British Nuclear Fuel's (BNFL) controversial plutonium fuel programme (MOX) suffered another blow when Japan's largest nuclear utility announced last night (29/8/02) that there has been a major safety scandal at its nuclear power plants. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the world's third largest nuclear power operator is a key potential customer of BNFL's MOX fuel manufactured at its plant at Sellafield, Cumbria.
TEPCO announced at an emergency press conference in Tokyo last night (29/8/02) that vital safety inspections at nuclear reactors had been ignored and test data deliberately falsified throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Serious corrosion in the core shroud of the reactor expected to be loaded with the first batch of MOX fuel next month was also exposed.
Plans to introduce controversial plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel manufactured by BNFL's French rival COGEMA into the reactor have now been postponed indefinitely and TEPCO President Nobuya Minami said his company would suspend the whole MOX program saying "We personally hurt the public's trust in us. We cannot ask for understanding to continue the MOX fuel project."(Asahi Shimbun 30/8/02)
The scandal comes as bankrupt BNFL is shipping a cargo of rejected plutonium MOX fuel back from Japan to Sellafield. The fuel was rejected after it was exposed that BNFL had lied to another Japanese nuclear firm over vital safety data. Despite huge opposition from en-route countries (including Ireland), BNFL is making the return shipment and the UK Government has agreed to a compensation package of over £100 million to Japan, on the basis of Japan signing contracts for MOX with BNFL.
Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Shaun Burnie said,
"First BNFL lies about the safety of its MOX fuel and then just as the rejected fuel is being returned from Japan, it emerges that the Japanese nuclear industry has been faking safety checks at their end for decades. Once again it has been shown that the nuclear industry is inherently dishonest and cannot be trusted with the lives of millions of people."
"With the MOX programme effectively frozen in Japan, no demand for this dangerous fuel in Britain and little elsewhere, as well as huge opposition to MOX shipment around the world BNFL has no hope of getting its beleaguered MOX business off the ground. The UK Government should stop bailing BNFL out and the Sellafield MOX plant should be shut for good."
The scandal at TEPCO was broken by a former worker from the company that did the inspections, General Electric International Inc. The whistleblower informed the Japanese Ministry for Trade, Industry and Economy (METI) in July 2000. METI has claimed in a statement that it has been investigating the extent of the problem since then. However, the Japanese Government withheld the vital nuclear safety information for at least two years, while claiming their reactors were safe.
Kazue Suzuki, nuclear campaigner from Greenpeace Japan said,
"Japan's nuclear industry and Government has been exposed once again as ignoring fundamental safety problems at their nuclear reactors - risking catastrophic accident and the lives of tens of millions. This is only the start of the scandal. There is a lot more to be revealed and the industry and Japanese Government safety authorities will have to be forced to release all relevant information. The ramifications of this latest news will be felt around the world."
The Sellafield MOX plant was completed in 1996 but has not begun commercial operations following the scandal in 1999 when BNFL workers falsified safety data on a trial batch of MOX fuel which was about to be tested in a Japanese reactor. Japan has so far refused to sign any MOX contracts with BNFL. This is striking since BNFL's Chief Executive Norman Askew said in 2000 that without Japanese contracts BNFL could not justify opening the plant. (Guardian 15/11/2000)
Notes to editors
Reactor Core Shroud Cracking
The core shroud is a large stainless steel cylinder of circumferentially welded plates surrounding the reactor fuel core. The shroud provides for the core geometry of the fuel bundles. It is integral to providing a re-floodable compartment in the event of a loss-of-coolant-accident. Extensive cracking of circumferential welds on the core shroud has been discovered in a growing number of U.S. and foreign BWRs. A lateral shift along circumferential cracks at the welds by as little as 1/8 inch can result in the misalignment of the fuel and the inability to insert the control rods coupled with loss of fuel core cooling capability. This scenario can result in a core melt accident.
