AS 201 Japan/Environment

Storing Nuclear Waste: Rokkasho

Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited has announced a further three-year delay in the schedule for completing the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and J-MOX mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant. The delay is due to additional regulatory requirements.

The JNFL said the reprocessing plant is now scheduled for completion in the first-half of fiscal year 2021 (ending March 2022) instead of in the first-half of FY2018. Completion of the MOX plant has been put back from the first-half of FY2019 to the first-half of FY2022.

The company said that, during the additional three years, safety measures at both the reprocessing plant and the J-MOX fuel fabrication plant would be enhanced.At the reprocessing plant, additional equipment and systems will be installed for the recovery of radioactivity in the event of a severe accident. An evaluation will also be carried out of the impact on control devices and equipment in the event of a leak of high-pressure and high-temperature steam, and the development and installation of relevant countermeasures, if deemed necessary. A new emergency control room will also be constructed at the reprocessing plant. Additional safety-related countermeasures will also be put in place, such as internal flood protection, strengthening of the seismic resistance of pipework, improving cooling water tower resistance against tornadoes and improving measures against internal fires.

Construction of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant began in 1993 and was originally expected to be completed by 1997. However, its construction and commissioning have faced several delays. Problems in the locally-designed vitrification plant - where dried out and powdered high-level radioactive waste is mixed with molten glass for permanent storage - have contributed to these delays. JNFL designed the vitrification unit to go with the reprocessing section supplied by Areva. The Rokkasho reprocessing facility is based on the same technology as Areva's La Hague plant in France.

Construction of the J-MOX plant at Rokkasho began in late 2010. Construction of the 130 tonne per year plant had been delayed by three years from the planned 2007 start by revision of seismic criteria following on from the powerful Niigata-Chuetsu-Oki earthquake.

The NRA has allowed Japan's fuel cycle facilities to continue operating, but they have until the end of 2018 to undergo inspections to ensure they meet the revised safety standards.

In November 2015, JNFL announced that completion of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and J-MOX plant had been postponed by around two years as work continued to comply with new the safety requirements.

AS 201 Japan/Environment

Storing Nuclear Waste: Rokkasho

Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited has announced a further three-year delay in the schedule for completing the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and J-MOX mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant. The delay is due to additional regulatory requirements.

The JNFL said the reprocessing plant is now scheduled for completion in the first-half of fiscal year 2021 (ending March 2022) instead of in the first-half of FY2018. Completion of the MOX plant has been put back from the first-half of FY2019 to the first-half of FY2022.

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