Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd is to resume almost immediately the construction of a plant to produce mixed oxide nuclear fuel, if it gets the go-ahead from government. The plant is located in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.
Japan's Atomic Energy Commission has been considering nuclear policy reforms, which has included discussions on whether to discontinue the reprocessing following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident. Construction at the Rollasho site has been suspended since the earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan and triggered the nuclear crisis.
JNFL plans to produce plutonium-uranium MOX fuel at the Rokkasho plant by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from power stations in Japan. ''Reprocessing without MOX production will be meaningless,'' commented JNFL president Yoshihiko Kawai, but added that his company will abide by the decision if the commission decides to continue the supension of reprocessing.
Kawai indicated that the completion of the MOX plant, originally planned for March 2016, could be delayed due to the suspension in the past year.
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