Embarking on Another Nuclear Fuel Recycle

Cabinet led by Shinzo Abe decided in the meeting by related Ministers on Wednesday to make a plan for the development of new type of fast breeder reactor by the end of this year. That actually meant dismantlement of old type of FBR in Fukui, named Monju, which repeatedly caused operational accidents and had been unworkable. It is assumed that new project is likely to be a joint research with France, which is called ASTRID.

Participants of the meeting included Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary and other Ministers in charge of economy or science and technology. “We are making fundamental review on Monju, including dismantlement, within this year,” told CCS Yoshihide Suga. To get approval from local Government of Fukui, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hirokazu Matsuno, had a meeting with Governor Kazumasa Nishikawa in the evening.

Cabinet meeting also decided to promote the project of nuclear fuel recycle and maintain research and development of FBR. The government is going to launch FBR Development Convention, composed by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan Atomic Energy Agency and private companies related to the project. Not only ASTRID, the convention will discuss use of experimental rector of JAEA, called Joyo, in Ibaraki.

The government injected ¥1 trillion of money into Monju project, while the reactor halted its operation with consecutive errors. Detailed review is indispensable before launching new project, because nuclear fuel recycle is questioned not only from the perspective of safety, but also from economic efficiency. Processed plutonium used for the recycle is more expensive than uranium used for ordinary nuclear power plant.

Joint R&D with France does not guarantee success. ASTRID is still in a stage of experiment. France experienced the same failure in the project of Super Phoenix, which caused leak of sodium liquid, leading its fate to dismantlement. It is supposed that ASTRID is going to start its operation in 2030s or further later. R&D cost can be accumulated in the process of experiment. Some officers in Japanese government worry about Japan being relied on as a financial sponsor.

The fundamental reason for Japanese government to promote nuclear fuel recycle is to reduce the stock of plutonium as much as 48 metric tons, which were produced from nuclear power plants. Japanese government is responsible for explaining how to deal with that plutonium that can be replaced to six thousands of atomic bombs. Cost for dismantlement of Monju is estimated to be several hundreds of million yen. Dream energy is too expensive to achieve.