BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The Japanese government did not declare some of the nuclear material it possesses to the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2012 and 2013, an amount enough to make 80 nuclear bombs.
According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, the country claims to own 44 tons of plutonium, while the actual amount is 640 kg more. The unreported plutonium is part of the plutonium-uranium mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel placed at an offline reactor in a nuclear plant in Saga Prefecture, southern Japan.
The fuel was loaded in March 2011, shortly before the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis happened later that month. Experts have criticized the Japanese government over this issue. Japan has the largest amount of plutonium among non-nuclear nations. The 44 tons of plutonium it possesses could potentially be diverted to make more than 5 thousand nuclear bombs.
The large amount of plutonium is causing regional worries over Japan’s motives, as well as global concerns over the security of these nuclear fuel reserves.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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