nuclear dumping

Japan equivocal on nuclear dumping

While trade and aid matters occupied a good deal of Mr Nakasone’s discussion time in both Papua New Guinea and Fiji, the Pacific island nations were anxious for at least one other assurance from the Japanese leader, and that was on the dumping of nuclear waste products.

In the event, while Mr Naka sone said in Canberra and the other capitals, that Japan had “no intention” of disregarding the anxieties of regional com munities, he did not say une quivocally that they would not proceed with dumping plans they have had since 1979.

In that year Tokyo announced it would drop some

10,000 drums of what it called “low-level nuclear waste” from Japanese nuclear power sta tions in an oceanic “sump” about 6000 metres deep in an area north of the Marianas.

They said they would monitor this “experiment” for three years and, if no leakage was discovered in that time, begin “full-scale dumping” on that site.

There was immediate uproar.

Public protests were mounted in most island countries, and in New Zealand and Australia. All the South Pacific Forum coun tries, and the Forum itself, denounced the idea, and everyone stuck to their guns, despite repeated Japanese mis

sions into the area, and other strenuous efforts to quieten the racket.

The opposition continues, if anything, stronger than ever, particularly since New Zea land’s banning of nuclear armed ships from its ports, and the consequent upset to ANZUS, heightened regional interest in things nuclear.

Various conferences in the area have discussed the Japan ese plans which have never been more than shelved while the waste disposal becomes ever more pressing. Japan has 25 nuclear power reactors and is second in the world only to the U.S. in this field. They expect to more than double

their nuclear capacity within the next 15 years which, according to some reports, means they will have in excess of 70,000 drums of waste piling up every year.

The London Dumping Con vention is due to meet in September of this year to give further debate to dumping pro posals. They have not so far banned the practice, and are not expected to do so at the forthcoming meeting.

Nauru and Kiribati are mem bers of this convention and have urged other members of the Forum also to join and add to pressure inside the confer ence to have nuclear dumping in the Pacific totally banned.

Nauru produced a paper at the last Forum meeting in Tuvalu on the subject.

Cynics claim that substan tially increased aid given to island nations by Japan is de signed to “soften up” their opposition on this increasingly urgent Japanese problem.