Publication Laka-library:
Plutonium issues- airborne shipments to Japan (1988)
| Author | Nuclear weapons Freeze |
| Date | April 1988 |
| Classification | 6.01.8.70/09 (TRANSPORTS - OTHER COUNTRIES - FROM & TO REPROCESSING PLANT (INCL. PU & HAVA)) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
Plutonium Issues INTRODUCTION In the early 19908 airborne shipments of plutonium will fly out regularly from Europe to Japan, carrying up to a quarter of a tonne of plutonium per shipment. In 1978 British Nuclear Fuels (BNFplc.) of the UK, COGEMA of France and Japanese electrical utilities signed contracts which agreed that the Japanese would ship their spent nuclear fuel to the UK and France for reprocessing at BNF's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) at Sellafield and COGEMA's UP-2 plant at Cap la Hague. THORP is still under construction, due for completion by 1992. The Cap la Hague plant is already in operation. The contracts with BNF and COGEMA mean that some 45 tonnes of Japanese plutonium would be separated by the year 2000 (that is roughly equivalent to half the amount of plutonium the United States has in its nuclear weapons). If the plutonium were to be flown back soon after separation this means shipping five tonnes (or more) per year, from Europe to Japan. After reprocessing some of the waste will be returned by sea.
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