890 Tons of TEPCO N-Fuel kept at Aomori reprocessing plant
Some 890 tons of spent nuclear fuel from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. are stored at Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s reprocessing plant under construction in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Jiji Press learned Friday.
Also kept at the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho are about 180 tons of fuel from Japan Atomic Power Co.
Both numbers were included in the Aomori prefectural government's answer dated Oct. 7 to a questionnaire from a civic organisation in the prefecture. The prefecture's answer was based on explanations from TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power.
It is the first time that a specific amount of nuclear fuel at the plant from an individual company has been confirmed. The plant keeps a total of 2,968 tons of used nuclear fuel.
The plant, planned to be completed in fiscal 2026, will start to extract plutonium from used nuclear fuel once it becomes operational.
Under the principle of peaceful use of plutonium, the Japanese government has a policy of not possessing the radioactive material unless there are specific purposes for it, such as use for uranium-plutonium mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel, because it can be used to make nuclear weapons.
With none of the nuclear reactors at TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power having restarted and neither company having clear plans to start so-called pluthermal power generation using MOX fuel, there are concerns that a situation may occur in which Japan possesses plutonium without specific purposes.
In the prefecture's answer to the questionnaire, TEPCO said that it "plans to implement pluthermal power generation at one of its reactors based on a policy that it will definitely consume plutonium."
The firm also said it assumes that some plutonium will be supplied to a nuclear plant of Electric Power Development Co., better known as J-Power, which is now being constructed in the town of Oma in Aomori. The Oma plant is expected to use MOX fuel at all reactors.
Japan Atomic Power said, "There is no change in our policy to use our plutonium with our responsibility."
Contacted by Jiji Press, TEPCO made the same explanation as that given to the Aomori government.
Meanwhile, Japan Atomic Power told the news agency that it plans to conduct pluthermal power generation at the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power station in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, and at the Tokai nuclear plant in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki, although when to start this has yet to be decided.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
