The Japanese public is increasingly concerned about the nation's so-called pluthermal nuclear-energy project, which uses plutonium as reactor fuel. At issue is whether the project, now stalled because of objections from worried residents, should continue as scheduled. Plutonium, a radioactive element that is also used in nuclear weapons, is extracted from spent nuclear fuel. The pluthermal project uses plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, known as MOX.
The MOX program, which received a green light in 1997, is to be phased in over the next 10 years or so at nuclear plants throughout the country, involving a total of 16 to 18 light-water reactors. For a start, the mixed fuel is to be used in four reactors at plants in three major nuclear power-producing prefectures: Fukui, Fukushima and Niigata. Protests from residents, however, have put that plan on hold.
What is urgent now is to conduct an extensive national debate on whether to use plutonium as fuel. Local protests -- the latest is the "no" verdict in last month's referendum in Kariwa, Niigata -- make it clear that broad public support is an essential condition for the commercial utilization of plutonium.