JAPAN CONFIRMS LAST SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL SHIPPED TO FRANCE IN DECEMBER 97
Greenpeace Demands French Government "Stop New Reprocessing Contracts"

28 January 1998

Amsterdam

Greenpeace has received confirmation from the Japanese Government that the last shipment of spent nuclear fuel to France under existing reprocessing contracts took place in December. If no new reprocessing contracts between Japanese utilities and France are signed, as promised by the French government, then such dangerous shipments from Japan to France have come to a conclusion.

In a brief written response to an inquiry by Greenpeace, the Embassy of Japan in Paris confirmed Greenpeace's belief that the shipments had ended. The message states that the shipment of nine casks of spent fuel, which arrived in Cherbourg on 16 December, was the "last one under current contracts between Japanese electric companies and COGEMA." The message from the First Secretary in charge of scientific affairs does not reveal the status of on-going discussion between COGEMA and Japanese nuclear utilities for new reprocessing contracts.

"The French Government must now show the public that it will live up to its pledge that no more deadly Japanese nuclear waste will be dumped on France," said Bruno Rebelle, of Greenpeace. "An end to radioactive shipments from Japan will have a tangible benefit for France and the world. We renew our call on the French government to take action and call off all negotiations for new reprocessing contracts."

Both COGEMA and British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) have recently been to Japan to pressure the Japanese for new reprocessing contracts. The present contracts between Japan and the European reprocessing factories involved shipment of about 7,120 tonnes of spent fuel and will result in the separation of about 70 tonnes of weapon-usable plutonium. Japan has about 12 tonnes of plutonium currently stockpiled in Europe and about 4 tonnes stockpiled in Japan. Japan's program to use the plutonium is floundering and no commercial use of plutonium fuel (MOX) has yet been licensed.

As the United States, under the US-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, controls the disposition of Japanese spent fuel and separated plutonium, the US can use its political leverage to halt any new Japanese reprocessing contracts. "By taking action to halt new reprocessing contracts by Japan, the US can prove that the non-proliferation policy of the Clinton administration is intact", said Tom Clements of Greenpeace. "Inaction in stopping new reprocessing contracts will result in more stockpiling of plutonium and thus indicate that Clinton's non-proliferation policy has crumbled."

Currently, a shipment of vitrified nuclear waste is on its way from France to Japan. The waste results from reprocessing at La Hague and has no commercial value. The dangerous shipment, which left Cherbourg on 21 January, is believed to have passed the Azores Islands and be currently located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, bound for the Caribbean Sea and Panama Canal. Despite their promises, the shippers are still refusing to reveal the route through the Caribbean or Pacific. On 23 January, both Jamaica and the Bahamas issued strong statements against the transport of nuclear waste and plutonium through the Caribbean region.

Greenpeace calls on nations concerned with plutonium proliferation and along shipping routes for nuclear materials to appeal to Japan, France, Britain and the United States that no new reprocessing contracts be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Bruno Rebelle, Greenpeace France, t. (+33) 0 6 08905967 (Paris)

- Tom Clements, Greenpeace International, t. +1-202-319-2506 (Washington)

- Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Communication, mobile

(+31) 0 6 53 6629 70 (Amsterdam)