Water leak in Rokkasho plant

August 29, 2018

Unfinished nuclear fuel plant had water leak

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180829_02/

The operator of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant under construction in northern Japan says it found a water leak earlier this month at one of its facilities.

Japan Nuclear Fuel says an employee spotted the leak in the pipes of a storage pool at the plant in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture.

The operator found that the pipes were corroded in 20 places and one of them had a hole. They are located outdoors and used for inspections.

The operator believes that rainwater seeped through gaps in insulation materials wrapped around the pipes.

It says the corrosion has not had any impact on the pool's functions.

Workers have been checking all the facilities since they found in August last year that rainwater had flowed into the building that houses an emergency power generator.

The operator says it will replace the pipes and check if there are similar problems at other facilities.

In May, the nuclear regulator resumed its review of the plant after a suspension of 8 months. The operator says the plant is expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal 2021.

The plant will extract uranium and plutonium from spent fuel from nuclear power stations.