{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Questions over how Japan should handle waste from nuclear power industry' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be63d8eafeecae13b427' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be63d8eafeecae13b427' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nQuestions over how Japan should handle waste from nuclear power industry\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eOma town, Aomori - 9 November 20121. Tilt down of cranes at Oma nuclear power plant 2. Wide of plant, fishing boats in foreground3. Mid of construction site4. Various of model tuna fish 5. Close-up of fishing boat on waterRokkasho...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eOma town, Aomori - 9 November 2012\u003cbr/\u003e1. Tilt down of cranes at Oma nuclear power plant \u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of plant, fishing boats in foreground\u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid of construction site\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of model tuna fish \u003cbr/\u003e5. Close-up of fishing boat on water\u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho village, Aomori - 8 November 2012 \u003cbr/\u003e6. Tracking shot of seagull \u003cbr/\u003e7. Mid of Rokkasho reprocessing plant \u003cbr/\u003e8. Pan across plant \u003cbr/\u003e9. Various of spent fuel storage pool \u003cbr/\u003eTokyo - 22 November 2012\u003cbr/\u003e10. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Masashi Goto, Nuclear engineer and lecturer, Shibaura Institute of Technology:\u003cbr/\u003e\"No one will say yes to making their town a final waste dump site. It is absolutely irresponsible to produce any more radioactive waste under these circumstances.\"\u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho village, Aomori - 8 November 2012 \u003cbr/\u003e11. Wide of central control room at Rokkasho reprocessing plant \u003cbr/\u003e12. Close-up of workers in control room \u003cbr/\u003e13. Wide of high-level radioactive waste storage facility seen through the window \u003cbr/\u003e14. Various of casks of high-level radioactive waste \u003cbr/\u003e15. Tilt up of Kazuo Sakai, senior executive director, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (operator of Rokkasho reprocessing plant) \u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Kazuo Sakai, senior executive director, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited: \u003cbr/\u003e\"It is extremely important for us to burn it as MOX fuel so we don't possess an excess plutonium stockpile.\"\u003cbr/\u003eMutsu city, Aomori - 9 November 2012 \u003cbr/\u003e17. Tilt down of construction site for interim storage facility for spent fuel \u003cbr/\u003e18. Wide of construction site \u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho village, Aomori - 8 November 2012 \u003cbr/\u003e19. Tilt down of Kenji Furukawa, Rokkasho Mayor, speaking\u003cbr/\u003e20. Close-up of reflection of Furukawa's face in glass\u003cbr/\u003e21. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Kenji Furukawa, Rokkasho Mayor:\u003cbr/\u003e\"A change of policy is a huge blow to us and could even affect the fate of this village, so we want the government to stick to the programme.\"\u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho village, Aomori - 7 November 2012 \u003cbr/\u003e22. Pull focus from grass to Keiko Kikukawa, local farmer \u003cbr/\u003e23. Wide of Kikukawa in vegetable field \u003cbr/\u003e24. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Keiko Kikukawa, local farmer: \u003cbr/\u003e\"It's so unfair that Rokkasho is stuck with the nuclear waste from all over Japan. It is not a matter of money.\"\u003cbr/\u003e25. Mid of Kikukawa next to vegetables\u003cbr/\u003eHow is an atomic-powered island nation riddled with fault lines supposed to handle its nuclear waste? \u003cbr/\u003eJapan's answer was supposed to come from a windswept village along the country's northern coast. \u003cbr/\u003eBy hosting a high-tech facility that would convert spent fuel into a plutonium-uranium mix designed for the next generation of reactors, Rokkasho was supposed to be part of a perpetual nuclear fuel cycle - a dream for this resource-poor nation. \u003cbr/\u003eThose ambitions fell apart this summer, after years of failed efforts, when Japanese officials proposed ending a \"fast breeder\" reactor that would use the reprocessed fuel, though they have back pedalled since and say part of the research is still on. \u003cbr/\u003eBut Japan still intends to reprocess spent fuel. \u003cbr/\u003eIt sees few other options, even though it will be producing plutonium that could be used to make nuclear weapons. \u003cbr/\u003eThere is scant prospect for building a long-term nuclear waste disposal site in Japan. \u003cbr/\u003eWithout one, if the Rokkasho reprocessing plant were to shut down, some 3,000 tons of spent waste