By Shannon Tiezzi
Japan’s stockpile of plutonium is causing concerns regionally and globally.
According to the Japan Times, both Japanese and U.S. government sources have confirmed that the Obama administration wants Japan to return over 300 kg of plutonium that was given to Japan “for research purposes” during the Cold War. It’s estimated that the plutonium could be used to make between 40 and 50 nuclear weapons. The plutonium is currently kept at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s fast critical assembly.
Japan’s government initially was reluctant to return the plutonium, saying it was needed for research on fast reactors. Now, however, sources say Tokyo has agreed to the request. The U.S. and Japan are expected to reveal a formal deal at next month’s nuclear security summit in the Netherlands.
However, the question of Japan’s plutonium is deeper than arguments over the fate of those 330 kilograms. In addition to the plutonium provided by the U.S. decades ago, Japan also has about 44 tons of lower-quality plutonium, stored both in Japan and abroad. The excess reserves are due to Japan’s policy of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Rather than storing spent fuel, Japan reprocesses it to separate out plutonium for re-use. Japan is the only non-nuclear weapon state to do so.
Read the full story at The Diplomat