Storage facility for used N fuel is put into use; Tons of fuel that can be stored in Aomori for up to 50 years

The country’s first temporary facility to temporarily store spent fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, began official operations on Wednesday as the Nuclear Regulation Authority decided to issue a certificate confirming the completion of pre-operation inspections that morning.

By reducing the amount of spent fuel stored at places such as the Nos. 6 and 7 reactors of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, which Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. wants to reactivate, TEPCO and other electric utilities expect that to achieve stable operation of their nuclear power plants.

On September 26, the facility received its first shipment of 12 tons of fuel in a barrel from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. The plan is to receive a total of 96 tons of spent fuel in the 2026 budget year. In the future, the facility’s two buildings will store up to 5,000 tons of fuel for a period of up to 50 years.

During a regular meeting on Wednesday, the NRA received a report from its secretariat that security management measures at the Mutsu facility are being appropriately implemented. Five NRA members unanimously decided to issue a certificate certifying completion of pre-use inspections to the Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co. (RFS) – the operating company of the facility in which TEPCO and the Japan Atomic Power Co. each have an interest. RFS received the certificate on Wednesday afternoon and started work on the site.

The government is pursuing a fuel cycle policy in which spent fuel is reprocessed into uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, which is then reused in nuclear power plants. However, neither a reprocessing plant in Rokkasho village, Aomori Prefecture, nor a MOX fuel plant in the village have yet been completed, and all Japanese nuclear power plants currently have no choice but to store spent fuel on site.

According to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, spent fuel stored in nuclear power plants across the country reached nearly 80% of the storage capacity of about 20,000 tons. For the government, which wants to ensure the stable operation of nuclear power plants, securing a temporary storage facility is an urgent issue, and it is also essential for establishing a fuel cycle.