U.S. Secretly Asked Japan to Help Dump Nuclear Reactors at Sea
September 29th, 2011Via: Asahi:
The United States secretly sought Japan’s support in 1972 to enable it to dump decommissioned nuclear reactors into the world’s oceans under the London Convention, an international treaty being drawn up at the time.
Countries working on the wording of the pact wanted to specifically prohibit the dumping of radioactive waste at sea.
But Washington wanted to incorporate an exceptional clause in the case of decommissioned nuclear reactors.
These facts came to light in diplomatic records held by the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and released at the request of The Asahi Shimbun.
…
In the early 1970s, sea pollution was a huge international issue.
Against that backdrop, countries worked feverishly to put the finishing touches on the London Convention. The treaty designated high-level radioactive substances as well as other materials, including mercury and cadmium, as waste whose dumping at sea is prohibited.
In 1993 revisions to the London Convention, the dumping of radioactive waste at sea was totally prohibited. However, the clause that approved of dumping in exceptional cases remained.
For this reason, under the London Convention, it is possible for member countries of the treaty to dump radioactive waste at sea if they obtain the OK from the other parties as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to the IAEA, the United States has not dumped radioactive waste at sea since 1970. Instead, it buries decommissioned nuclear reactors underground.
Gojira?!?!