Japan's large reserve of plutonium, originally developed as an atomic
fuel source, is increasingly seen as a burden in the wake of last year's
Fukushima Daiichi facility disaster and ongoing worries about nuclear
terrorism, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday .
The highly advanced island nation has more plutonium stockpiled than any other non-nuclear weapon possessor state, according to a report released last year by the International Panel on Fissile Materials.
Roughly 25 percent of Japan's total plutonium cache -- enough material to fuel in excess of 1,000 bombs -- is held inside the country at atomic facilities plants and holding installations. The remaining plutonium is on loan to other nations.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at this week's Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea that the "myth of safety" surrounding his nation's large nuclear sector had come to an end with the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that badly damaged the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi energy plant .
While an act of nature caused the Fukushima crisis, "the man-caused act of sabotage will test our imaginations far more than any natural disaster," Noda said.
U.S. President Obama on Monday said the "smallest amount of plutonium -- about the size of an apple -- could kill hundreds of thousands and spark a global crisis."
"We simply can't go on accumulating huge amounts of the very material, like separated plutonium, that we're trying to keep away from terrorists," Obama told students at Hankuk University in the South Korean capital.
The rationale for holding plutonium -- so it can reprocessed into more nuclear reactor fuel -- does not make as much sense in light of the discovery of new uranium deposits, the Post said.
“These were visions that made sense 30 to 40 years ago, when we thought there was little uranium in the world,” White House adviser Laura Holgate said. “But now we know that the shortage concept is antiquated. We also know more about how vulnerable separated plutonium can be from a terrorist point of view" (Chico Harlan, Washington Post, March 27).
Tokyo and Washington on Tuesday highlighted several areas in which they have worked together to bolster atomic material protections since 2010. Those initiatives include collaboration within the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security, which was first opened in December 2010 in Japan, according to a White House fact sheet.
The center last October welcomed representatives from 16 nations for an initial Regional Training Course on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Facilities.
Additionally, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, with U.S. support, is readying to convert highly enriched uranium at two reactors to low-enriched uranium. The nations more broadly are seeking to switch research reactors away from use of weapon-usable uranium.
The two allies have also shared thoughts on best practices for responding to an intentional disablement of atomic facilities and attempts to pilfer nuclear materials (White House release, March 27).
http://www.nti.org/gsn/
The highly advanced island nation has more plutonium stockpiled than any other non-nuclear weapon possessor state, according to a report released last year by the International Panel on Fissile Materials.
Roughly 25 percent of Japan's total plutonium cache -- enough material to fuel in excess of 1,000 bombs -- is held inside the country at atomic facilities plants and holding installations. The remaining plutonium is on loan to other nations.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at this week's Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea that the "myth of safety" surrounding his nation's large nuclear sector had come to an end with the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that badly damaged the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi energy plant .
While an act of nature caused the Fukushima crisis, "the man-caused act of sabotage will test our imaginations far more than any natural disaster," Noda said.
U.S. President Obama on Monday said the "smallest amount of plutonium -- about the size of an apple -- could kill hundreds of thousands and spark a global crisis."
"We simply can't go on accumulating huge amounts of the very material, like separated plutonium, that we're trying to keep away from terrorists," Obama told students at Hankuk University in the South Korean capital.
The rationale for holding plutonium -- so it can reprocessed into more nuclear reactor fuel -- does not make as much sense in light of the discovery of new uranium deposits, the Post said.
“These were visions that made sense 30 to 40 years ago, when we thought there was little uranium in the world,” White House adviser Laura Holgate said. “But now we know that the shortage concept is antiquated. We also know more about how vulnerable separated plutonium can be from a terrorist point of view" (Chico Harlan, Washington Post, March 27).
Tokyo and Washington on Tuesday highlighted several areas in which they have worked together to bolster atomic material protections since 2010. Those initiatives include collaboration within the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security, which was first opened in December 2010 in Japan, according to a White House fact sheet.
The center last October welcomed representatives from 16 nations for an initial Regional Training Course on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Facilities.
Additionally, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, with U.S. support, is readying to convert highly enriched uranium at two reactors to low-enriched uranium. The nations more broadly are seeking to switch research reactors away from use of weapon-usable uranium.
The two allies have also shared thoughts on best practices for responding to an intentional disablement of atomic facilities and attempts to pilfer nuclear materials (White House release, March 27).
http://www.nti.org/gsn/
