KYOTO -- Six Japan-based peace and antinuclear groups Thursday called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to clarify comments made by the head of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. that it is impossible to remove plutonium from MOX fuel, a claim that runs counter to IAEA assertions and the consensus of international experts.
In a letter addressed to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who spoke Thursday at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, the groups asked the IAEA to clarify its position on the mixed uranium-plutonium fuel.
"JNFL consistently makes light of the fact that Japan is separating massive quantities of nuclear weapons-capable material. Will Mr. Kojima continue to mislead the public, saying it is impossible to divert MOX fuel for weapons?" asked Kyoto-based antinuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith, director of Green Action and one of the letter's signers.