The facility will store spent nuclear fuel for about 50 years before reprocessing.
– Edited By Chris Reed –
Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Friday gave the green light to the construction of a facility for storing spent nuclear fuel in Aomori Prefecture.
The agency sanctioned Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co., set up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co., to build the facility in the city of Mutsu to store spent nuclear fuel for about 50 years before reprocessing.
In May, the government approved the program to build Japan's first facility for storing spent nuclear fuel.
Recyclable-Fuel Storage plans to begin construction next Tuesday at a cost of about 100 billion yen and start using the facility with a storage capacity of 3,000 tons in July 2012. The firm aims to increase the capacity to 5,000 tons eventually.
Tests have shown that spent nuclear fuel to be generated in Japan will exceed the capacity of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.
Therefore, power utilities began considering construction of facilities for storing spent nuclear fuel before reprocessing. Chubu Electric Power Co. is now planning to construct such a facility at the site of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture.