Skip to comments.
Japan 'loses' 206kg of plutonium
The Financial Times ^
| January 28, 2003
| Bayan Rahman
Posted on 01/28/2003 2:13:20 PM PST by MadIvan
Japan on Tuesday admitted that 206kg of its plutonium - enough to make about 25 nuclear bombs - is unaccounted for.
Government scientists said that 6,890kg of plutonium had been extracted since 1977 from spent nuclear fuel at a processing plant about 120km north east of Tokyo. But that is 3 per cent short of the amount the plant was estimated to have produced.
About 5kg to 8kg of plutonium are needed to make a 20-kiloton atomic bomb similar to the one that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945.
Experts said the missing amount was surprisingly large.
There is normally a margin of error of 1 per cent or less when measuring liquid plutonium, which can dissolve into other elements.
Japan's admission comes at a time of acute sensitivity because of the threat of nuclear proliferation in north-east Asia following North Korea's revival of its mothballed nuclear programme.
However, there is no evidence that North Korea was linked to the missing plutonium even though it is known to smuggle goods in and out of Japan.
"This is an unusually large amount of plutonium to be unaccounted for, which makes me uncomfortable, although I think it's highly unlikely that it was stolen," said Tatsujiro Suzuki, senior research scientist at the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry.
The science ministry, which reported the discrepancy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dismissed the idea that the plutonium had been stolen. It said about 90kg was probably diluted into waste-water and about 30kg probably dissolved into other elements.
It admitted it was baffled by the remaining 86kg but said initial output projections may have been too high and the plutonium may not have been produced.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, said: "The Agency [is] confident that no nuclear material has been diverted from the facility."
The IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has urged Japan to strengthen its procedures for measuring nuclear material since it first noted discrepancies in 1998.
TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; Japan; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: bombs; japan; lost; plutonium
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-94 next last
Not that you should panic or anything...
Regards, Ivan
1
posted on
01/28/2003 2:13:21 PM PST
by
MadIvan
To: carl in alaska; Cautor; GOP_Lady; prairiebreeze; veronica; SunnyUsa; Delmarksman; Sparta; ...
Bump!
2
posted on
01/28/2003 2:13:38 PM PST
by
MadIvan
To: MadIvan
I think it's more likely that they've use the material to make their own nuclear weapons.
To: MadIvan; hchutch; Poohbah
!!!???!!!???!!!!
4
posted on
01/28/2003 2:15:28 PM PST
by
mhking
(RED ALERT! Shields UP! Lock phasers on target; load quantum torpedoes!)
To: MadIvan
oops ....
5
posted on
01/28/2003 2:16:01 PM PST
by
Centurion2000
(The meek shall inherit the Earth. The stars belong to the bold.)
To: Tree of Liberty
I think it's more likely that they've use the material to make their own nuclear weapons. I certainly hope so.
Regards, Ivan
6
posted on
01/28/2003 2:16:04 PM PST
by
MadIvan
To: MadIvan
Okkkkkkkkkkkkk ... How does one just lose that much plutonium ??
7
posted on
01/28/2003 2:16:51 PM PST
by
Mo1
(I Hate The Party of Bill Clinton)
To: MadIvan
Damn, it was here a minute ago. I walked through the front door, through the living room down the hall to the restroom. When I came out it was gone.
I've never understood how a person loses this stuff?
To: MadIvan
Quick click off the light and see if you glow!
9
posted on
01/28/2003 2:17:56 PM PST
by
areafiftyone
(The U.N. is now officially irrelevant! The building is for Sale!!!)
To: Mo1
Okkkkkkkkkkkkk ... How does one just lose that much plutonium ?? Sounds like they're going for the Scott Ritter excuse - "an accounting error".
Regards, Ivan
10
posted on
01/28/2003 2:18:32 PM PST
by
MadIvan
To: mhking
OK. Shintaro, check behind the director's futon. Yoshi, you look in the fridge. And Noburo, go check out in the employee locker room--you know how Akira is SUCH a practical joker...
11
posted on
01/28/2003 2:18:38 PM PST
by
Poohbah
(Four thousand throats may be cut in a single night by a running man -- Kahless the Unforgettable)
To: MadIvan
"This is an unusually large amount of plutonium to be unaccounted for, which makes me uncomfortable, although I think it's highly unlikely that it was stolen," said Tatsujiro Suzuki Has anyone looked under the sofa cushions?
12
posted on
01/28/2003 2:19:26 PM PST
by
Argus
To: MadIvan
Not that you should panic or anything... What convenient timing, coming as it does on last week's statement about how Japan will defend itself if NK so much as begins to fuel its missiles.
This week, we learn that Japan owns seven metric tons of plutonium -- which is a loud reminder that they have everything necessary to construct nuclear weapons.
A cynic might think that there's not really any missing plutonium at all, and that the announcement serves to make a different point.
13
posted on
01/28/2003 2:19:42 PM PST
by
r9etb
To: Tree of Liberty; AmericanInTokyo
Agree.
14
posted on
01/28/2003 2:19:43 PM PST
by
weikel
(The Democratic Party: A communist front since 1896)
To: MadIvan
Wonder how much they sold it for.
15
posted on
01/28/2003 2:20:20 PM PST
by
chance33_98
(Freedom is not Free)
To: MadIvan
Uhhh...isn't there also an instance of control-rod material being stolen from russia recently?
Who has the underground nuclear reactor with weapons-grade material now?
To: Mo1
*Okkkkkkkkkkkkk ... How does one just lose that much plutonium ??*
My dog ate it???
17
posted on
01/28/2003 2:20:34 PM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(Keepin my fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed for GW to hit it out of the park tonite!)
To: Tree of Liberty
I think it's more likely that they've use the material to make their own nuclear weapons. Yeh. They have to deal with N. Korea. Can't blame them if that's what they did.
To: MadIvan
I certainly hope so.They probably just lost track of how much it took to exterminate Godzilla.
Things were pretty hectic back then.
Expediency demanded that they cut through a lot of red tape.
To: chance33_98
Wonder how much they sold it for.Sell it? Heck, no...it was an "interagency transfer" to the JSDF.
20
posted on
01/28/2003 2:21:17 PM PST
by
Poohbah
(Four thousand throats may be cut in a single night by a running man -- Kahless the Unforgettable)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-94 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson