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Japan’s plutonium nuclear reactor to start despite serious problems

From THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

GENKAI, Saga Prefecture–Despite lingering questions about safety, cost efficiency and waste disposal, the trial operation of the long-delayed “pluthermal” program–perhaps the future of Japan’s energy needs–started here Thursday……………..

In the pluthermal program, plutonium is extracted from spent nuclear fuel, mixed with uranium and reused to generate power.

The program is a pillar of Japan’s national policy of creating a “nuclear fuel cycle.”………

But MOX fuel costs more than conventional uranium fuel in terms of production and transportation. …….

Disposal methods of nuclear waste produced in the program are still not clear. And there is also the issue of safety in the operations.

Although the Genkai town and Saga prefectural governments approved the pluthermal project, local residents are opposed, citing concerns about the use of plutonium.

December 4, 2009 - Posted by | Japan | , , , , , , ,

1 Comment »

  1. Hello,
    Indeed the Japanese MOX program is more than foolish. The reprocessed plutonium[Pu] from the spent fuel from other Nuclear Power Plants [NPP] is of an inferior quality.
    It contains may non-fissile Pu isotopes and is very radioactive. The only fissile Pu isotope is Pu-239. Many of the other Pu-isotopes have a relative short half-live time, and desintegrate into other, very radio-active elements like Americium, curium and so on. So NPP’s with MOX as nuclear fuel contain much more radioactivity and produce more highly toxic nuclear waste. Normal nuclear fuel contaisn 4-5% enriched uranium and has a burn-up of about 50 GWd/ton fuel. These nuclear fuels stay about 4 years in the reactor. In this period many non-fissile Pu isotopes are formed. The Pu in spent nuclear fuel of more than 40 GWd/ton is not worth reprocessing at all. MOX fuel contains up to 7% Plutonium, is much more expensive and more dangerous. Moreover, reprocessing is very, very expensive. The Japanese reprocessing plantin Rokkasho-Mura did cost more than $10 billion and is not working well.
    Japan should start constructing wind turbines along its windy coasts, like the UK. They could replace the Japanese NPP by 2030-2035. The billions of dollars spent on reprocessing and the MOX program shpuld be better spent on renewable energy.

    joop boer's avatar Comment by joop boer | February 8, 2010 | Reply


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