Subject: [cwj 155] Japan deals fresh blow to nuclear fuel plant
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2001 15:03:41 -0700
Seq: 155
Japan deals fresh blow to nuclear fuel plant Financial Times By Matthew Jones in London and Ken Hijino in Tokyo Published: June 1 2001 19:29GMT | Last Updated: June 3 2001 19:50GMT Plans to open a =A3460m ($653m) plant to manufacture controversial recycled nuclear fuel in north-west England suffered another blow on Friday after Japan's largest electricity utility agreed to postpone the loading of recycled nuclear fuel at its plant in northern Japan.=20 The Sellafield plant, owned by British Nuclear Fuels, the UK atomic services group, was largely completed five years ago but will not receive clearance from the British government to start operations until its economic case has been proven. Although some 40 per cent of its capacity has been contracted or reserved by customers in Europe, its most important client is Japan.=20 The decision by Tokyo Electric Power Company, made after a meeting with= local government officials, follows a referendum in the village of Kariwa last week in which more than half of the population, which depends heavily on the power plant for jobs, voted against the use of controversial mixed oxide fuel, known as Mox.=20 Public opinion in Japan has hardened against the use of Mox, which combines plutonium recycled from spent fuel with uranium, since BNFL admitted in September 1999 to falsifying quality control records for Mox shipped to= Kansai Electric Power Company.=20 Greenpeace, the environmental presure group, said Tepco's decision was a further step towards ending the use of the fuel and preventing BNFL's plant from being opened.=20 "There is a genuine sense now that Mox use is way off in Japan and that there are no prospects for future Mox reactors," it said.=20 A report commissioned by Greenpeace and submitted to the British government this month as part of a public consultation process warned that the economics of the UK plant had worsened because of developments in Japan and an estimated 30 per cent increase in costs.=20 BNFL said it was following progress in Japan closely and was still hopeful= of securing contracts.=20 "This referendum was not legally binding but its interpretation is a matter for local and national government in Japan," said an official.=20 Ikuo Hirayama, governor of Niigata prefecture, on Friday called on Tepco to delay the use of Mox after earlier meeting with the mayors of Kariwa and= Kashiwazaki City.=20 Nobuya Minami, Tepco's president, said the group would respect the request. "The time has come for us to pause," he said. "The opposition [to Mox] is also a criticism of Tepco's everyday activities."=20 He added, however, that the company should strive to improve residents' understanding and win their support in order to begin the Mox fuel programme in Japan as soon as possible.=20 The Mox at Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is supplied by Cogema, BNFL's French competitor, but locals and green groups claim that all Mox fuel presents an unacceptable risk. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________