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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
May 14, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 17, 2007 |
Is Japan Heading Towards A Nuclear Future? – Andreas Zumach |
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| Andreas Zumach speaking about nuclear weapons |
Who thinks Japan needs to develop nuclear weapons? When Andreas Zumach, a journalist from Germany posed this question in a talk, no one dared raise their hand. Military reforms and the production of nuclear weapons is an ongoing debate in Japan. On one side, some Japanese feel that without nuclear arms they are left in a vulnerable position. Yet on the flipside many feel with the legacy of being the only country to ever be bombed by nuclear weaponry, it is Japan’s responsibility to never develop such military artillery. |
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| Andreas Zumach in Egypt with Peace Boat staff |
Japan already has the technology in place to build nuclear reactors. In March 2007 the Japan Nuclear Fuel Co. started testing the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant in Aomori prefecture. Until now, Japan exported nuclear rods to France and the United Kingdom to have them processed, and over the last 40 years has produced roughly 43 tonnes of plutonium in this way. Japan currently has the facilities to produce nuclear energy by reprocessing plutonium in a hybrider. As there is no uranium in Japan, nuclear rods are used to produce energy. Why has the Japanese government decided to process in Japan? Their answer is to become less dependent upon other countries.
Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant will be in full operation by November 2007, and in 40 years it will reprocess 32,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel, giving Japan about 8 tonnes of plutonium per year. This has already cost $20 billion, three times more than the original projected figure, with a further estimated $170 billion required to run the site over the next 70 years. Plutonium can easily be used to build nuclear bombs, so if Japan did ever decide to develop nuclear weaponry it would be technically possible. However, Japan is a longstanding member of the Non Proliferation Treaty, so to develop nuclear bombs Japan would have to either officially announce their departure from the treaty, or secretly develop weapons, an action clearly illegal according to international law.
In Mr Zumach’s opinion, “the best thing would be if the Japanese government and political parties make an official declaration that they have no intention of developing nuclear weapons. Secondly, Japan could actively negotiate in the arms disarmament in Geneva about the nuclear missile cutoff so that the countries signing this treaty agree not to produce any materials in the future that can build nuclear weapons.” |
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