Reprocessed nuclear waste shipment to arrive at Aomori
This morning, acting on the request of and in solidarity with local groups in Aomori and thousands of people from across Japan, Greenpeace delivered close to 7000 petitions to the Governor of Aomori. Greenpeace is calling on on him and the Government of Japan to stop the ongoing reprocessing of nuclear waste, which continues to put people and countries at risk.
A shipment of high-level radioactive waste, reprocessed at Sellafield in the UK, is scheduled to arrive at the port of Mutsu-Ogawara in Aomori in the next few days. It is the first shipment with many more expected to follow. Sellafield is now predominantly a commercial site with reprocessing facilities, fuel fabrication and other installations. It has one of the highest concentrations of radioactive waste on the planet, and a disastrous safety record with hundreds of accidents involving the release of radioactive substances into the environment and the irradiation of workers.
A delegation comprising of Jun Hoshikawa, Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan, Rose Young on behalf of citizens and a concerned civil society in the UK and co-executive Director of Greenpeace Japan, and local activist Araki-San met the Governor at his office.
No matter from which angle you look at reprocessing, it is illogical. It's expensive, produces useless materials, releases vast quantities of waste into the environment, increases the total volume of waste, and increases nuclear proliferation risks. Reprocessing is another name for nuclear waste dumping That puts current and future generations at risk.
In addition to raising general background levels of radiation, marine life in particular algae, plankton, and crustacean's including lobsters absorb significant amounts of radiation, in many cases exceeding safety levels set for seafood after a nuclear accident.
In their dialogue with the Governor, they highlighted a significant threat these wastes could pose to one of Japan’s key economic underpinnings, the Fishing Industry. If there was an accident or even a threat of contamination - real or perceived- Japan's fishermen will pay the price.
The delegation also highlighted the need for real solutions -- a cleaner and safer energy programme, which would include a shift from reliance on dangerous nuclear technology, to safer, reliable and cleaner alternatives, wind and solar, amongst others. This would also be seen as demonstrable action to Prime Minister Hatoyama’s progressive commitment to a 25% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by Japan, made in December 2009 at Copenhagen.
