JNFL applies for safety assessment on Rokkasho plant

 January 7, 2014

Japan Nuclear Fuel files for safety checks of fuel reprocessing plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140107p2g00m0dm051000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. on Tuesday applied for a state safety assessment on its spent fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho in northeastern Japan to put it onstream.

Although it is not clear how long the safety assessment process will take, the company said it hopes to secure the permission of authorities to use the plant in Aomori Prefecture by October and start its actual operation after securing local consent.

The plant was designed for a key role in Japan's fuel recycling policy that aims to reprocess spent uranium fuel and reuse the extracted plutonium and uranium as reactor fuel.

After submitting the application, Japan Nuclear Fuel Senior Executive Vice President Kazuhiro Matsumura told reporters that he expects the Nuclear Regulation Authority to implement the safety review "efficiently" and that the company is making preparations so that it will not see a delay in completing the plant in October.

Japan Nuclear Fuel started building the plant in 1993 and a trial operation began in March 2006. But its completion has been repeatedly postponed following a series of problems, including leakage of high-level radioactive waste liquid.

For the NRA, an entity launched after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, it will be the first safety checkup of a spent fuel reprocessing plant. The NRA put in place related regulations in December.

Under the new safety standards, spent fuel reprocessing facilities are required to take measures to respond to severe accidents such as criticality incidents. They are also required to enhance protection against earthquakes and other natural disasters.

The safety assessment process could be long, as the reprocess flow is complicated and involves a lot of equipment. The activity of a fault located off the coast of Rokkasho could also become a contentious point.

The Rokkasho plant is designed to reprocess 800 tons of spent fuel per year, extracting about 8 tons of plutonium in the process.

Japan, as the only non-nuclear weapons state in the world that is carrying on with a commercial reprocessing project, says it upholds the principle of not keeping excessive plutonium stockpiles.

Matsumura suggested that plutonium generated through the planned operation of the Rokkasho plant will be consumed by existing reactors in the form of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, a project called "pluthermal" in Japan.

"The pluthermal plan is promoted by the state and electric power companies and we believe it will steadily show progress," he said.

All of the country's commercial reactors are currently offline. About 15 reactors are waiting for their safety to be confirmed by the NRA to move ahead with resumptions.