Return of MOX fuel from Japan to Sellafield

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday April 24, 2002 14:42 by Barry O'Donovan - Gluaiseacht fgod at hotpop dot com +353 87 2320437

Protest at British and Japanese Embassies on Friday 26th April 4.30pm

Two ships are shortly due to depart from Barrow-in-Furness in th UK for Japan to collect a shipment of MOX fuel rejected by the Japanese nuclear authorities. Gluaiseacht and Greenpeace Internatioal are organising a demonstration against this shipment for Friday 26th April, the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

There has in recent days been a lot of activity in the port of Barrow in West Cumbria
around two ships(1) used to transfer nuclear fuel for BNFL. These ships are due to travel
to Japan to collect 8 MOX fuel assemblies on which the safety data had been falsified(2).

This fuel(3), which contains over 225 kg of plutonium must be returned to Sellafield for
plutonium extraction and reprocessing into fresh MOX fuel assemblies before any further
Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) business between Kansai Electric Co. and BNFL can be
done(4). This is in direct contradiction to evidence presented to the UN International
Tribunal on the Law Of the Seas (ITLOS) hearing on November 21st 2001 when it was
stated and accepted that no shipments of MOX fuel would take place before the end of
summer (Oct.) 2002 as a result of commisioning the SMP(5).

In order that the MOX fuel is removed from Japan before the final of the World Cup it
appears that the two ships will depart Barrow-in-Furness before the end of April 2002 and
begin loading the fuel on their arrival in Japan. This will clash with the opening rounds of
the World Cup soccer tourament and is likely to increase the security dfficulties at this
time(6).

Gluaiseacht, through its nuclear campaign team, and as part of the Shut Down Sellafield
campaign strongly opposes the return of this lethal cargo to Sellafield, its transport around
the globe and through the Irish Sea and calls on the Japanese government to respect
the wishes of its own citizens to end the use of MOX fuel(7), and of the international
community by not being party to justifying the continued expansion of the Sellafield site
through the utilisation of the MOX facilities.

Gluaiseacht and Greenpeace International, along with other anti-nunclear groups are
proposing a demonstration at the british(8) and Japanese(9) embassies in Dublin on this
Friday,
26th April at 4.30pm. We hope that all those who have an interest in a future free from
radiotoxic pollution will join us on the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident to
protest this reckless action by these two governments and their respective nuclear
industries.

Barry O'Donovan
Gluaiseacht Nuclear Campaign Team.
[email protected]
+353872320437

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Notes:

(1) Pacific Teal, Pacific Pintail. British registered to PNTL. Part owned by BNFL

(2) http://www.agroeco.nl/~wise/518/5083.html,
http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/e00026.htm,
http://www.kepco.co.jp/knic/index_e.htm

(3) referred to as 'Takahama MOX assemblies'

(4)(a) Five conditions have been set by the Japanese utilities (in consultation with
METI) that must be met by BNFL prior to contracts being signed with the Sellafield MOX
Plant. "Embodiment of the return of Takahama MOX assemblies from MDF." The UK
government commissioned a report from Arthur D. Little on the economic viability of the
Sellafield MOX Plant during 2001. A censored version of the report was released in July
2001. In the report it confirmed that one of the five conditions for the resumption of MOX
contracts between the Japanese utilities and BNFL’s Sellafield MOX Plant, was the return
of the Takahama MOX fuel, and that "a timetable is in place to return the falsified MOX
fuel," (See, ‘Assessment of BNFL’s Business Case for the Sellafield MOX Plant,
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Department of Health, Arthur D
Little, July 2001)
(b) U.S. Federal Register Feb. 7th 2002:
"Upon its return to British Nuclear Fuels, the material will be stored in an approved facility
pending recovery of the plutonium contained in the unirradiated fuel assemblies. The
recovered plutonium will be returned to Japan in the form of fresh MOX fuel assemblies."
http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=651320782+0+0+
0&WAISaction=retrieve
(c) The official BNFL press release on the MOX fuel return which gives a different
'spin' :
http://www.bnfl.com/website.nsf/newssub1/30FC4AE65EB9FC1380256B74005877BB
?opendocument

(5) In evidence to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, on November
20th 2001 Richard Plender QC stated,

E/9 21 20/11/01pm

"39 First, I should emphasize a point which is no doubt at the forefront of the Tribunal’s
40 mind by now. Before summer 2002 (at the earliest) there will be no additional
41 marine transports of radioactive material either to or from Sellafield as a result of the
42 commissioning of the MOX plant. I shall revert to that subject in a moment in order
43 to avoid any possibility of misunderstanding over the use of terms." (Page 21)

Mr Plender proceeded to explain the return of the falsified MOX fuel as follows,

E/9 26 20/11/01pm

"21 You have also heard a certain amount about the falsification of data incident at the
22 MOX demonstration facility. It is a matter of public knowledge that the MOX fuel,
23 which was the subject of that incident, is to be returned. It will not be returned to the
24 MOX plant but to a storage pool. It is presently not anticipated that this will be
25 returned until some time late next year. It is a matter for agreement with the
26 Japanese authorities, among others." (page 26)
http://www.itlos.org/case_documents/2001/document_en_196.doc

(6) http://www.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/nuctrans/2002apr17.html

(7) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20010528a2.htm

(8) British Ambassador: H.E. Sir Ivor Roberts
British Embassy, 29 Merrion Road, Dublin 4.
Phone +353 1 205 3700
Fax: +353 1 205 3885
Web: www.britishembassy.ie
email:

(9) Japanese Ambassador: H.E. Mr Takeshi Kagami
Embassy of Japan, Merrion Centre, Nutley Lane, Dublin 4.
Tel: +353 1 269 4244.
Fax: +353 1 283 8726 or +353 1 260 1285
email: [email protected]