Japan's Nuke Power No Match for Asia's Energy Needs

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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               GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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>> JAPAN'S NUCLEAR POWER IS NO MATCH FOR ASIA'S ENERGY NEEDS 
 
Tokyo, 4 March 1996 (GP/CNIC) Contrary to popular belief,  
Japanese nuclear power is neither cheap nor technically- 
successful, two environmental groups said today.  Greenpeace 
Japan and the Citizen's Nuclear Information Centre  (CNIC) 
presented evidence that the country's nuclear programme  is in 
disarray following the December 8th accident in the  prototype 
fast-breeder reactor MONJU, and may never fully recover.  They 
said that electric utilities are shying away  from building new 
nuclear power plants because they are unreliable and too 
expensive.  
 
The charges came on the eve of the opening in Tokyo of the  
Seventh International Conference on Nuclear Cooperation in  Asia 
(ICNCA), an inter-governmental meeting to promote nuclear  trade 
in the region.
 
"The reality of nuclear power in Japan is sharply at odds with  
the optimistic statements of the government," said John Willis  
of Greenpeace Japan.  "Recent accidents and sharply rising  costs
have forced a rethink on the general nuclear policy.    Before
buying into nuclear power, other Asian nations need to  consider
if they're buying into an obsolete technology," he   said.
 
Mika Ohbayashi of CNIC said, "the nuclear policy of Japan is on 
very shaky ground now.  The recent accidents have crystallised 
public distrust in the government's narrow pro-nuclear stance.  
That is one reason the government is trying to market  its 
nuclear technology more aggressively to other Asian nations".  
Ms Ohbayashi pointed out that safety-significant events are 
increasing in Japanese nuclear reactors as they deteriorate  with
age.   "And even a technologically-advanced nation like  Japan
still  has no solution to the severe problem of disposing  of
highly radioactive waste which nuclear power produces", Ms 
Ohbayashi said.  "It is just immoral to export the problem to 
other countries."  
 

She also said the spread of nuclear technology across Asia will 
heighten fears of weapons proliferation. "Japan's own nuclear 
ambitions, especially the stockpiling of tonnes of plutonium 
which can be used for weapons, have already caused security 
tension with other states  -- it is dangerous to spread the 
problem even further and wider," she said.  
 
The groups predicted that utility concerns about the rising 
costs and falling reliability of nuclear plants will lead to 
radical changes in Japan's energy policy.   "We are witnessing 
the start of a major policy shift which will start with a 
debate about costs and will be accelerated by foreign criticism 
of the growing plutonium stockpile, and unremitting public 
opposition to new reactor construction", Willis said.
 
They were joined by Mile Laksmiari Priyonggo, a Member of 
Parliament from Indonesia who has campaigned against her 
government's attempt to start a nuclear power programme.  She 
stated that public opposition to nuclear power in Indonesia is 
growing fast.  "The Japanese nuclear industry should understand 
that as people learn more about nuclear power, the less they 
like it", she said.  "Indonesia will not be dumped on by a 
Japanese industry failing at home."
 
Willis added, "The Japanese nuclear experiment has eaten up 
decades of  research and trillions of yen, but it's time to 
accept that it  was an experiment that failed and get on with 
more realistic options for meeting energy
 
ENDS                               
 
Further Information: John Willis (5351 5400) or Mika Ohbayashi 
(5330 9520)

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