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Why Worry? Japan’s Nuclear Plants at Grave Risk From Quake Damage
Ishibashi Katsuhiko, International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shinbun via Japan Focus
I had warned that a major earthquake would strike the Chuetsu region around Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, and about the fundamental vulnerability of nuclear power plants.
The 6.8 magnitude temblor of July 16 caused considerable damage to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), proving me right.
In the 40 years that Japan had been building nuclear plants, seismic activity was, fortunately or unfortunately, relatively quiet. Not a single nuclear facility was struck by a big quake. The government, along with the power industry and the academic community, all developed the habit of underestimating the potential risks posed by major quakes.
Since around the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that devastated Kobe in 1995, however, almost the entire Japanese archipelago has entered a period of brisk seismic activity.
In the past two years, major quakes took place in close proximity of three nuclear power plants…
Ishibashi Katsuhiko is a professor at the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security of Kobe University.
(11 August 2007)
Green light for uranium sales to India
Australian Broadcasting Commission
Australia has ended its ban on uranium sales to India, with senior ministers meeting late last night to reverse a policy of selling the nuclear fuel only to signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
A report in The Australian newspaper says Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer convinced cabinet colleagues that a uranium deal with India was in Australia’s interest.
Under the proposed deal, Australian nuclear inspectors will be allowed to check that uranium is used only for peaceful purposes and not diverted for nuclear weapons programs.
Mr Downer has ruled out exports to Pakistan, saying the country has a very poor record of proliferation
Prime Minister John Howard will contact his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to explain the conditions of the proposed export deal before officially announcing the agreement.
(15 Jul 2007)
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd condemned the decision on the grounds that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Assurances by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downers that safeguard agreements would ensure Australian uranium is not used for military purposes cut no ice with the Australian Conservation Foundations Dave Sweeney:
“The reality is, in the 1970s India broke a similar promise to Canada and that’s how it developed its nuclear weapons capacity,” he said. “The Minister’s assurances are cold comfort paper promises, they are absolutely unenforceable aspirations rather than a fair dinkum genuine guarantee.”
