Revelations about Secret Negotiations to Import Radioactive Waste into Canada from JapanRadio-Canada has revealed that former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has been engaged in secret negotiations with officials of Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) and others in powerful positions in Japan to import their radioactive waste into Canada for burial in Labrador. Chrétien was Liberal Party Prime Minister from 1993 to 2003. He now works with the global law firm Dentons, which had a gross income of just under $3 billion in 2019. Dentons is counsel for the promoters of the secret project to import nuclear waste, who are associated with a company called Terra Vault. Radio-Canada obtained emails between Chrétien and Japanese business people connected with the nuclear industry and mass media. Chrétien, described in a Dentons' email as a "close adviser" of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was assisting to bring together two members of the Japanese elite with Tim Frazier, former U.S. government nuclear adviser and principal investor in Terra Vault, and Montreal business executive and investor Albert Barbusci, who is an advocate of storing other countries' nuclear waste in Canada.[1]
Radio-Canada writes, "Months after Chrétien's letter to the Japanese PR executive, Hisafumi Koga's response in September 2019 illustrates the secretive nature of the discussions. 'As the success of the project hinges on the cooperation of all stakeholders, utmost care needs to be taken to keep the information from leaking,' Hisafumi Koga wrote, accepting Chrétien's invitation for a meeting in Canada. 'I understand that I'm attending as a private person,' Koga said. Takuya Hattori, who held senior positions at TEPCO, the company involved in the Fukushima nuclear accident, was also to be part of the trip, according to the emails." Radio-Canada also obtained emails from the Montreal investor Barbusci and associates in Dentons. It writes, "A June 2020 email from Barbusci refers to a 'smooth transition' after former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Dwight Ball's resignation, which took effect in August. 'As you may already know, [Liberal Party] Premier Ball has announced that he will be stepping down and a new leader will be named on August 3rd [2020]. That said, we plan to stay connected with Premier Ball so the transition is expected to be smooth,' Barbusci wrote. "Four years ago, Ball's chief of staff, Greg Mercer, was found to have failed to report his previous lobbying activities on time. Some of his lobbying involved the company at the heart of the group's nuclear storage project, Terra Vault. Frazier, the former U.S. nuclear adviser and another key player in the project, is one of Terra Vault's major shareholders. He refused to speak with Radio-Canada. [...] "[Former Premier] Ball also said Thursday, Chrétien mentioned the idea of a DGR [deep geological repository] in Labrador to him." "My response to him was swift to say, as the premier my government is not interested in entering into any discussions with your clients on this issue, reads Ball's statement. Barbusci said he wasn't aware of the lobbying incident [with Ball's chief of staff, Greg Mercer] and that it precedes his involvement in the DGR project. He also said the location for the site wasn't yet decided." "Trusted Adviser"An email from a Dentons' lawyer named Terry Didus to all those involved in the nuclear waste project extols Chrétien's relations with the current Liberal Party federal government, calling the former Prime Minister a "trusted adviser" to Prime Minister Trudeau. After the Trudeau Liberals' 2019 re-election as a minority government, Didus writes enthusiastically to the others, "Good news: Liberals back!" And then later, "Better news: Jean [Chrétien] has now been 'appointed' by Justin Trudeau as his 'trusted adviser.' In essence, Jean will be privy to all major policy decisions going forward." In the Radio-Canada interview, Chrétien appeared frustrated by the Didus email and denied the implication that he is a "trusted adviser" and "lobbyist." He said, "I'm not his [Trudeau's] trusted adviser [...] I don't want to be a lobbyist. I told you that." In the same interview, Chrétien again defended the project to store Japan's nuclear waste in Canada, saying we have "a responsibility to store used nuclear material" and that he is "simply acting out his duty as a lawyer and agreed to sign the 2019 letter when asked by colleagues at his firm. We made money selling uranium so we should help to solve the problem that the countries who bought our uranium are facing with that." Chrétien also presented nuclear power as green and an option to combat climate change. Radio-Canada writes that Chrétien "believes atomic energy is one of the solutions to combating climate change."
The aim of the economy to make maximum profit in the fastest time blocks scientists and technicians from doing all-round work. Regarding the nuclear industry, the oligarchs in control of the economy and politics pour scientific efforts into producing nuclear power and bombs while mostly ignoring the attendant issue of nuclear waste. Scientists themselves have accused the oligarchy of doing little or nothing to research and discover what to do with nuclear waste let alone the issue of handling international affairs without violence. Scientists and others say storing nuclear waste, no matter where, is irresponsible and not a viable long-term solution. Radioactive waste that cannot be recycled to produce power is still extremely dangerous and harmful. Exposure to a certain amount for even a short time can kill a human. The secrecy of the nuclear waste project militates against the
modern need to inform the people of all issues and provide forms in
which mass discussion can occur and decisions reached where the people
have a say. A few powerful men or women having secret discussions and
taking decisions that affect the social and natural environment and
the very lives of the people and wildlife of Labrador are beyond the
pale. Who do they think they are would seem to be a pertinent question
but, more importantly, the need to stop these people and their secret
negotiations emerges as an urgent matter. No! to the transportation of
radioactive nuclear waste from Japan! No to its burial in
Labrador! Note
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The
two Japanese are Takuya Hattori, the Senior Advisor of the Japan Atomic
Industrial Forum and former Vice President of TEPCO, and Hisafumi Koga,
the former President of Kyodo News Agency, the largest in Japan, who
now heads its public relations arm. A meeting of all involved was
organized for February 2020 to discuss in person
how to pursue the project but was postponed due to the pandemic.
All
of it reveals the stinking mess of entanglements between governments,
narrow private interests, the revolving door of those who are in
government who then, out of government, use their links to further
their own narrow private interests while serving the interests of the
oligopolies which control entire sectors of the world economy. It
confirms that the real conflicts of interest being hidden today are
those caused by the fact that what is called a democracy is comprised
of those in government who take decisions in secret to serve narrow
private interests and those who are mere subjects with no say over any
of the decisions which concern their lives.