piling up would have to go back to the nuclear plants that made it, and those already are running low on storage space. \u003cbr/\u003eSo work continues at Rokkasho, where the reprocessing unit remains in testing despite being more than 30 years in the making. \u003cbr/\u003eSpent fuel lies submerged in water that looks green in a dimly lit gigantic pool. \u003cbr/\u003eThe effort continues on the assumption that the plutonium Japan has produced - 45 tons so far - will get used to produce energy, even though that is not close to happening to a significant degree. \u003cbr/\u003eIn nearby Oma, construction is set to resume on an advanced reactor that is not a fast-breeder but can use more plutonium than conventional reactors. \u003cbr/\u003eIts construction, begun in 2008 for planned operation in 2014, has been suspended since the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns, and could face further delays as Japan's new nuclear watchdog prepares new safety guidelines. \u003cbr/\u003eIf Japan acknowledged that it has no use for the plutonium, it would be breaking international pledges aimed at preventing the spread of weapons-grade nuclear material. \u003cbr/\u003eCountries such as the US and Britain have similar problems with nuclear waste storage, but Japan's population density and seismic activity, combined with the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, make its situation more untenable in the eyes of the nation's nuclear-energy opponents. \u003cbr/\u003eSome compare it to building an apartment without a toilet. \u003cbr/\u003eJapan conducted studies needed to develop a potential disposal facility but no municipality in the country has been willing to accept a long-term disposal site.\u003cbr/\u003e\"No one will say yes to making their town a final waste dump site. It is absolutely irresponsible to produce any more radioactive waste under these circumstances,\" said Masashi Goto, a nuclear engineering expert.\u003cbr/\u003eThe reprocessing facility at this extremely high-security plant is designed to extract uranium and plutonium from spent fuel to fabricate MOX - mixed oxide fuel, a mix of the two radioactive elements. \u003cbr/\u003eReprocessing creates an opportunity to reuse the spent fuel rather than storing it as waste, but the plutonium produced in the process raises concerns about nuclear proliferation. \u003cbr/\u003eFast-breeder reactors are supposed to solve that problem. \u003cbr/\u003eThey are designed to consume plutonium in the MOX while producing more fuel than burned. \u003cbr/\u003eSeveral other countries have developed or are building them, but none has succeeded in building one for commercial use, despite decades of efforts. \u003cbr/\u003eThe United States, France and Germany have abandoned plans due to cost and safety concerns. \u003cbr/\u003eKazuo Sakai, senior executive director of Rokkasho's operator, JNFL, a joint venture of nine Japanese nuclear plant owners, said the plutonium storage in their facility is strictly controlled.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It is extremely important for us to burn it as MOX fuel so we don't possess an excess plutonium stockpile,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho's reprocessing plant, has been plagued with mechanical problems, and its commercial launch had been delayed for years. \u003cbr/\u003eThe operator most recently delayed official launch of its plutonium-extracting unit until next year - although officials and experts have raised doubts if it ever will become workable, suspecting more serious technology flaws than reported. \u003cbr/\u003eIf Rokkasho closed, a 1998 pact between the operator and local governments would require that spent fuel be sent back to the original nuclear plants, but they already are running short of storage space. \u003cbr/\u003eThere is support for keeping Rokkasho, especially in Aomori. \u003cbr/\u003eHungry for funding and jobs, many residents want the project to stay, though they fear their home state may become a final waste dump site.\u003cbr/\u003eRokkasho Mayor Kenji Furukawa said his village of 11,000 people cannot do without the plant because it, its affiliates and related businesses provide most of the jobs. \u003cbr/\u003e\"A change of policy is a huge blow to us and could even affect the fate of this village, so we want the government to stick to the programme,\" Furukawa said. \u003cbr/\u003eBut farmer Keiko Kikukawa said she feels that keeping highly radioactive materials at the Rokkasho plant without deciding a final dump site is too dangerous.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It's so unfair that Rokkasho is stuck with the nuclear waste from all over Japan,\" Kikukawa said.\u003cbr/\u003eNuclear power is likely to be part of Japan for some time to come, even though just two of the country's 50 functioning reactors are operating 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