Japan's Nuke Power in Danger If Fuel-Recycling Plan Fails

Sep 21 - Jiji Press English News Service

Tokyo, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)--More than half of Japan's nuclear power reactors will have to be shut down by 2010 if a reprocessing plant in northern Japan immediately stops accepting spent nuclear fuel for storage, according to a recent estimate by a government commission.

Of Japan's 52 nuclear power reactors, 30 will be halted by that year because their plants will run out of storage space to keep spent fuel, said the estimate by the Atomic Energy Commission, which was made available to Jiji Press on Tuesday.

Spent nuclear fuel is currently shipped to Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture, to be stored at a facility until the process of extracting plutonium starts under the so-called plu-thermal project. Plutonium taken from spent nuclear fuel will be mixed with uranium to make mixed oxide fuel, or MOX, which will be used again for power generation.

But if the project to reprocess spent fuel runs aground due to heavy costs, the village of Rokkasho may refuse to store spent fuel, forcing power utilities to store such fuel on their own.

According to the commission's estimate, industry giant Tokyo Electric Power Co. , which supplies electricity to Tokyo and surrounding areas, will have to stop four nuclear reactors at its Fukushima No. 2 plant by the end of 2004, and seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant by 2009.

Kansai Electric Power Co. , which serves Osaka and surrounding areas, will be compelled to halt four reactors at the Takahama plant by the end of this year, and three at the Mihama plant by 2010.

Elsewhere, Chubu Electric Power Co.'s four reactors at the Hamaoka plant will be suspended by 2006, Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s two reactors at the Tomari plant will be halted by 2008, and Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s four reactors at the Genkai plant and two at the Sendai plant will come to a halt by 2009, the commission estimated.

All but one reactor at Hokuriku Electric Power Co.'s Shiga plant will have to be suspended if the issue remains unattended by 2015, the commission warned.END