goal for nuclear power production was set at to draw up government programs in its own right 30%-40% or more of total electric power. This and the name had to be changed. The contents of level is to be maintained beyond 2030. It was the Policy Outline indicate the "basic thinking". thus accepted that the operating life of nuclear They fulfill the role of nuclear policy guidelines reactors will be extended to 60 years. Indeed, for the various government agencies. implementation of the new nuclear energy policy This is a very big change, because it means is premised on such extensions. Furthermore, that nuclear energy has ceased to be the center in order to increase output, the Policy Outline of energy policy. As explained by METI in the endorses power upratings and extending the time course of the Planning Council's deliberations, between periodic inspections to 18 months or this means that we have changed from an era of more. However, these measures will increase the "renewable energy or nuclear energy" to an era risk of nuclear accidents. of "renewable energy and nuclear energy". I was also unable to agree with including a The fact that for the first time a proponent of date of 2050 for the realization of FBR. There a phase-out of nuclear energy was included on a was almost no discussion of this point. The government panel established to consider nuclear government provided estimates of the doubling energy policy is another sign of the changing Nov./Dec.
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