Friends of the Earth Japan expresses grave concerns on IFI financing nuclear power
projects because of the reasons listed below. I hope you take our concerns seriously.
Nuclear power is risky and costly, especially the cost of accidents, which are enormous.
Human history has experienced severe nuclear accidents, such as Three Mile Island,Chernobyl, and Fukushima. People are still suffering from the consequences of thesedisasters even after decades have passed. Since the Fukushima nuclear crisis happened,
the cost of decontamination, decommissioning, compensations has skyrocketed1. It is
unrealistic to assume any insurance could exist to cover all these costs.
According to the Lazard, the cost of electricity produced by nuclear power is increasing while
cost of renewables are most of the time declining2.
The entire fuel chain from uranium mining, enrichment and operation creates vast amountsof radioactive and toxic waste. The waste needs to be dealt with for a long time period.
High level radioactive wastes and spent fuel must be handled and stored with great care.
The only way that radioactive waste can become less harmful is through decay. This process
takes hundreds of thousands of years, putting the public and environment at risk for a very
long time. Neither the IFIs nor the operators are unlikely to monitor the waste management
for such a long period of time.
Nuclear power plants are unstable and cause numerous accidents and encountermany difficulties. In France, French reactors generated zero power on 152 days in 2022 on
average. France turned into a net importer of electricity, with Germany as an exporter. Utility
Électricité de France (EDF), facing potential bankruptcy over record losses andunprecedented net debt levels (€202364.8 billion or US$70 billion as of mid-2023), wasrenationalized according to the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023.
The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted the risks of military attacks on nuclear
power plants (i.e. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine).
Nuclear power is increasingly vulnerable to climate change3. Two in five nuclear plants
operate on the coast, and at least 100 have been built a few meters above sea level4.
Nuclear power requires cooling water; thus most of the power plants are built alongside thewater. If new nuclear power plants are going to be built, additional cost for climate impact isexpected. In France, due to the heatwaves, nuclear power plants were forced to suspend its
operation5.
1

Kazunari Hanawa,Fukushima cleanup costs swell with no end in sight, Nikkei (Mar. 11, 2023),
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Fukushima-Anniversary/Fukushima-cleanup-costs-swell-with-no-end-in-sight2
Lazard, 2023 Levelized Cost Of Energy+,
https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/2023-levelized-cost-of-energyplus/
3
In Japan, the additional costs for safety measures required following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear
disaster reached over 6.09 trillion yen ($44.3 billion) in January 2023. This is the sum of the additional
cost that 11 major power companies spent. Some companies do not include cost for counter terrorism
measures.
4
Paul Dorfman, Nuclear energy isn’t a safe bet in a warming world – here’s why (June 28, 2021),
https://theconversation.com/nuclear-energy-isnt-a-safe-bet-in-a-warming-world-heres-why-163371
5Forrest Crellin, et al. France issues 'red alert' over heatwave in south, Reuters

Nuclear power cannot solve the climate crisis. The climate crisis is an urgent issue wehave to tackle. In order to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise, we must halve
emissions by 2030 and zero by 2050. Nuclear power will take time to be installed, and thecost is enormous. World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 says since the beginning of
the nuclear power age, there has been a clear global trend towards. The report states “Thelonger-term perspective confirms that short construction times remain the exceptions.Tencountries completed 66 reactors over the decade 2013–2022—of which 39 in Chinaalone—with an average construction time of 9.4 years (see Table 3), slightly higher than the9.2 years of mean construction time in the decade 2012–2021.6” This is too long to deal withthe urgent climate crisis.
The financial security of the recipient countries will be put in jeopardy. The cost ofbuilding new nuclear power plants skyrocketed in recent years. According to the IEA, theMiddle East and Africa are the only areas where nuclear power generation capacity will morethan triple (World Energy Outlook 2023, Announced Pledge Scenario, national commitment
scenarios that will lead to a 1.7°C temperature rise in 2100). IAEA Director General Grossi
stated in November 2023 in Paris that within the next few years 12 or 13 countries would join
the list of new nuclear powers, mentioning Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, thePhilippines, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The cost of installing nuclear power plants in someof these countries will exceed national expenditure. Even the cost of the NuScale project, asmall modular reactor that is considered relatively inexpensive to install, is close to $10
billion7. Financing new nuclear power is likely to worsen the financial security of recipient
countries.
Due to the sensitivity of the information, especially in relation to nuclear security,
information disclosure is likely limited compared to other projects. Some sensitive
information might not be included in the Environmental Assessment Reports. Therefore, it isdoubtful that IFIs can make fully informed decisions or that stakeholders can have fullaccess to information.
Nuclear power threatens human rights. From uranium mining to working in the nuclear
power plants, people are threatened by radiation exposure. Uranium mining is an extractive
industry and often associated with human rights violations in indigenous communities.
Radioactive pollution indiscriminately harms future generations, poisoning the environment
for hundreds to thousands of years. Workers in nuclear power plants suffer from leukemia8.

(Aug, 21, 2023),
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/frances-edf-takes-13-gw-nuclear-reactor-offline-amid-heatw
ave-2023-08-21/
6Mycle Scheider, The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2023 (Dec. 2023),
https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/IMG/pdf/wnisr2023-v4-hr.pdf
7
Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, CNIC Statement: Nuclear Industry Dancing in Other People’s
Shoes Regarding the Pledge to Triple NPPs (Dec. 5, 2023),
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=6899
8Fukushima No. 1 worker's leukemia officially deemed a work accident, Japan Times, (Oct. 20, 2015),
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/20/national/science-health/nhk-says-health-ministry-confir
ms-link-workers-leukemia-fukushima-blast/