October 2, 2011
Akahata Sunday edition
Construction of Japan’s first interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, which was suspended after the March 11 disaster, restarted on April 11 at Mutsu City in Aomori Prefecture, aimed at starting operations in July 2012. Accusations of concession-hunting for nuclear-related funding have arisen over a secretary to a Dietmember and the city mayor.
Nuclear spent fuel has nowhere to go at present because the reprocessing facilities at Rokkasho Village in Aomori are unable to operate due to various technical problems. This is why the interim storage facility is being called for.
A company jointly capitalized by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPCO) plans to build the storage facility at a cost of 100 billion yen. It will accept about 5,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from TEPCO and JAPCO and store it up to 50 years until it is turned over to reprocessing facilities.
In June 2003, then Mutsu City Mayor Sugiyama Masashi (now deceased) announced a plan to construct the interim storage facility in the city in order to obtain nuclear-related money to deal with the accumulating deficit in city finances.
Mutsu City’s initial general account budget for FY 2011 is 34.6 billion yen. Already 25 billion yen was granted by FY 2010 in nuclear-related subsidies. In the future, 2 billion yen is to be granted to the city every year.
Apart from the “open” subsidy, TEPCO and JAPCO donated 1.5 billion yen for the transfer of city offices to a new location. Sometimes the nuclear industry donations were made anonymously: 450 million yen for the development of coastal fishery, 500 million yen for the purchase of medical equipment, and 400 million yen for developing dairy farming.
Yokogaki Naritoshi, Japanese Communist Party member of the Mutsu City Assembly, said, “Anonymous donations are used to evade public criticism and evade specification of uses of money. Pro-nuclear assembly members take it for granted that the city will continue to depend on the TEPCO money.”
The construction of the storage facility in the city caused serious suspicion over the land purchase for the construction.
Mayor Sugiyama heard from a secretary to former Liberal Democratic Party House of Councilors member about the interim storage facility. In December 1999, before the plan to locate the facility became public, X Company president and a supporter of Mayor Sugiyama bought 4 hectares of land in advance of announcement of the construction plan. After the plan became public, the land was resold to Y Company in Tokyo.
However, Y Company president said to Akahata that he did not buy the land of his own accord but that he had been asked by a medium-sized construction company to have his name listed as the purchaser.
Y Company president said that the construction company had offered 50 million yen to X Company at the first land transaction. However, when the construction plan became public, the X-Company president refused to follow the instructions of the construction company. Thus, the secretary to the former LDP Upper House member asked the Y Company president to meet with the construction company representative to lend his name in the land transaction.
In typical concession-hunting schemes over nuclear power plants, construction companies covertly provide funds in an attempt to receive the order for construction, and politicians are active players behind the scenes.
JCP city assembly member Kudo Takao said, “There is a danger that the nuclear waste will be stored at the site permanently as the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is being delayed. Enormous subsidies for the storage facility distort local government functions and turn them into concession hunting bureaus.”
Construction of Japan’s first interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, which was suspended after the March 11 disaster, restarted on April 11 at Mutsu City in Aomori Prefecture, aimed at starting operations in July 2012. Accusations of concession-hunting for nuclear-related funding have arisen over a secretary to a Dietmember and the city mayor.
Nuclear spent fuel has nowhere to go at present because the reprocessing facilities at Rokkasho Village in Aomori are unable to operate due to various technical problems. This is why the interim storage facility is being called for.
A company jointly capitalized by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPCO) plans to build the storage facility at a cost of 100 billion yen. It will accept about 5,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from TEPCO and JAPCO and store it up to 50 years until it is turned over to reprocessing facilities.
In June 2003, then Mutsu City Mayor Sugiyama Masashi (now deceased) announced a plan to construct the interim storage facility in the city in order to obtain nuclear-related money to deal with the accumulating deficit in city finances.
Mutsu City’s initial general account budget for FY 2011 is 34.6 billion yen. Already 25 billion yen was granted by FY 2010 in nuclear-related subsidies. In the future, 2 billion yen is to be granted to the city every year.
Apart from the “open” subsidy, TEPCO and JAPCO donated 1.5 billion yen for the transfer of city offices to a new location. Sometimes the nuclear industry donations were made anonymously: 450 million yen for the development of coastal fishery, 500 million yen for the purchase of medical equipment, and 400 million yen for developing dairy farming.
Yokogaki Naritoshi, Japanese Communist Party member of the Mutsu City Assembly, said, “Anonymous donations are used to evade public criticism and evade specification of uses of money. Pro-nuclear assembly members take it for granted that the city will continue to depend on the TEPCO money.”
The construction of the storage facility in the city caused serious suspicion over the land purchase for the construction.
Mayor Sugiyama heard from a secretary to former Liberal Democratic Party House of Councilors member about the interim storage facility. In December 1999, before the plan to locate the facility became public, X Company president and a supporter of Mayor Sugiyama bought 4 hectares of land in advance of announcement of the construction plan. After the plan became public, the land was resold to Y Company in Tokyo.
However, Y Company president said to Akahata that he did not buy the land of his own accord but that he had been asked by a medium-sized construction company to have his name listed as the purchaser.
Y Company president said that the construction company had offered 50 million yen to X Company at the first land transaction. However, when the construction plan became public, the X-Company president refused to follow the instructions of the construction company. Thus, the secretary to the former LDP Upper House member asked the Y Company president to meet with the construction company representative to lend his name in the land transaction.
In typical concession-hunting schemes over nuclear power plants, construction companies covertly provide funds in an attempt to receive the order for construction, and politicians are active players behind the scenes.
JCP city assembly member Kudo Takao said, “There is a danger that the nuclear waste will be stored at the site permanently as the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is being delayed. Enormous subsidies for the storage facility distort local government functions and turn them into concession hunting bureaus.”
