To: Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of
Japan
An Urgent Request on UN Intervention on Stabilization of
the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel
Recently, former diplomats and experts both
in Japan and abroad stressed the extremely risky condition of the Fukushima
Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool and this is being widely reported by
world media. Robert Alvarez, Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy
Studies (IPS), who is one of the best-known experts on spent nuclear fuel,
stated that in Unit 4 there is spent nuclear fuel which contains Cesium-137
(Cs-137) that is equivalent to 10 times the amount that was released at the
time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Thus, if an earthquake or other event
were to cause this pool to drain, this could result in a catastrophic
radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by
the Chernobyl accident.
Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies at the Fukushima Daiichi
plant sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more
long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl.
Nuclear experts from the US and Japan such
as Arnie Gundersen, Robert Alvarez, Hiroaki Koide, Masashi Goto, and Mitsuhei
Murata, a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, and, Akio Matsumura, a
former UN diplomat, have continually warned against the high risk of the
Fukushima Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.
Mr. Ron Wyden, US Senator after his visit
to Fukushima Daiichi on 6 April, 2012, made an urgent press release on 16
April, pointing out the catastrophic risk of the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4,
calling for an urgent US government intervention. Mr. Wyden also sent a letter
to Mr. Fujisaki, Japan’s Ambassador to US, requesting Japan to accept
international assistance to tackle the crisis.
We civil organizations express our deepest
concerns that our government does not inform its citizens about the extent of
risk from the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 spent fuel. Given the fact that
explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 spent fuel could potentially lead to
worldwide catastrophic consequences, what the Japanese government should be
doing as a responsible member of international society is to avoid any further
disaster by mobilizing all the wisdom and the means available. It is more
than clear that the Fukushima Daiichi is no longer a Japanese issue but is an
international issue, posing a major threat to the survival of the whole planet
and of our civilization. Therefore, it is imperative for the Japanese
government and the international community to work together on this crisis
before it becomes too late. We are appealing to the United Nations to help out
Japan and the planet to prevent the irreversible consequences of a catastrophe
that would affect generations to come. We would herewith make our urgent
request to you as follows:
1.
Request the United
Nations to organize a Nuclear Security Summit to take up the crucial problem of
the unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.
2.
Request the United
Nations to establish an independent assessment team on the Fukushima Daiichi
Unit 4 and to coordinate international assistance in order to stabilize the
Fukushima Daiichi 4 spent nuclear fuel pool in order to prevent worldwide
nuclear catastrophic consequences.
30 April 2012
Shut Tomari (Japan)
1-2, 6-4 Higashisapporo, Shiroishi-ku,
Sapporo 003-0006 Japan
TEL: +81-90-26951937
FAX:+81-11-826-3796 email: kaori-izumi@ta3.so-net.ne.jp
Green Action (Japan)
Suite
103, 22-75 Tanaka Sekiden-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8203 Japan
Tel:
+81-75-701-7223 Fax: +81-75-702-1952 email: info@greenaction-japan.org
Endorsed by:
Hiroaki Koide Kyoto University Nuclear Reactor Research Institute
(Japan)
Mitsuhei Murata Former ambassador to Switzerland and to Senegal
Board
member, Global System and Ethics Society (Japan)
Akio Matsumura Former United Nations diplomat
Robert Alvarez Senior
Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C. (USA)
Masashi Goto Former Nuclear
Plant Engineer (Japan)
Signing organizations: 72 Japanese
organizations have signed this petition (as of 30 April 2012)
1.
Shut Tomari, Hokkaido
2.
Green Action, Kyoto
3.
Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center, Tokyo
4.
Osaka Group against Mihama・Ooi・Takahama Nuclear Power, Osaka
5.
Aging Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Group, Tokyo
6.
Stop Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant!, Shizuoka
7.
Espace des Femmes, Hokkaido
8.
“Let’s learn Pluthermal” Shiribeshi Citizen's Network,
Hokkaido
9.
