Kansai Electric, a Japanese power utility, simultaneously announced that it will abandon plans to use plutonium MOX fuel from BNFL. The utility made the announcement at a press conference earlier today in Japan, completely vindicating Greenpeace's suspicions over the falsification of data relating to this consignment of fuel.

Pete Roche, Greenpeace UK Nuclear Campaigner, said: "Over 50 years of nuclear activity at Sellafield has confirmed British Nuclear Fuels as a world leader in nuclear cover-ups. It cannot recover from this blow and its MOX business is now dead-in-the-water. The whole rationale behind reprocessing Japanese fuel at Sellafield has now collapsed."

Kansai took delivery of the first ever shipment of MOX from BNFL to Japan in October. Governments en-route issued statements condemning the shipment and Greenpeace protested at both its departure from Sellafield and its arrival in Japan [1]. The MV Greenpeace was temporarily banned from UK waters as a result, and a Greenpeace International bank account was frozen.

The announcement by MITI is a fatal blow to BNFL's prospects for securing large-scale MOX contracts with Japanese utilities. Such contracts are essential if BNFL is to receive approval to produce MOX at the new, but as yet unopened Sellafield MOX Plant. The UK government is currently considering whether to approve or refuse its start-up. Ministers have already expressed concern that the costs of dealing with the resulting nuclear wastes will fall to the taxpayer if BNFL fails to win new business in Japan.

For further information:

Pete Roche - Greenpeace UK - 44 171 865 8229 or 07801 212965
Greenpeace UK Press Office - 171 865 8255 or 07801 212969
Shaun Burnie - Greenpeace International - +31 621 296913
Aileen Smith Green Action- Kyoto +81 75 701 7223