Petition: STOP Pluthermal（MOX fuel） Nuclear Power Generation in Saga, Japan!

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BELOW　IS　FULL　PETITION (The latest translation, originally in Japanese) :

Link to Petition Site

STOP Pluthermal（MOX　fuel） Nuclear Power Generation in Saga, Japan!

We the undersigned petition

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Secretary-General of the Democratic Party Mr. Ichiro Ozawa
Minister of State for National Policy Mr. Naoto Kan
Minister of State for Government Revitalization Mr. Yoshito Sengoku
The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Mr. Masayuki Naoshima
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Mr. Tatsuo Kawabata
The Minister of Environment Mr. Sakihito Ozawa
The Governor of Saga prefecture Mr. Yasushi Furukawa
The Mayor of Genkai town Mr. Hideo Kishimoto
Kyushu Electric Power CO. INC., President Mr. Toshio Manabe

not to ignore the peoples’ voices and to stop the Pluthermal Project at Genkai nuclear power plant.

1) THE PLUTHERMAL PROJECT IS DANGEROUS

The program uses MOX fuel in a reactor originally designed for uranium fuel, The control rods' capacity to function is reduced and the power output is less stable and much harder to control.

KYUDEN is using MOX fuel with a higher concentration of plutonium (almost double) than that used in other countries.

Even a small accident or a breakdown when using deadly-poisonous plutonium might cause great damage to the environment and to the life and health of local people.

2)THERE ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS THAT A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE MOX FUEL BEING USED AT GENKAI

KYUDEN hasn’t disclosed any information about the MOX fuel they were using for Genkai Unit 3, including whether or not the defective MOX fuel, which Kansai Electric Power had decided to reject as unsuitable fuel for their nuclear power plant, has been used in Genkai.

3) THE JAPANESE NUCLEAR REGULATOR HAS NO LEGAL GROUNDS FOR THE CRITERIA TO REGULATE MOX FUEL ASSEMBLY INSPECTION

There are no legal grounds established for the criteria by which the Japanese government’s nuclear regulator, NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency), an agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry inspects imported MOX fuel assemblies.

Therefore, even if the MOX fuel had passed the examination of the government, this does not guarantee its safety.

4) THERE IS NO PLAN TO DEAL WITH THE SPENT MOX FUEL

The government has no plan to deal with the spent MOX fuel, which takes 500 years before it can be cooled down to a temperature at which you can manage to bury it underground.

There is a strong possibility that Genkai will be the de facto disposal site for the spent MOX fuel.

We can’t leave such gigantic negative “inheritance” to future generations.

5) THE PLUTHERMAL PROGRAM IS MOVING FRORWARD DESPITE FAILURE OF THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE PROGRAM

This Pluthermal Project is a part of the Japanese state policy of “Nuclear Fuel Cycle”.

But Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, a core project of the “Nuclear Fuel Cycle” plan, which was supposed to start its operation in 1997, still hasn’t started working because of a spate of troubles.

The “Nuclear Fuel Cycle” plan itself has already failed.

We strongly demand a stop to Pluthermal nuclear generation at Genkai until these problems are solved.


The Steering Committee "MIRAI" (Japan)
Association for Protection of Bears and Forests in Japan, Fukuoka Branch (Japan)
Anti-Pluthermal Movement for Saga in 100 Years Time (Japan)
Network for Environment in Karatsu, Saga (Japan)


endorsed (Name/ Group name and country)