February 5, 2012
In 2007, when the Genkai Town mayor and town assembly members made a study tour to Europe at the time of the introduction of “pluthermal” technology, Kyushu Electric Power Co. staff accompanied them. Genkai Town in Saga Prefecture hosts KEPCO’s Genkai Nuclear Power Plant.
Akahata learned about two such study tours abroad accompanied by KEPCO executives. One tour involved Genkai Town Mayor Kishimoto Hideo and town assembly vice chair’s survey of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plants in Europe between April 25 and May 3 in 2007. The other was tour to the Taishan NPP in China by Mayor Kishimoto and all 12 assembly members on Oct. 20-23 in 2008. The JCP had no seat in the assembly at that time.
Genkai NPP director Morooka Masatoshi and vice director Imamura Hironobu accompanied the group with the mayor on their tour to Europe.
In this tour to Europe, KEPCO visited the MELOX plant in France which was commissioned to reprocess spent plutonium into MOX fuel to be used for “pluthermal” generation at KEPCO’s Genkai No. 3 reactor in 2009 as well as an intermediate storage facility for radioactive wastes in Switzerland. KEPCO used to station some of its staff at the MELOX plant.
The town mayor and KEPCO officials were on the same flights there and back.
As for the tour to China, KEPCO said that staff members of the Genkai NPP and the KEPCO head office toured together with the town group. Genkai Town officials admitted that KEPCO officials accompanied them on both tours.
A Genkai Town official explained, saying “The town asked KEPCO officials to accompany us as our visits to nuclear power facilities abroad required the mediation of the power company.”
A KEPCO official said “Our staff went to help make it easier for them to understand technical explanations, and we didn’t see anything wrong with that.”
Fujiura Akira, Japanese Communist Party member of the Genkai Town assembly, said, “The tours were conducted after detailed arrangements between the town and KEPCO were made as part of preparations toward introducing ‘pluthermal’ generation. It is obvious that objectively verifying the safety of NPPs is impossible when the inspection tours are arranged by KEPCO.”
“Pluthermal” technology is used when an ordinary power reactor uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide as fuel for power generation. Japan has so far commissioned French and British firms to reprocess most of the spent nuclear fuel sent to them from Japan.
Akahata learned about two such study tours abroad accompanied by KEPCO executives. One tour involved Genkai Town Mayor Kishimoto Hideo and town assembly vice chair’s survey of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plants in Europe between April 25 and May 3 in 2007. The other was tour to the Taishan NPP in China by Mayor Kishimoto and all 12 assembly members on Oct. 20-23 in 2008. The JCP had no seat in the assembly at that time.
Genkai NPP director Morooka Masatoshi and vice director Imamura Hironobu accompanied the group with the mayor on their tour to Europe.
In this tour to Europe, KEPCO visited the MELOX plant in France which was commissioned to reprocess spent plutonium into MOX fuel to be used for “pluthermal” generation at KEPCO’s Genkai No. 3 reactor in 2009 as well as an intermediate storage facility for radioactive wastes in Switzerland. KEPCO used to station some of its staff at the MELOX plant.
The town mayor and KEPCO officials were on the same flights there and back.
As for the tour to China, KEPCO said that staff members of the Genkai NPP and the KEPCO head office toured together with the town group. Genkai Town officials admitted that KEPCO officials accompanied them on both tours.
A Genkai Town official explained, saying “The town asked KEPCO officials to accompany us as our visits to nuclear power facilities abroad required the mediation of the power company.”
A KEPCO official said “Our staff went to help make it easier for them to understand technical explanations, and we didn’t see anything wrong with that.”
Fujiura Akira, Japanese Communist Party member of the Genkai Town assembly, said, “The tours were conducted after detailed arrangements between the town and KEPCO were made as part of preparations toward introducing ‘pluthermal’ generation. It is obvious that objectively verifying the safety of NPPs is impossible when the inspection tours are arranged by KEPCO.”
“Pluthermal” technology is used when an ordinary power reactor uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide as fuel for power generation. Japan has so far commissioned French and British firms to reprocess most of the spent nuclear fuel sent to them from Japan.
