OSAKA -- As Japan moves forward with plans to conduct further uranium tests in the near future at the Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture in preparation for full operations in 2007, it faces growing pressure from the international community to give up some control of the process.
Without a multilateral agreement, experts warn, Rokkasho will serve as an excuse for other nonnuclear states to build their own national nuclear fuel cycle programs, thus increasing proliferation risks worldwide.
The Rokkasho reprocessing plant, operated by Japan Nuclear Fuels Ltd., will be able to reprocess 800 tons of spent uranium fuel annually from Japan's 52 nuclear reactors. Up to 8 tons of plutonium per year will be created as a result.