Japan Press Weekly

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2011 July 13 - 19 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

NPP’s production of plutonium creates international distrust: JCP Yoshii

Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Yoshii Hidekatsu warned on July 15 that Japan is arousing international mistrust with its nuclear power generation since it creates plutonium that can be used in nuclear weapons.

On that day, the Lower House Economy and Industry Committee unanimously approved the extension of an embargo on trade with North Korea as a sanction against the nation’s development of nuclear weapons.

Yoshii stressed that while it is a matter of course for Japan to take measures against North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, Japan’s promotion of its light-water nuclear reactor system is producing a vast amount of plutonium, leading to increasing mistrust internationally.

In answer to Yoshii’s question, Hosono Tetsuhiro, director general of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, said that the amount of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuels by the end of 2009 reached 158.8 tons.