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Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant
The Rokkasho Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility (六ヶ所村核燃料再処理施設, Rokkasho Kakunenryō Saishori Shisetsu) is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho in northeast Aomori Prefecture, on the Pacific coast of the northernmost part of Japan's main island of Honshu.
Construction of the plant began in 1993, and was originally expected to be completed in 1997, but the completion date has been postponed 23 times by 2017.
It took inspiration of the French site at La Hague (then operated by the COGEMA and then Areva) and was built in partnership with Areva.
Construction and testing of the facility were complete in 2013 according to JNFL, and the site was intended to begin operating in October 2013; however this was delayed by new safety regulations. In December 2013 JNFL announced the plant would be ready for operation in October 2014. In 2015, the start of the reprocessing plant was postponed again, this time to as late as September 2018.
In December 2017, the completion date was put back a further three years, to 2021, to allow for further safety measures at the reprocessing plant and the MOX fuel fabrication plant to meet post-Fukushima safety standards. The delays have caused many parts of the plant to deteriorate, and the closure of the unsuccessful fast breeder reactor at Monju in 2016 reduces the need for the policy of nuclear fuel reprocessing. In August 2018 more corroded pipes were found.
In 2018 the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission updated plutonium guidelines to try to reduce plutonium stockpiles, stipulating that Rokkasho should only produce the amount of plutonium required for mixed oxide fuel for Japan's nuclear plants.
In 2020 the completion date was put back again to 2022 for further safety measures including the construction of another cooling tower. The MOX fuel manufacturing plant is expected to be operational in 2024. As of 2023, JNFL claims an operational date of April–October 2024
The Rokkasho plant is the successor to a smaller reprocessing plant that was located in Tōkai, Ibaraki in central Japan which shutdown in 2014 and was approved for decommissioning in 2018.
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Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant
The Rokkasho Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility (六ヶ所村核燃料再処理施設, Rokkasho Kakunenryō Saishori Shisetsu) is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho in northeast Aomori Prefecture, on the Pacific coast of the northernmost part of Japan's main island of Honshu.
Construction of the plant began in 1993, and was originally expected to be completed in 1997, but the completion date has been postponed 23 times by 2017.
It took inspiration of the French site at La Hague (then operated by the COGEMA and then Areva) and was built in partnership with Areva.
Construction and testing of the facility were complete in 2013 according to JNFL, and the site was intended to begin operating in October 2013; however this was delayed by new safety regulations. In December 2013 JNFL announced the plant would be ready for operation in October 2014. In 2015, the start of the reprocessing plant was postponed again, this time to as late as September 2018.
In December 2017, the completion date was put back a further three years, to 2021, to allow for further safety measures at the reprocessing plant and the MOX fuel fabrication plant to meet post-Fukushima safety standards. The delays have caused many parts of the plant to deteriorate, and the closure of the unsuccessful fast breeder reactor at Monju in 2016 reduces the need for the policy of nuclear fuel reprocessing. In August 2018 more corroded pipes were found.
In 2018 the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission updated plutonium guidelines to try to reduce plutonium stockpiles, stipulating that Rokkasho should only produce the amount of plutonium required for mixed oxide fuel for Japan's nuclear plants.
In 2020 the completion date was put back again to 2022 for further safety measures including the construction of another cooling tower. The MOX fuel manufacturing plant is expected to be operational in 2024. As of 2023, JNFL claims an operational date of April–October 2024
The Rokkasho plant is the successor to a smaller reprocessing plant that was located in Tōkai, Ibaraki in central Japan which shutdown in 2014 and was approved for decommissioning in 2018.