"Nuclear plants are incontrollable monsters"

August 4, 2014

Godzilla and a monstrous form of energy

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140804p2a00m0na001000c.html 

The popular U.S. film "Godzilla" has stormed to the top of the box office in Japan, where it was released on July 25.

"Godzilla," as many readers will know, was originally a Japanese film, focusing on a monster resurrected by hydrogen bombs. Though it is simply entertainment, the Japanese version of the work reflects people's distrust in nuclear policy.

The U.S. version, which depicts a nuclear power station accident, is highly suggestive. The film ends after Godzilla disappears into the sea with a subtitle asking if he is a savior.

We could view Godzilla as atomic energy itself. In that case, I think we would have to answer that Godzilla is no savior. In my view, Japan must abandon the use of atomic energy.

We are approaching the Aug. 6 and 9 anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. People in these atomic-bombed cities are still calling for nuclear disarmament, but across the world, their calls have been blocked by reality.

In a speech in Prague in the spring of 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama declared that he would pursue a world without nuclear weapons. However, two sticky issues remain: the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).

Nuclear powers' egotism has hindered moves to totally ban nuclear tests. The United States, a superpower, has refused to ratify the CTBT because it is reluctant to accept restrictions that would prevent the country from maintaining and renewing nuclear arms it possesses.

China is paying close attention to U.S. moves, while India is paying close attention to Chinese and U.S. moves. Pakistan is paying close attention to India's behavior. Since most nuclear powers are behaving like this (Russia, Britain and France have ratified the CTBT), the pact has not come into force and still has no binding power under international law, although 183 countries have signed it.

At the same time, circumstances surrounding the FMCT have shed light on fundamental problems involving moves toward a ban on the production of fissile material. The FMCT aims to prohibit the production and transfer of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. However, the United States, which would have huge influence in enforcing such a ban, is not enthusiastic about enforcing the treaty because the pact would prohibit U.S. forces from operating their nuclear-powered submarines.

Japan, one of the proponents of the treaty, also has a serious problem. Tokyo has failed to squarely confront the issue of whether the plutonium it possesses should be an exception to the ban. In other words, Japan sticks to the position that only nuclear weapons -- and not nuclear materials for non-military use -- should be subject to regulation under the treaty.

Japan and Australia are leading the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) involving 12 non-nuclear powers. This past spring, foreign ministers of the 12 countries participating in the NPDI held a conference in Hiroshima and agreed to continue their efforts toward nuclear disarmament. However, their agreement is far from convincing, because they failed to clarify the causes of the deadlock in enforcing the CTBT and FMCT, pacts that would lead to nuclear disarmament. This is because the members tried to avoid adversely affecting the United States' interests, while Tokyo wants the others to overlook Japan's possession of plutonium intended for use at its nuclear plants.

It is not an option for Japan to ignore all agreements in the international community and walk down a path toward nuclear armament. The nation, then, has only two choices -- completely abandon nuclear energy or continue to meander over its nuclear energy policy by sticking to the opportunistic position of differentiating between nuclear materials for peaceful purposes and those for military use.

Abandoning nuclear power generation was previously viewed in Japan as absurd idealism. However, following the March 11, 2011 outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, this is no longer the case. Rather, a growing number of people view it unrealistic to coexist with nuclear power.

Nuclear plants are uncontrollable monsters. Now is the time for Japan to withdraw even from the peaceful use of nuclear energy. (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)