The leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party policy committee said Wednesday that it was time to make a “concrete decision” concerning the country's Monju sodium-cooled fast-breeder reactor that has been plagued with problems, including an accident in 1995 that limited its time in operation.
The reactor was touted as a plutonium-burning unit that could generate electricity while producing plutonium. But the unit on the western coast in the southern portion of the island has cost $9.8 billion for construction and maintenance, while operating for less than a year since 1995, when it was connected to the grid.
Japanese news agency Asahi Shimbun reported that Japan's Science Minister Hirokazu Matsuno, Trade Minister Horoshige Seko and a growing number Liberal Democrats have reached the conclusion that it is time to decommission the reactor, which would cost billions of dollars to re-start, given the more expensive post-Fukushima Daiichi safety standards.
“It's time to make a concrete decision, including decommissioning,” said Liberal Democratic Party policy leader Toshimitsu Motegi.
In 22 years, Monju has only run for 250 days, yet it costs millions of dollars each year to maintain, according to media reports. The major malfunctions at the plant included a secondary system sodium leak and fire on December 8, 1995, months after it reached first criticality in April 1994. While the accident was significant, it did not include any breach of toxic radiation. However, a cover up of the incident caused a sharp public reaction and calls for the reactor to be shut down.
The plant reached first criticality a second time in May 2010. However, an accident in August 2010 involving a dropped 3.3 metric ton in-vessel transfer machine caused another shut down. The component fell into the reactor vessel and it took close to a year to successfully retrieve it.