PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR JAPANESE PLUTONIUM MOX SHIPMENT DESPITE COURT INVESTIGATION INTO FUEL SAFETY DATA AND QUALITY CONTROL

PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR JAPANESE PLUTONIUM MOX SHIPMENT DESPITE COURT INVESTIGATION INTO FUEL SAFETY DATA AND QUALITY CONTROL

2 November 2000

LONDON -- Nuclear industry preparations for a Japanese plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel shipment from Europe are proceeding, despite on-going investigations into the quality control standards at the plant that produced the material, Greenpeace warned today.

On Monday, October 30th, the two-armed nuclear transport vessels, Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, departed the English port of Barrow-in-Furness for sea trials, which may last up to a week. The two ships left port at 11.30am in heavy seas, with standard crew and an estimated 40 armed anti-terrorist police from the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, together with guns and ammunition. The vessels are expected to conduct live test firing, either in the Irish Sea or off the West Coast of Scotland. The security preparations are required because the 200kg of weapons-usable plutonium contained in the MOX fuel due to be transported is sufficient for approximately 40 nuclear weapons.

The plutonium MOX that is due to be shipped from Europe to Japan is currently stored at the nuclear fuel production site, Dessel, in Belgium, awaiting final approval by the authorities for transport. However, doubts have been raised over the quality of MOX fuel produced by the Belgium manufacturer, Belgonucleaire. Currently in Japan a district court in Fukushima Prefecture, 200km north of Tokyo, is considering whether an earlier batch of MOX fuel also produced by Belgonucleaire, and delivered in last year, contains manipulated and falsified quality control data.

Greenpeace, along with other citizens groups in Japan (1), is seeking an injunction that would prevent the owner of the fuel, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) from loading the MOX fuel in a nuclear power plant at Fukushima. The MOX fuel awaiting transport from Europe is also due to be loaded into a Tepco reactor.

Greenpeace believes that MOX production standards are fundamentally flawed, leading manufacturers to reduce quality control standards, and in certain cases manipulate fuel data. The issue of MOX quality control is highly sensitive in Japan following the British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) scandal last year, which led to MOX fuel being rejected by the Japanese owner, Kansai Electric. That fuel is now scheduled to be returned to the UK sometime in the next 1-2 years.

"TEPCO appears to ignoring potential safety problems with its fuel by beginning preparations for the next MOX fuel shipment before the court rules on the quality of the safety data coming from the Belgonucleaire plant," said Greenpeace International nuclear campaigner Shaun Burnie. "Rather than repeating the mistake of last year and transporting MOX fuel from an old and disreputable facility, the Japanese nuclear industry and government should stop any further reprocessing and abandon their current program to stockpile and use enormous amounts of weapons-usable plutonium."

The MOX fuel to be shipped is due to be delivered to Tepco's Kashiwazaki-3 nuclear reactor in western Japan. Tepco, along with nine other Japanese utilities, are expected to accumulate 45,000kg of plutonium in the UK and France as a result of reprocessing contracts with BNFL and French-state company Cogema. Although Japan is acquiring the largest stockpile of plutonium outside the nuclear weapons states, none of the plutonium has so far been used in commercial nuclear reactors.

"If this shipment leaves Europe tens of countries along the transport route will have their environments, their economies and their populations health put at risk all for the sake of bankrupt program. They also run the risk that in the end, like BNFL MOX fuel, it will end up being rejected in Japan and sent back," said Burnie.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Greenpeace International Plutonium Campaign, Shaun Burnie +31 629 00 11 33
- Greenpeace Communications Media Officer, Jon Walter +31 653504731 or +31 20 5429608

Photographs of the departure of the armed transport ship, Pacific Teal are available from Greenpeace Communications, Picture Desk, +31 20 5249580

Notes:

(1) In addition to Greenpeace, Green Action and Citizens Nuclear Information Center Japan are plaintiffs, along with over 1000 citizens of Fukushima, and the city of Tokyo. The court action was launched in August, with the two further hearings due at the end of November and December.