EUROPEAN NUCLEAR FUEL INCREASES RISKS OF CATASTROPHIC ACCIDENT IN JAPANESE REACTOR, DENOUNCES GREENPEACE

26 December 2000

Fukushima/Amsterdam - Greenpeace released new evidence that plutonium Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel produced in Europe and intended to be loaded into a reactor operated by the Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will increase the risks of a catastrophic nuclear accident if used.

According to the report compiled by Dr Frank Barnaby (Oxford Research Group) and Greenpeace International, this MOX fuel has been manufactured in an old facility in Belgium with poor production and quality control standards, even below those of the discredited plutonium company British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL). This superficiality could increase the chances of a nuclear accident once the fuel is loaded into a reactor. For the first time ever, a non-Japanese expert has been asked to testify in a Japanese Court on an issue of nuclear safety (1). "Our research highlights that MOX fuel standards are low at the Belgonucleaire facility in Belgium, where vital quality control checks are poorly applied if not completely disregarded due to a combination of factors, such as economics, age of the nuclear plant, inherent problems of MOX fuel powder technology, worker radiation dose, and the lack of any international standards for such nuclear fuel," denounced Dr Frank Barnaby, from the Oxford Research Group.

"Worse still, if TEPCO proceed with their plans to load this fuel, they will significantly increase the risks of a nuclear accident, with catastrophic effects involving the release of large amounts of deadly breathable plutonium particles into the atmosphere. There would inevitably be higher lung cancer and other fatalities as a consequence," added Dr Barnaby.

From statistical analysis conducted on the Belgian MOX fuel, there are clear indications of possible data manipulation. Only two weeks ago, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, MITI, admitted that it was possible that manipulation of data was hidden in the documents released so far. However, Belgonucleaire, which together with the French plutonium company Cogema, markets plutonium MOX internationally (under the consortium COMMOX), have refused to release vital quality control data to Tokyo Electric, citing commercial confidentiality (2).

In August 2000, nearly 1000 Japanese citizens and NGOs, including Greenpeace Japan and Citizens Nuclear Information Center, launched a court action seeking an injunction against Tokyo Electric to prevent the loading of the plutonium MOX fuel produced by Belgonucleaire. "This is an issue of fundamental nuclear safety. Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government have so far complacently accepted the assurances of the European plutonium industry that they can be relied upon to tell the truth. Their investigations so far have been pathetic. It’s as if they are looking into the quality and safety of ‘hello kitty’ dolls, rather than hundreds of kilograms of plutonium which could lead to a nuclear disaster," said Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International nuclear campaigner and co-author of the report on Belgonucleaire MOX.

"The Japanese authorities appear to have learnt nothing from recent nuclear accidents in Japan, and it will be the people of Fukushima and the rest of Japan who will pay the terrible consequences. Whether it is BNFL, Belgonucleaire or Cogema, they have demonstrated over the years that they cannot be trusted," added Burnie.

Before making a decision on the plaintiffs' case, the Fukushima Court has agreed to hold one further hearing in late January when additional evidence will be submitted. Tokyo Electric intends to load the MOX fuel into the Fukushima-1 unit 3 reactor in April next year. In the meanwhile, a further shipment of high level nuclear waste, also produced by Belgonucleaire, has left Europe on the 20th December and is due to arrive to Japan in early 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International, +81 (0)90 2253 7306 (mobile in Japan) Dr Frank Barnaby
- Kazue Suzuki, Greenpeace Japan, +81 (0) 90 2249 1502

* Copies of the evidence submitted to the court is available upon request.
** The research on nuclear safety included in the study was written by Dr Edwin Lyman, Scientific Director for Nuclear Control Institute.

(1) Three judges in the Fukushima District court, north of Tokyo, will hear evidence of the MOX production standards at Belgonucleaire, in Belgium, where 32 assemblies of plutonium fuel were manufactured and subsequently shipped to Japan in 1999.

(2) The issue of MOX fuel safety and quality control has become highly sensitive in Japan following last year revelation that quality control procedures for MOX fuel produced at BNFL and delivered to Japan had been violated. The owners of the BNFL MOX fuel, Kansai Electric, are currently negotiating the return of the plutonium fuel to the United Kingdom. It was the same data released by BNFL last year that allowed citizens groups to prove that quality control procedure had been violated.