Publication Laka-library:
Thinking the Unthinkable: Japanese nuclear power and proliferation in East Asia (2005)
| Author | ORG, F.Barnaby, Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace Int. |
| Date | August 2005 |
| Classification | 4.21.0.00/20 (JAPAN - GENERAL) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
Introduction As we reach the anniversary of the end of World War II, North-east Asia has changed in so many ways since the devastation brought about by years of conflict. But tragically, many historical problems remain unresolved. The Korean peninsula is still divided; the United States is the predominant military power in the region; and nationalism remains a powerful force in Japan, China and in the Koreas. These alone should give rise to major concern for the future peace and stability of the region. But the threats to peace in the region could soon get worse. Sixty years ago the city of Nagasaki was destroyed by one nuclear bomb containing five kilograms of plutonium. In 2005, Japan has one of the largest stocks of weapons usable plutonium in the world (45,000 kg and growing) as well as access to the most advanced missile technology. This is not by accident but design. Deliberate policy established in the late 1960's by senior politicians was to acquire the nuclear material required for atomic bombs, and the means to deliver them. (1) Without having to cross the difficult threshold of actual weapons development, Japan has already become a de-facto nuclear weapons state. Successive Japanese governments have achieved this status through a nuclear energy policy based upon the production and use of plutonium, and an ambitious if flawed commercial space programme. It is this nuclear policy that will soon lead to the commissioning of the world's most expensive nuclear facility - the Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant. (2) The big question is whether or not a future Japanese government will take a political decision to develop nuclear weapons. Nuclear proliferation threats on the Korean peninsula and the growth of China's economic and military power are two important (and real) drivers that are being cited by powerful interests in Japan as justification for considering what should be the unthinkable. So at a time when the tensions, and therefore the proliferation dynamics in North- east Asia, are becoming both more serious and complex, there is an urgent need to examine both Japan's plutonium programme and the political context of Japan's nuclear weapons policy. This briefing will seek to focus on a few of these.
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