Japanese Court dismisses civic groups' request to halt MOX fuel use

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Court dismisses civic groups' request to halt MOX fuel use



FUKUSHIMA, Japan, March 23 (Kyodo) - The Fukushima District Court 

dismissed Friday a request by civic groups in Tokyo and Fukushima 

Prefecture for a temporary injunction against the use of plutonium-

uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) 

nuclear power plant in the prefecture. 



Presiding Judge Hiroyasu Ikushima said, ''Checks on the fuel are 

reliable enough and there is no question of malpractice with regard 

to the checks. There is no need to consider the dangerousness of the 

fuel.'' 



A total of 864 people filed the request, which asked the court to 

halt the use of MOX fuel at the No. 3 reactor of TEPCO's No. 1 

Fukushima nuclear power plant. They argued that a report compiled by 

the company shows that checks conducted by the Belgian maker of the 

fuel, Belgonucleaire, were unreliable. 



The civic groups questioned TEPCO's assertion that the Belgian maker 

found no defective products in tests, saying such a result is 

statistically impossible. They added that operating the reactor with 

defective MOX fuel pellets would pose a serious risk. 



The fuel was shipped to the reactor in September 1999 to be used in 

TEPCO's ''pluthermal'' nuclear power program. 



However, in the same month it was revealed that another fuel maker, 

British Nuclear Fuels PLC, had falsified data on a series of safety 

checks on MOX fuel shipped to a Kansai Electric Power Co. nuclear 

plant in Fukui Prefecture, casting doubt on TEPCO's fuel. 



TEPCO told the then Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 

February last year that the Belgian nuclear fuel manufacturer 

conducted proper quality-control checks on the MOX fuel shipped to 

Japan, saying no defective products were found in the tests. 



Last month, Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato announced the prefecture would 

not agree to the use of MOX fuel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power 

plant on the grounds that Fukushima residents are against it. 



Sato's announcement is likely to affect TEPCO's plans to start using 

MOX fuel in the reactor in April as well as Japan's national policy 

on its nuclear fuel cycle. 



- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle                                     Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100                                     

Director, Technical                             Extension 2306                                  

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service         Fax:(714) 668-3149                                          

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.                       E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net                                                      

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue           E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com                       

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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