Tuesday, April 9, 2002 at 09:30
JST TOKYO The Nuclear Safety Commission of
Japan on Tuesday assured the nation that it is safe to use
plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at nuclear plants, and
recommended stepped-up safety measures at plants nationwide, in an
effort to overcome growing public concerns that have so far
prevented the fuel's debut in the country.
In its 2001 white paper on nuclear safety, the commission
affiliated with the Cabinet Office also virtually conceded that its
lack of a cohesive safety inspection system was to blame for an
accident last November at a Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.
(Kyodo News)
In a country where the authorities responsible for nuclear
safety have presided over power stations removing radioactive
waste in plastic buckets and leakages being mopped up with
paper towels, any assurance of the safety of MOX fuels does
nothing but strike fear into my heart.
I feel indebted
to the city council that my local eyesore is a sewage
replacement plant rather than one of these MOX nuclear
facilities.
A South Korean child crawls on a big soccer
shoe at a department store in Seoul Monday. The shoe was made
in celebration of the World Cup. It is 197 inches long and 28
inches high. REUTERS NEWS PHOTO Discuss
It (5)
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