Japan's nuclear power program is at a critical moment. Earlier this week, Mr. Hisashi Ouchi died as a result of exposure to massive doses of radiation during an accident three months ago at the Tokaimura uranium processing facility. He is the first Japanese to die in a nuclear accident. That tragedy follows news of an incident made public last week -- the forging of test data on a new type of nuclear fuel shipped from Britain -- that is likely to cause a major delay in the much-heralded "pluthermal" (plutonium thermal) program, which burns surplus plutonium with uranium.
The irregularities in the nuclear-fuel inspection now cast doubt over the safety of the program itself. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., which doctored some of its test data, has lost its credibility. As International Trade and Industry Minister Takashi Fukaya put it rightly, "confidence in the BNFL has collapsed."
The incident has also shaken confidence in Kansai Electric Power Co., which was to have used the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at its nuclear power plant at Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, and in the government itself. Both sides must take the blame for failing to detect the testing irregularities on the part of BNFL, which reprocesses spent nuclear fuel from Japan. KEPCO believed what the British firm stated -- that tests had been conducted properly -- and informed MITI accordingly, and the ministry then took the report at face value.