Addressing the Implications of the Japanese Fuel Cycle through Transparency

Dr. Charles W. Nakhleh is a technical staff member in the Safeguards Systems Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research interests include the applications of environmental monitoring to international safeguards, safeguarding of advanced nuclear fuel cycles, and policy and technology issues related to the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1996. The Japanese civil nuclear fuel cycle has a comprehensive scope and ambitious goals. From uranium enrichment and fuel fabrication facilities to nuclear power plants, reprocessing facilities, and fast breeder reactors, Japan has developed at no small cost a nuclear program whose sophistication equals that of any in the world and, indeed, surpasses most. As with any nuclear endeavor, this program poses risks and challenges in many areas, most importantly in matters of security.