JABILUKA, NT — The campaign against Energy Resources Australia's proposed uranium mine at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory is attracting international support. Faxes and letters have been received from around the world, and the blockade has been visited by representatives of overseas anti-nuclear organisations.
Green Left Weekly's TIM E. STEWART spoke to Japanese anti-nuclear campaigner HOSOKAWA KOMEI, from the Tokyo-based Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre, who visited the blockade with Ueno Satoshi from the No Nukes Asia Forum in Osaka.
Question: What kind of activities have you been involved in in Japan?
The "Stop Jabiluka Campaign — Japan" was launched last November.
There are three utility companies investing in ERA. The biggest share is held by the Kansei power company, which operates 20 reactors in western Japan.
We organised a street protest in front of their headquarters and held talks with the public relations section of the company. Of course, they declined to answer most of our questions. They didn't want to disclose the details of the contract between ERA and themselves.
We also began a letter-writing campaign from Japan, with one protest letter to John Howard and the other a letter of support to the Gundjehmi Association for taking a stand against the Jabiluka mine.
Question: Is there much opposition to the nuclear power industry in Japan?
The people are fed up with nuclear power station troubles. There have been a number of accidents, leaks and failures in the last few years. For example, there was an information control scandal after an accident involving the government-owned nuclear power development corporation, PNC. PNC, by the way, is also involved in uranium exploration in Australia.
Few people would argue that the nuclear industry is OK, and there isn't strong support for the official government policy of widespread expansion of nuclear power.
Take the waste issue. They had started building a reactor before deciding what to do with the waste. Even in engineering terms, you must have a clear plan from beginning to end which assesses the costs and safety and environmental factors. But nuclear power became such a priority for the government that they just started building reactors before making any clear assessment of the waste issue.
There are more than 50 nuclear reactors working in Japan. We have no waste disposal site. There are some clandestine sites that have never been officially recognised. But we are in trouble. These reactors are running at this very moment. Even if they manage to run without accidents, waste disposal is a very real threat.
The Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre is proposing a five-year moratorium on nuclear power. It's not only Japan, but particularly in our country that the nuclear program has been promoted as a special national energy policy. There have been no referendums, polls or votes on this decision.
The No Nukes Asia Forum Japan was formed specifically to research the export of nuclear industry to other countries. Already there are contracts worked out, and the industry is almost ready to export machinery, technology and possibly supporting staff.
Official Japanese government policy is that these power companies are operating for domestic consumption only, but you could say the government is supporting the global expansion of the nuclear industry by issuing export licences and so on.
Question: What do you think interests Japanese people most about the anti-Jabiluka campaign?
To be honest, uranium mining is not a big issue in Japan because we don't produce uranium domestically. It doesn't even come directly from Australia. Uranium goes directly to the United States and Europe, where it is fabricated into fuel rods before it is exported to Japan.
There is little awareness about the total nuclear fuel cycle, so one point of our campaign is to raise awareness about the uranium mining aspect of the nuclear industry. If you don't mine it in the first place, you don't end up with a global nuclear industry.
Question: What message do you have for the anti-Jabiluka mine campaign?
The Australian campaign against uranium mining has been doing a very good job so far. But I think what also needs to be taken up is how the uranium ends up in the nuclear fuel cycle. This information needs to be incorporated into our campaigns.
When we talk with Australian people, they are well informed about uranium mining issues, but not that informed on reactor issues or radioactive waste issues. They are all interlinked.
We have to have a clear idea of the whole fuel cycle because while the nuclear industry worldwide is very well networked, the opposition movement worldwide is more fragmented.