Japan's Rokkasho Nuclear Reprocessing Plant Completion Delayed Until October 2010

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Japan's nuclear reprocessing plant at Rokkasho has suffered further delays and is now scheduled for completion by October 2010. The delays have been caused by problems with the vitrification line at the facility, which now needs to be cleaned and re-inspected. Japan Nuclear Fuels Limited (JNFL) (Rokkasho), the operator of the plant, has applied to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for permission to change the project's plan.

The delay is one of several that have plagued the controversial site. The work plan for the facility has been amended 14 times since the legislation for the facility was passed, with problems with the vitrification process causing several recent delays.

In the vitrification line, powdered and dried radioactive waste is mixed with molten glass and then permanently stored in special flasks. JNFL intends to begin cleaning the interior of the vitrification unit this month, paying special attention to areas where liquid waste adhered to during earlier tests. After completion of the cleaning process, the insulation resistance of the unit will be restored and tested for effectiveness by December.

At the same time that the cleaning work is carried out, JNFL will inspect more than 200 pieces of equipment that may have been contaminated by the nitric acid contained in the waste used in the latest trial run, and replace parts as may be required. In addition, the furnace used to produce the molten glass in the vitrification process also will be inspected as some ceiling bricks had fallen to the bottom. Any glass residue will be removed, and the furnace will be re-inspected and prepared to restart the test run by July 2010.

In March 2008, JNFL filed a change to the scheduled work plan because of problems with the glass-melting furnace. In November 2008, the government required JNFL to submit a further report following a resumed test to produce vitrified waste, which showed an increase of metal chaff accumulation on the base of the furnace. The delays caused a reduction in the amount of fuel planned to be processed in the first few years of operation. About 160 tons of fuel were scheduled to be processed in the 12 months ending March 2010, but this plan has been shelved. While 320 tons of fuel were to be processed over the subsequent 12 months, now only 80 tons of fuel would be processed during the period.

When fully operational, the Rokkasho plant will be able to process up to 800 tons of used nuclear fuel, equivalent to used fuel produced by 40 nuclear reactors of 1,000 MW each. According to JNFL, this represents 80% of used fuel produced by all of Japan's nuclear power stations. However, there is the far greater problem of the 11,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel that is currently stored onsite at Japanese power stations.

A number of organizations have voiced opposition to the Rokkasho plant, including Greenpeace and the Stop Rokkasho project, claiming that the plant is directly above an active geological fault and could cause an earthquake, releasing highly toxic plutonium (present in the spent nuclear fuel at about 0.9%) from the plant. There also are concerns that the plant could increase the danger to Japan from terrorist attacks.

The original 1989 estimates for the construction of the Rokkasho complex, which includes the high-level nuclear waste facility, a uranium enrichment plant and a low-level radioactive waste landfill, were about $6.9 billion. However, costs have since escalated considerably, and total investment in the facility is now estimated to be more than $20 billion.

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