JAPANESE CITIZENS REJECT PLUTONIUM MOX USE - MAJOR SETBACK FOR NUCLEAR PROGRAM, BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS AND COGEMA

27 May 2001

Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, Japan - A major milestone was passed tonight by the residents of Kariwa village in western Japan, when they voted against the use of plutonium MOX fuel in a nearby nuclear reactor. For the first time an official referendum has been held on the use of plutonium, which in theory at least is at the center of Japan's energy program. The result of the referendum, though not legally binding, means that it will be impossible now for Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operators of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactor to proceed with its plans to load plutonium MOX fuel currently sitting in its storage ponds on site. The result will have major repercussions for Japanese plans for the use of thousands of kilograms of plutonium currently stored in Europe. The result will also set back desperate efforts by embattled British Nuclear Fuels, BNFL and Cogema, the French-state company, to secure commercial contracts for the production of MOX fuel.

The village of Kariwa, borders the world's largest nuclear power plant at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. In total 88.14% (3605 people in a village of 4092 voters in total) of residents took part in the referendum. Of this number, 53.6% (total 1925 votes), voted no to the use of MOX, and 42.7% (1533 votes) voted yes. 3.7% (131 votes) voted to suspend the use of MOX. Although Tokyo Electric is the largest single employer in the region, the village residents have clearly understood that the use of plutonium MOX fuel increases the risk of catastrophic nuclear accident, and is therefore unsafe to use. "Nuclear industry and government propaganda have been ignored by the citizens of Kariwa in voting against the use of plutonium MOX fuel. Japan's plans for using plutonium were going nowhere before today's result, tonight they are in ruins. Rather than being the centre of energy production in Japan, the plutonium program has drained billions of dollars from taxpayers. The opposition to the use of this dangerous material will now grow even stronger throughout Japan, with a real prospect of the program being terminated," said Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan in Kariwa village.

Plutonium MOX fuel when loaded into a nuclear reactor lowers the safety margins for the operator, increasing the chances of a nuclear accident, as well as making a future accident more severe in terms of health effects and environmental contamination. Growing evidence of poor production standards and low quality control at European MOX fuel manufacturers have contributed to concerns that it is unsafe to use.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plutonium fuel is the third batch of MOX to be shipped to Japan and subsequently rejected for use. The 28 assemblies of MOX, containing around 220kg of plutonium, arrived on the British-flagged Pacific Pintail in March this year after a 30,000km voyage. In 1999 a shipment of MOX fuel from British Nuclear Fuels arrived under suspicion that it contained falsified quality control data. It was subsequently proved that fuel production standards had been violated by BNFL, and the 8 assemblies of plutonium MOX fuel, intended for the Takahama-4 reactor operated by Kansai Electric, will now be returned to the UK at a cost of billions of yen.

A second cargo of MOX fuel, produced by a French/Belgium consortium led by Cogema, which also arrived in 1999, came under suspicion over quality control violations and was at the centre of a legal battle to prove falsification. In March this year, the regional governor of Fukushima Prefecture decided to conduct a one year review of MOX fuel use, citing loss of public confidence as one reason for the review. The 32 assemblies of plutonium MOX fuel, intended to be loaded in the Tokyo Electric reactor, Fukushima-1-3, remains stored at the site, nearly two years after delivery. Its future remains uncertain.

Japanese utilities have been reluctant to proceed with large-scale use of MOX fuel because it is controversial and uneconomic. As a result both BNFL and Cogema have failed to secure large MOX contracts. Three shipments of MOX fuel, shipped nearly 100,000 kilometers around the planet and costing the utilities nearly US$200 million, have yet to produce one kilowatt of electricity. Large Japanese contracts for the unopened Sellafield MOX Plant, SMP, are desperately needed by BNFL. The British government is due to make a decision on the license for the plant after the upcoming general election.

"BNFL and Cogema may never admit it, but this is shocking news for them. They will claim that government policy in Japan remains the same, but when it comes to plutonium, Japan's policy is disconnected from Japan's reality. BNFL and the British government need to understand that there is no MOX market in Japan," said Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace International.

A legal challenge was launched last week against the British government claiming that the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the construction of the BNFL Sellafield MOX Plant could not be written-off when considering the economic justification for licensing the plant. The lawsuit was brought by Friends of the Earth and supported by Greenpeace International.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
For further information:
Kazue Suzuki - ++81 90 2249 1502
Shaun Burnie - ++ 31 6 2900 1133 - (dutch mobile)

Background details on Japanese MOX can be found at: www.greenpeace.org/nuclear/

and on BNFL disastrous plutonium business at

www.britishnuclearfuels.com