Top �� Speeches and Statements by Prime Minister

(Provisional Translation)

Speech by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at The International Scientists Conference

At the Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute January 11, 2003

Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honor to be here at the international scientists conference and to speak before such distinguished gatherings. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Mr. Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov, president of the Russian Research Center Kurchatov for giving me an opportunity to speak here today. I would like to give you my basic point of view regarding science and technology for the future of mankind. (Science/Technology and Responsibility of Mankind) Ladies and gentlemen present at this meeting: The 20th century brought about drastic economic development for mankind. At the same time, however, it was a century in which mankind experienced several disastrous and miserable wars on this globe. Science and technology, which greatly contributed to the economic development, were employed in these wars, to our great regret. In the 21st century we must concentrate the wisdom of mankind, and use science and technology for noble purposes of attaining peace and prosperity. Nuclear power, an achievement of science and technology that should be used to open a bright future for mankind, was used as atomic bombs. This tragedy is felt most strongly by Japan, the only country victimized by those weapons. Nuclear weapons must be eliminated. The international society welcomed deep reductions of nuclear weapons by the U.S. and Russia in recent years. On the other hand, there are countries that are suspected of striving to develop and obtain nuclear weapons even today. This very fact is a matter of serious concern for the international society. Therefore, we must cooperate to realize a peaceful and safe world free of nuclear weapons. From this point of view, I would like to touch upon the issue of nuclear weapons development of North Korea. It is extremely regrettable that North Korea announced its withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) yesterday, and Japan is gravely concerned about the situation. Japan will strongly urge North Korea to immediately retract its decision and take prompt action to dismantle its nuclear development programs. To this end, Japan will closely coordinate with the United States and the Republic of Korea and cooperate with other concerned countries, such as Russia, and the IAEA.�@In regard to this issue, I have consulted with President Putin, and we share the same concern for this matter. Dr. Kurchatov, whose 100th birthday falls in this year of 2003, was involved in the development of nuclear weapons for his own country, amid the U.S.-Soviet confrontation. In parallel with the development of such nuclear arms, however, he continued research on means of peaceful use of nuclear power. Even so, it must have been a matter of serious regret for Dr. Kurchatov to have to see a dark page of U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race in the East-West Cold War. A month before his death, Dr. Kurchatov stated in his last speech: "I am in the firm belief that our government and people will use the science only to promote welfare for mankind." We must give thoughts again to this statement by Dr. Kurchatov, which may be regarded as the will of this scientist. I would like to appeal strongly to scientists and peoples of the world over, on this occasion of the symposium commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Dr. Kurchatov, that we bear grave responsibility to link science and technology to real welfare for mankind. (The Territorial Issue as a Negative Heritage of the 20th Century) Ladies and gentlemen present at this meeting: The 20th century was a time when, behind the glorious progress of science and technology, dreadful hazards manifested themselves, causing serious confrontation and destruction. In particular, the antagonism and confrontation in the latter half of the century left serious aftereffects that still remain as unsolved issues. It is the responsibility of us, who live, in the 21st century, to settle these issues, which should be termed the "negative legacies of the 20th century," one by one, for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. Between Japan and Russia, there remains a "negative legacy of the 20th century," in the issue of where the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu belong. I firmly believe there is great potential for development of the relations between Japan and Russia. In reality, however, our two countries have realized only a small portion of such development potential, partly because of the existence of the above-mentioned issue. The world is currently paying attention to the development of relations between Russia, the Great Power that will host the G8 Summit in 2006, and Japan, which is the only G8 member state in Asia. Should the two countries be successful in overcoming the "negative legacy" of the past, which remains in Japan-Russia relations, it could be possible for the two countries to sufficiently realize the potential for the development of the relations between two countries. If this happens, great benefits will be reaped by not only Japan and Russia but also the international society of nations overall. From this viewpoint, I came to your country with strong determination to infuse new breath into Japan-Russia relations, jointly with President Vladimir Putin. The results were the "Japan-Russia Action Plan," which President Putin and I adopted yesterday. This document summarizes past achievements of Japan-Russia cooperation, and at the same time points to the future direction of the relationship between the two countries. It may be called a marine chart for future Japan-Russia relations. We hope to promote extensive development of Japan-Russia relations, based on this Action Plan, and seek solution of such negative legacy as hard-to-settle Peace Treaty issue, in order to convert the hidden possibilities of Japan-Russia relations in the international stage, or in the economic field, into tangible forms. (Japanese-Russian Cooperation for Denuclearization) Ladies and gentlemen present at this meeting: A "negative legacy of the 20th century" that faces Russia itself, is also a serious international problem. The huge volume of weapons of mass destruction remaining in Russia, and decommissioned nuclear submarines, which are left in a dangerous condition, must be disposed quickly to ensure peace and safety of the world, as well as to preserve the earth environment. During the G8 Summit at Kananaskis in June 2002, launch of the "G8 Global Partnership," an international cooperation framework to deal with these issues, was agreed upon. On that occasion, I made clear Japan's intention to make a financial contribution of a little more than two hundred million US dollars for the time being to this international cooperation framework. Ten years ago, Japan took initiative in creating Japan-Russia cooperation framework for denuclearization, and subsequently has made clear its positive attitude to cope with the aforementioned issues. Many decommissioned nuclear submarines are left in the Far Eastern waters. Efforts for the dismantling these old submarines are not only simple collaboration for disarmament but also significant projects to prevent the Sea of Japan from environmental contamination, resulting from nuclear radiation. Japan has already handed over a liquid radioactive waste treatment plant named "Suzuran (Lily of the