The following letter to the Abolition Caucus mailing list and open letter to the Japanese government, municipalities and utilities were sent to the relevant authorities on 10 December 2004. We have left these letters on this site as a resource for people who are opposed to the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant.
Philip White
CNIC International Liaison Officer
(from Satomi Oba of WISE Japan)
Dear Abolition friends,
One of the serious problems for the fissile material ban is Japan's huge plutonium program. The facility at Rokkashomura is soon starting testing using depleted uranium. Regardless the wide and strong oppostion from around the world, the agreement about uranium testing was concluded between the operator Japan Nuclear Fuel and Governor of Aomori Prefecture and Mayor of Rokkasho Village on November 22. According to the anti-nukes group in Aomori, the similar agreement will be signed with the surrounding municipalities on December 3rd. Then the uranium is scheduled to be shipped into the facility before 20th of December. The operator reportedly says they will start uranium testing around December 22-23, as CHRISTMAS PRESENT for the people of Aomori!
I sent the open letter below to the government, local municipalities and the utilities, as well as media in Japan on November 12, with 27 signatures of organizations/individuals around the world. Now the number is increasing up to 123 organizations/individuals from Europe, north and south America, Russia, and Asia including China and Korea.
There are singatures of some prominent experts, too. I am grateful to the support and solidarity from so many people and organizations. I plan to send it again before the uranium shipment.
Again I would ask you to join the protest to the testing and operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant -A Menace to the World. I plan to make public this open letter and signatory at the NPT Review Conference, May 2004.
Best wishes,
Satomi Oba
Director of Plutonium Action Hiroshima
WISE Japan
Hiroshima City, Japan
Atomstopp International
Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)
World Information Service on Energy (WISE)
We of Atomstopp International, NIRS, WISE, and like-minded organizations gathered in Linz, Austria, for the international symposium, “The Lie of the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power Plants – Two Sides of the Same Coin” held on October 1-2, 2004, wish to express our grave concerns regarding the up-coming uranium testing and planned operation of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Rokkashomura, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
We demand that the Japanese government and local leaders reconsider Japan’s plutonium program and make the wisest, most courageous decision not to start up the reprocessing plant, which would be a menace to the world.
Similar facilities at La Hague, France, and Sellafield, UK, have been subject to claims and protests from neighboring countries because of the continuous contamination of the surrounding seas caused by the operation of those plants. It is a fact that reprocessing is an extraordinarily dirty and dangerous chemical process involving huge amounts of radioactive materials. It also results in radioactive waste of extremely long-life for which there is, so far, no safe solution for storage in the world.
This dangerous process originates from military purposes, separating bomb material from the spent fuel from nuclear reactors. There are more than a dozen cases in the world, for example India, Pakistan or Israel, where nuclear weapons have been developed or attempted from the so-called “peaceful use of atomic energy.” Even in South Korea, scientists have recently admitted to conducting illegal experiments on uranium enrichment and plutonium separation. From the viewpoint of nonproliferation and disarmament, plutonium separation as well as uranium enrichment should be generally restricted and on such a basis, operation of such a huge facility as the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant should not be approved.
We are aware that Japan has already obtained 40 tons of plutonium stored at the facilities in France, Britain, and Japan. Plutonium is an extremely toxic and military substance, and leading Japanese NGOs have stated that there will be no realistic possibility for using plutonium, in fast breeder reactors or in conventional light water reactors as MOX fuel. Even separated reactor-grade plutonium can be used in a nuclear weapon!
We were horrified at the news of the August 9 accident at the Mihama nuclear power plant that killed five people. The record of seven fatalities, five in Mihama this year and two at Tokaimura in 1999, and various serious casualties at Japanese nuclear facilities is regrettable and extremely serious. There have also been many shameful incidents of falsification and cover-ups relating to nuclear power plants in addition to the concerns of seismic instability in Japan. If an accident, or an attack, were to occur at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, the entire region could be affected by the disaster as well as the wider world for the foreseeable future.
Since September 11, 2001, the world has become a more dangerous place. Specifically, more than 400 nuclear power plants and relating facilities could be a potential targets of military action or terrorism. What we should not do is add to the danger by constructing or starting operations at such facilities, but instead phase-out nuclear energy and choose safe and sustainable energy.
We fervently urge the leaders of Japan to listen to the local voices of opposition, from both the public and NGOs, and immediately reverse the decision to conduct the uranium testing scheduled and also reconsider the controversial plutonium program entirely.
We act in solidarity with the local people of Aomori Prefecture, and the Japanese citizens engaged in the difficult task of stopping the nuclear fuel cycle – death chain of nuclear activities. We would also encourage the Japanese media and politicians to strengthen the campaign to stop nuclear madness once and for all.
Sincerely yours,
Signatures:
