December 18 was the 50th anniversary of Japan's affiliation with the United Nations. At the ceremony Secretary General Koffi Annan called on Japan to stick to its ban on nuclear weapons. His message seems to have been prompted by the nuclear-arms argument in Japan that has emerged since North Korea's underground nuclear test in October.
Japan is supposed to be powering its nuclear reactors with the plutonium that it has extracted through the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Obviously, Japan's plutonium management holds great relevance for worldwide efforts against nuclear-weapons proliferation and terrorism.
Japan is going to begin full-scale operation of a new reprocessing plant at Rokkasho village next August. After the reprocessing, this plant will make MOX (mixed oxide) fuel using plutonium separated from spent nuclear fuel.