Valley)" to Russia. "Suzuran," which has the highest-level capacities in the world, successfully prevented discharge of liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. Even so, the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines was faced with difficulties. And both Japan and Russia continued consultation to find ways to resolve these difficulties and to accelerate the implementations of dismantlement. As a result, both parties agreed to jointly establish an executive task force, thereby creating a setup to address this important issue cooperatively. I would like to name this cooperation program as "Zvezda Nadezhda (Star of Hope)". This is just only the first step in the long process awaiting us. To conserve the environment in the Far Eastern sea waters, we would like to further accelerate cooperation on the dismantlement of decommissioned nuclear submarines left in the seas of the region. The disposition of weapon-grade plutonium withdrawn from nuclear warheads is another important task. With the end of the Cold War, Russia made a significant step toward substantial reduction of nuclear weapons, jointly with the United States. If, notwithstanding the dismantlement of nuclear weapons, plutonium withdrawn from the warheads is left as it is, there remains a danger that it may be used for another warhead or come in the possession of terrorist groups. Thus, paving the way for plutonium disposition is quite important in promoting international peace and disarmament. The cooperation on research and development for fast breeder reactors between Japanese and Russian research institutes is in progress. Recently, under Japanese cooperation, twenty kilograms of weapon-grade plutonium, equivalent to two to three atomic bombs, was successfully disposed of with an advanced technology developed by Russian scientists, for the first time in the world. Japan has decided to allocate $100 million, among the contribution pledged at Kananaskis Summit, for the G8 plutonium disposition program. I hope this allocation will accelerate the Japan-Russia research cooperation in this area. On this occasion, I also would like to highlight the significance of activities of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC), designed to give former Soviet Union scientists and researchers who used to engage in research on weapons of mass destruction, opportunities to redirect their talents to meaningful purposes of public welfare. Within the framework of this Center, an aggregate of 36,000 scientists and researchers have been engaged in research activities for peaceful purposes, so that the ISTC has recorded great achievements. Japan has thus far provided project support funds amounting to about $56 million, and we intend to continue positive cooperation with the ISTC activities hereafter. It is necessary for both Japan and Russia to cooperate in this way to overcome various issues left by the 20th century, and to create a 21st century that is safe and free from any threat. (Science and Technology for a 21st Century Characterized by Peace and Prosperity) Ladies and gentlemen present at this meeting: In parallel with such efforts, it is necessary to turn our eyes to opening a 21st century characterized by peace and prosperity. To maintain peace, it is necessary to make prosperity, built by the past high growth, sustainable, by all means. For this reason, I would like to stress the importance of environmental issues, as well as energy problems. These two fields are mutually interrelated, and it is in such fields that science and technology should display their merits. Environmental conservation and economic development must be arranged to coexist. I think that, by protecting the environment, it is possible to attain economic development, and that this can be achieved by the force of science and technology. The World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg last year. During that Summit session, I expressed my view that science and technology should be positioned as the breakthrough for attaining development and environmental protection at the same time. Japan will hold the "World Water Forum" in March of this year. It is important to scientifically elucidate earth environment issues, which include many uncertain problems, such as the water problem to be taken up in this World Water Forum. From this viewpoint, Japan is promoting global environment monitoring and prediction modeling to forecast climate change. Also, Japan is tackling the tasks of developing global warming countermeasure technology, in order to minimize emission of greenhouse gases and to recover such gases, after they are discharged. It is important, more than anything else, to develop new energy friendly to the environment, based on science and technology, in parallel with the aforementioned efforts. Fuel cells may be one such promising energy source. I recently participated in the test-driving of a passenger car that used fuel cells, which generated electric power through reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, and only water is produced as waste. I enjoyed calm, comfortable driving in that future car, strongly feeling that we must make certain mankind travels aboard the vehicle called the earth with peace of mind. It is a dream of mankind to secure environment-friendly energy resources, featuring strong safety, and allowing permanent use. It is an objective that must be attained without fail, if the world is to maintain sustained growth and to accomplish unending prosperity. Nuclear fusion, which has no restraint in resources and has the least effect on the environment, is a scientific technology of great significance that has a possibility of realizing this dream. And we can say that ITER is a symbolic project that indicates the significance of the Japan-Russia partnership in the science and technology field. In Russia, Academician Mr. Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov, president of the Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute, and other members of the Kurchatov Institute, have been the central figures in the research and development of ITER. Above all, the Tokamak system, used in ITER, was developed in this Kurchatov Institute. In designing the ITER device, a superconducting coil manufactured by Russia was incorporated in testing equipment in Japan, and the feasibility of a Toroidal Field Coil was verified. It was a brilliant achievement of Japan-Russia cooperation in the history of ITER. Japan strongly hopes that the ITER device will be constructed in Rokkasho Mura, Aomori Prefecture. If the technology developed in Russia eventually blossoms in Japan, there will be no greater outcome of the Japan-Russia cooperation. We look forward to inviting ITER to Rokkasho Mura, and to working with researchers from Russia and other parts of the world in the ITER project. (Conclusion) "Man can, and must, utilize what was created by the intellect of all mankind, but at the same time he must closely examine, based on his own intellect, what has been created by all mankind." This was a statement made by Tolstoy, the great literary figure. In this statement, he correctly pointed out that, based on the realization that science and technology contain danger, man should deal with them through his own intellect. I am of the firm belief that scientists and researchers of both Japan and Russia have the power and ability to always return to such wisdom, and continue research cooperation that will really be linked with the welfare of mankind. Hoping for the realization of peace and prosperity in the 21st century, based on science and technology, I conclude my address. Spasibo.