Hairo Action Fukushima, Fukushima and Evacuation Areas in
Japan
10. STOP MOX! Fukushima,
Fukusima
11. Fukushima Moonlight,
Fukuoka
12. Yawatahama Women's
Group to Protect Children from Nuclear Power Plant, Ehime
13. Ikata People Against
Mox, Ehime
14. We Do Not Want
Plutonium! , Tokyo
15. Genkai Nuclear Power
Pluthermal Trial Support Group, Fukuoka
16. Genkai Nuclear Power
Pluthermal Trial support Group, Fukuona
17. Pluthermal and 100
Years of Saga Prefecture Group, Saga
18. No Nuclear Plants!
Yamaguchi Network, Yamaguchi
19. Food Policy Center・Vision21
20. Genpatsu Yamenkai,
Fukuoka
21. Japan Environmental Law
Lawyers Association （JELF）
22. Nonviolent Direct
Action Network (HANET)
23. Anti-Nuclear-Power and
Nuclear Fuels Reprocessing Protest Advertising Group, Tokyo
24. Kochi Green Citizen’s
Network, Kochi
25. Kaku-no-Gomi Campaign,
Chubu, Nagoya, Aichi
26. Aloha from Hawaii
27. Tohoku Asia Information
Center, Hiroshima
28. No-Nukes Citizen’s
Network, Tokushima
29. No-nukes Net Kushiro,
Hokkaido
30. Fukushima Meeting
for Environment, Human Rights and Peace, Fukushima
31. FoE (Friends of the
Earth Japan), Tokyo
32. Citizen’s Group on
Nuclear Waste, Horonobe, Hokkaido
33. Team From Now On,
Hokkaido
34. No Nukes! Protect
Children from Radioactivity
35. Concerned
Citizens for Children's Human Rights, Ehime
36. Protect the Sea of
Sanriku from Radioactivity, Iwate
37. Iwate Organic Farming
Study Group, Iwate
38. Dandelion House, Tokyo
39. Decommission All
Nuclear Power! Women’s Group for Protection of Kariwa Village, Niigata
40. Sapporo Shoku Machi
Network, Hokkaido
41. Citizens Wind for
Peace, Tokyo
42. Together with the Earth
NPO, Osaka
43. Kawauchi Tsuyukusa
Group, Kagoshima
44. Group against
Construction of Kawaunchi Nuclear Plant, Kagoshima
45. Hassei Group against
Ikata Nuclear Plant, Ehime
46. For Citizen’s Autonomy,
Hokkaido
47. No-Nukes Women Group・Hokkaido, Hokkaido
48. Hokkaido Peace Net,
Hokkaido
49. Future for Fukushima
Children, Hokkaido
50. Good
Bye Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Project, Niigata
51.
Weaving A Better Future Mothers’
Group
52.
Group Aozora MeeMee
53.
Mothers and Fathers’No-Nukes Declaration
2011
54.
Southern Osaka Network for Protection
from Radioactivity, Osaka
55.
Kansai Network on Protection of
Children from Radioactivity, Kansai
56.
Journey To the Future
57.
Morinokoya
58.
Kaburaya
59. Nishiyashiki
60.
Dandelion Fortress, Fukuoka
61. Dohatsuten
Wo Tsuku Kai, Fukuoka
62.
Global Ethics Association
63. Buppouzan
Zenngennji
64.
STOP Nuclear Plants BEFORE Huge Quake
Strikes！
65.
Lee Group to Prevent Earthquake
Disaster and Nuclear Accident
66.
Rokkasho Village・ Home of Flowers and Herbs, Aomori
67.
Anti-TEPCO-Nuclear-Power Consumers
Group, Tokyo
68.
Miyazu Mitsubati Project, Kyoto
69.
Citizen’s Plaza, Minoh , Osaka
70.
Monoh Citizen’s Group on Good Bye
Nuclear Power, Osaka
71.
Campaign Fukuoka against Nuclear and
Uranium Weapons, Fukuoka
72.
Seeking for Japan-US Security Treaty
Termination Notice, Tokyo
Reference
1.
http://bousai.tenki.jp/bousai/earthquake/seismicity_map/?area_type=japan_detail&recent_type=100days
5.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/04/17/fukushima-daiichis-achilles-heel-unit-4s-spent-fuel/
7.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/the-fukushima-nuclear-dis_b_1444146.html
11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bq81boQL_Y
12. http://akiomatsumura.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Letter-to-Prime-Minister-Noda-by-Amb-Murata.pdf
