Young Japanese bureaucrats tried to derail nuclear boondoggle in 2004

[kristopher]

Foes in METI tried to nix nuclear fuel cycle

<snip>

As the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. continue to struggle to stabilize the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, the nuclear fuel cycle project is at a crossroads and the misgivings that METI officials expressed about the fuel cycle program seven years ago, albeit apparently more because of economic instead of safety concerns, is a factor now.

At the time, the METI officials produced a document titled "A bill of ¥19 trillion — the nuclear fuel cycle project that cannot be stopped," and distributed it to ministries and around the Nagata-cho political hub.

The document estimated the cost of building and operating a reprocessing plant at around ¥19 trillion, and in one scenario as much as ¥50 trillion. The report also pointed out that there were no immediate, or specific, plans at the time to operate fast-breeder reactors, which use reprocessed plutonium to produce more plutonium. The only such reactor, the prototype Monju in Fukui Prefecture, suffered a sodium leak accident and fire in 1995 that its operator then tried to hide. It has only been in recent months that the push resumed in earnest to restart it — but March 11 put that on hold.

It also said the project would produce a huge amount of highly toxic radioactive waste.

"The nation cannot admit that it made a mistake, that its policy is obsolete....

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110730f1.html

[kristopher]

1. This is the accompanying story to the OP - it covers political donations from nuclear utilities

It is important to remember that the LDP is the party that ruled for 50 years and that the nuclear path is completely a product of their policy preferences. They are playing an obstructionist role in the Japanese parliament similar to the one being played by the Republicans in Congress. I

Utilities, LDP long held cozy ties
Party donations continued behind scenes despite '70s industry ban
Kyodo

The recent findings that current and former power company executives have been making huge political donations to the Liberal Democratic Party since the 1970s show the industry and party have long had cozy ties.

The revelations also indicate the difficulties the Democratic Party of Japan-led government faces in persuading the industry to back a new energy policy due to the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

...According to an analysis of data released Saturday by Kyodo News, more than 70 percent of individual donations to the LDP's political fund management body in 2009 came from current or retired executives of nine of the nation's 10 utilities. All nine run nuclear plants.

Only executives of Okinawa Electric Power Co., which does not have a nuclear plant, did not make donations to the party...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110729f1.html