The Rokkasho-mura reprocessing plant in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture opened for testing on March 31st, 2006. Less than two weeks later, in the early morning hours of April 11, 40 liters of radioactive water containing plutonium and uranium were spilled inside the plant. Fortunately, the official response was that there was no contamination outside the plant.

In response to the opening of the Rokkasho nuclear reprocessing plant and the associated dangers that go along with the plant’s operation, on May 16th, electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto launched an international awareness campaign that is currently available as a podcast.

Several free MP3 tracks are available for download at the Stop-Rokkasho site, and Sakamoto has even provided an a capella for remixing.

Sakamoto wrote and recorded a new track along with shing02 and Christian Fennesz under the group name Team 6 as a way to begin the Rokkasho awareness campaign. The first versions of the track – “Rokkasho-Main Theme,” “Rokkasho-Piano Version and “Rokkasho-Yakkle Remix” – as well as Ryoichi Kurokawa’s “Rokkasho-Main video” are available exclusively via the podcast. There is no charge to subscribe to the podcast.

The “Stop-Rokkasho” podcast will deliver music, video, photos, art, information and interviews to help spread the word about both the Rokkasho plant and the dangers of reprocessing in general. Future episodes will feature music and art donated by a growing list of artists joining the project. In addition to these materials, anyone in the world is invited to download either the vocal and/or instrumental track to create their own remix, sample, re-cycle or re-model of the track to post on their own website along with a banner for the project to further spread information about Rokkasho.

Less than two months ago Rokkasho, Japan’s environment was said to be relatively free of radioactive contamination. However, a recent Greenpeace-commissioned study has calculated that global radiation doses to humans from Rokkasho releases are likely to be similar in magnitude to the collective dose from the Chernobyl disaster. We need your help.