Japanese government wrangles with governor over nuclear waste

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

The following is an article that highlights the political and 
individualistic attitudes towards waste issues in Japan: 

                  
                   ROKKASHO, Japan, March 9 (AFP) - The Japanese
                   government launched a last-minute effort Monday to
                   persuade a provincial governor to let in a shipment
                   of nuclear waste reprocessed in France, officials
                   said.

                   Aomori governor Morio Kimura was in Tokyo on
                   Monday, the eve of the scheduled arrival of the
                   British-flagged ship carrying the nuclear waste,
                   demanding to meet Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.

                   Kimura has threatened to stop the freighter from
                   berthing at Mutsu Ogawara port if Hashimoto refuses
                   to discuss the nation's nuclear safety policy and
                   economic aid in the form of reduced electricity
                   charges.

                   But the chief cabinet secretary indicated Hashimoto
                   was unlikely to meet the governor. He said Kimura
                   should first talk with the chiefs of the science
                   and technology agency and other bodies supervising
                   nuclear policy.

                   "We would not need ministers if everything went to
                   the premier," Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo
                   Muraoka told a news conference.

                   The reprocessed nuclear waste is due to dock at
                   Mutsu Ogawara in Rokkasho, Aomori prefecture, on
                   the northern tip of Japan's Honshu main island.

                   "If there will be no chance for me to meet the
                   prime minister, we will have to make a serious
                   decision on this matter," the governor said before
                   leaving Aomori.

                   In Rokkasho on Monday, a few tents for anti-nuclear
                   protestors were set up near the port.

                   One demonstrator said he had arrived two days
                   earlier to protest.

                   Banners carried such messages as "Stop reprocessing
                   that deprives us of the future" and "Don't foist
                   nuclear garbage on us."

                   As police officers guarded the entrance gate of the
                   port, about a dozen workers were seen practising
                   unloading containers from a ship.

                   A spokesman at the science agency said Monday it
                   was "making efforts to arrange a meeting (between
                   the Aomori governor and agency chief Sadakazu
                   Tanigaki) on orders from Prime Minister Hashimoto."

                   "We are making contact with the governor to realise
                   the meeting but have received no response from
                   Governor Kimura so far," the spokesman said.

                   The freighter Pacific Swan, which set out from the
                   northern French port of Cherbourg on January 21,
                   was scheduled to sail into Mutsu Ogawara early
                   Tuesday with about 30 tonnes of high-level nuclear
                   waste.

                   The nuclear waste is a product of reprocessing of
                   spent nuclear fuel that four of Japan's electric
                   power companies send to France because Japan does
                   not have yet facilities to reprocess spent fuel.

                   The 50,000-tonne ship, owned by the British company
                   PNTL, is carrying three containers packed with
                   canisters of vitrified waste.

                   The containers were loaded in France amid protests
                   from environmental activists, after being brought
                   by train from the Compagnie Generale des Matieres
                   Nucleaires (COGEMA) reprocessing plant at La Hague
                   near Cherbourg.

                   The Pacific Swan is equipped with a double hull and
                   two engine systems and is being monitored by
                   satellite during its voyage, according to COGEMA
                   which says the shipment poses no risk to the
                   environment.

                   The shipment is the third of its kind to Japan
                   under a processing agreement signed between COGEMA
                   and 10 Japanese electricity generating companies.

                   The first operation involved 28 canisters between
                   February 23 and April 25, 1995, and the second
                   involved 40 canisters between January 13 and March
                   18 last year amid protests from hundreds of
                   demonstrators.

                   The entry into the Japanese port was delayed by
                   several hours for the first operation due to
                   objections from the governor.

                   Japanese provincial governments regularly resort to
                   confrontation with Tokyo when they are in positions
                   of strength in order to bolster regional funding
                   and political kudos.
------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com

Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205
        
ICN Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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