{"id":4251,"date":"2018-12-07T12:08:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T03:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2018-12-07T12:08:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T03:08:00","slug":"cnic-statement-dont-reprocess-fugens-spent-nuclear-fuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4251","title":{"rendered":"CNIC Statement: Don\u2019t Reprocess Fugen\u2019s Spent Nuclear Fuel!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Don\u2019t Reprocess Fugen\u2019s Spent Nuclear Fuel!
Continue Storing it and Work toward Direct Disposal
\u2013Stop the Irresponsible Deferment Policy and Shift away from Reprocessing\u2013<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
CNIC Statement<\/div>\n
6 November 2018<\/div>\n
Decommissioning work has proceeded on the Fugen Advanced Thermal Reactor (ATR), which was halted on March 29, 2003, the needed approval having been gained for decommissioning on February 19, 2008 from the former Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 On February 26, 2018, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) consulted with Governor Issei Nishikawa of Fukui Prefecture and Mayor Takanobu of Tsuruga to clarify a change in plans for transporting the spent fuel being stored there outside the prefecture, deferring it by nine years from the original plan for completion by the end of fiscal 2017. In addition, they described specific plans for its transport in the first half of fiscal 2018. In response, JAEA filed an application for the proposed changes in March, gaining approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority on April 25.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 The October 27 edition of the Fukui Shimbun daily noted that JAEA had concluded a contract with Fugen and Orano NC (formerly Areva) of France to prepare for transporting the spent fuel. They are to begin transporting it in fiscal 2023 and complete the transportation of 466 spent fuel rods by the summer of 2026. In its budget request, Japan\u2019s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), estimated 6 billion yen will be needed for preparation expenses in fiscal 2019 for things such as production of transport containers.
\u00a0 Regarding Fugen\u2019s spent fuel, JAEA gained MEXT\u2019s assent on the grounds that it will have the entire amount reprocessed either in Japan or by reprocessing businesses in countries that have concluded agreements with Japan for cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear power, so it is expected that Orano will carry out the reprocessing. In this case, the 265 spent fuel rods from Fugen being stored at the Tokai reprocessing plant will probably also be reprocessed. Not only that, if they insist on reprocessing the entire amount, the spent fuel from nearby Monju will inevitably wind up being reprocessed in France too.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 In the future, concluding contracts for reprocessing will probably be inescapable. If it comes to that, plutonium, recovered uranium and high- and low-level radioactive wastes will wind up being returned to Japan. No plans have been presented for their use, management or disposal. This will force Japan\u2019s citizens to bear an enormous burden.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 As Monju\u2019s decommissioning shows, Japan\u2019s nuclear fuel cycle policy has failed. Yet those involved cling irresponsibly to the policy of reprocessing the entire amount when they ought not be resorting to makeshift measures yet again.<\/div>\n
\u00a0 Fugen\u2019s spent fuel should not be reprocessed, but storage facilities should be created within Japan and research should proceed on its direct disposal. The same holds for Monju\u2019s spent fuel.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t Reprocess Fugen\u2019s Spent Nuclear Fuel!Continue Storing it and Work toward Direct Disposal\u2013Stop the Irresponsible Deferment Policy and Shift away from Reprocessing\u2013 \u00a0 CNIC Statement 6 November 2018 Decommissioning work has proceeded on the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,30,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cnic-statements","category-nfc","category-rokkasho"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4259,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions\/4259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}