Japan’s Nuclear Mistake By FRANK N. VON HIPPEL and MASAFUMI TAKUBO November 28, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/opinion/japans-nuclear-mistake.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121129&_r=0
Frank N. von Hippel is a professor of public and international affairs at Princeton. Masafumi Takubo is a nuclear policy analyst based in Japan.
[Excerpted]….next year Japan plans to bring its long-delayed Rokkasho reprocessing plant online, which could extract as much as eight tons of weapons-usable plutonium from spent reactor fuel a year, enough for nearly 1,000 warheads. That would add to Japan’s existing stockpile of 44 tons, 9 of which are stored in domestic facilities.
Japan has repeatedly vowed never to develop nuclear
weapons, and there’s no reason to doubt that now. But there’s more to worry
about: reprocessing not only creates a tempting target for terrorists, it also
sets a precedent for countries around the world to follow suit — and pushes the
world toward rampant nuclear proliferation.
…Japan then shifted to a strategy of recycling
separated plutonium back into the fuel of its existing reactors. That effort
was delayed by technical problems and public opposition and, in the wake of
last year’s Fukushima accident, appears completely unviable. Still, Japan
continues to plan to reprocess its nuclear fuel.
And it does so despite
international pressure.
… Despite the added cost of reprocessing — about $2.5 billion a year for the new facility — Japan insists it is the only viable option for the spent nuclear fuel which is filling up the cooling pools at its reactors. But there are easier alternatives…
Majia here: I posted
yesterday about rising tensions between Japan and China and the potential
ramifications of Japan’s secretive efforts to resume re-processing of nuclear
fuel, under the nuclear umbrella “security” frame:
In the
aftermath of the Fukushima crisis, secret meetings were held that allowed Japan
to secretly begin re-processing (i.e., enriching) nuclear fuel:
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/latest-update-on-japans-proposal-to-re.html
It seems to me rather clear that Japan has the capacity to create nuclear weapons quickly, if they don't have them already.
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/latest-update-on-japans-proposal-to-re.html
It seems to me rather clear that Japan has the capacity to create nuclear weapons quickly, if they don't have them already.
The world is poised for another Cold War complete with nuclear brinksmanship.
See my previous discussion of Japan's stockpiling of plutonium:
See my previous discussion of Japan's stockpiling of plutonium:
Jun 18, 2012
Japan has a major fuel storage problem and spent
fuel management purportedly has been a driver in Japan's reprocessing
requirements, according to Suzuki who contributed a chapter on Japan's
plutonium breeder program ...
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