Nuclear Balancing Act in Japan After 2018

Since the 2011 Fukushima accident, for the future of Japan’s nuclear energy program remains uncertain, with only a fraction of the country’s reactors back online.  The country nonetheless still plans to open the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant next year, increasing an already large stockpile of separated plutonium without a clear plan for its consumption.

The divergence between plans and reality raises important questions for nuclear risks in East Asia moving forward.  How should the Japanese plutonium stockpile be managed after 2018? How does Japan's plutonium policy affect the region’s nuclear risks?  What role should the U.S.-Japan nuclear cooperation agreement, which nominally expires in 2018 but could be indefinitely extended without further action, have in all this?

Please join us for a conversation with Japanese Diet members and US experts on Japan’s plutonium policies, their regional implications, and the prospects for continued U.S.-Japan nuclear cooperation beyond 2017.
Photo credit: JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images