Agreement allows use of plutonium in reactors, likely to be renewed without renegotiation
TOKYO — U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on Wednesday expressed his country’s intention to extend the current nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan, which is due to expire next summer, without renegotiating it.
In an interview with The Nikkei and other media in Tokyo, Brouillette said there are no grounds for renegotiating the deal.
His remark indicates that the deal will not be overhauled, let alone terminated.
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Because the Japanese government is demanding the extension, the deal is on track to be automatically extended now that the U.S. side has clarified its position.
The deal took effect in 1988 and will reach its 30-year time limit in July 2018.
It permits the peaceful use of plutonium, which can be used to produce nuclear weapons. This is the cornerstone of Japan’s nuclear fuel recycling policy, which uses plutonium reprocessed from spent nuclear fuel produced at nuclear power plants.
Read more at US to extend nuclear cooperation deal with Japan: official
What an oxymoronic word: “the peaceful use of plutonium” while there is nothing peaceful about processing it…