Japan, U.S. extend nuclear pact amid concern about plutonium stockpile

Japan and the United States extended on Tuesday a bilateral nuclear agreement that has served as the basis for Tokyo's push for a nuclear fuel recycle policy.The pact, which entered into force in July 1988, has authorized Japan to reprocess spent fuel, extract plutonium and enrich uranium for 30 years. As neither side sought to review it before the end of the term, it will remain effective, leaving Japan the only country without nuclear arms that is allowed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel.But the passing of the initial 30-year period raises uncertainty over the future of the pact, now that …READ FULL ARTICLE