The Reason forof Appeal: We recognize that the controlled thermonuclerthemonuclear fusion is an important alternative energy resource for a distant future. However, the nuclear reactor based on ITER that burns tritium is extremely dangerous from the point of view of safety and of environmental contamination. Because of this, even if the experiment should turnturned out to be successful, it would produce a large amount of nuclear waste, and as a result, it will result in theinvitenon-acceptance of fusion reactor from the public.
l Tritium is highly toxic with a lethal dose of 1 mg. About 2 kg of tritium that circulates in ITER could kill 2 million people. If it combines with oxygen and leaks out as heavy water, it will create an extremely dangerous situation. The radiation flux of 2kg of tritium is about the same level of that produced in the Chernobyl accident.
l Neutrons that are produced in ITER have energy more than ten times of that in a fission reactor, and radio-activate device wall and construction materials, producing 40,000 tons of nuclear waste. Upon termination of the experiment, the device and the construction cannot be disposed for a few hundred years because of hot radioactivity and will be left to deteriorate. As a result, a large amount of under ground water will be contaminated and the area of contamination increases in proportion to the time, creating an extremely serious environment hazard.
@Because of these reasons, as physicists of conscience and expertise in this field, we are strongly against inviting ITER to Japan.
@Signed by Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Laureate, Physics 2002 and Akira Hasegawa, Maxwell Award Winner and Former Division Chairman, DPP, APS on 10 Mmarch, 2003.
