information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
5 Juillet 2012
July 4, 2012
Tests to reprocess radioactive waste begin
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120704_26.html
A nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Japan has restarted tests to prepare radioactive waste.
On Wednesday, test operations mixing radioactive wastewater with glass to make nuclear waste resumed at a plant in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture.
The plant is a reprocessing facility that takes spent nuclear fuel and extracts plutonium for use in the nuclear process again.
A test run by the plant was suspended 3 and half years ago after repeated failures.
The trial run had had technical difficulty mixing radioactive wastewater and glass as planned, and this forced it to be postponed.
The plant operator, Japan Nuclear Fuel, resumed the test run last month.
The reprocessing plant plays a key role in promoting the government's nuclear policy of recycling spent nuclear fuel. But due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster the government is reviewing the nuclear fuel-cycle policy.
The review is expected to reach a conclusion this summer.
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