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 Japan Brief |
| 【Japan Brief】Japan’s First “Pluthermal” Nuclear Generation Begins |
Japan Brief/FPCJ, No. 0968
November 13, 2009
Japan’s First “Pluthermal” Nuclear Generation Begins
The process of Japan’s first nuclear power generation using plutonium extracted from spent fuel and mixed with uranium to produce plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) was started on an experimental basis at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai Nuclear Power Station in Saga Prefecture on November 5. Commercial operation is scheduled to get under way on December 2. The pluthermal program (the word “pluthermal” comes from plutonium and thermal reactor) was planned to begin in Japan in the late 1990s, but several problems arose to delay it.
Commenting on the start of the pluthermal operation, Parliamentary Secretary for Economy, Trade and Industry Yosuke Kondo told the press on November 5 that “this is a significant step for the development of Japan’s nuclear power generation and the securing of a stable supply of energy sources” (Mainichi Shimbun, November 6). His remark echoed the Hatoyama administration’s policy of making nuclear power, which emits little carbon dioxide, a crucial element in its fight against global warming. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama himself said that “we will push the nuclear cycle program, including pluthermal generation” (The Nikkei, November 5).
At the Genkai power station, which has a 1.18 million KW capacity, for safety reasons the MOX to be mixed with conventional nuclear fuel will be limited to one- third of the total. Reprocessing of the spent fuel, which is needed for MOX, has been carried out in France.
Pluthermal generation can save uranium by 10-20% according to The Nikkei on November 5, but economy is not the only reason why Japan is keen about the pluthermal method. Under an international pledge not to possess surplus plutonium, it is mandatory for Japan to consume all plutonium generated by nuclear power generation.
Shikoku Electric Power’s Ikata nuclear power station in Ehime Prefecture and Chubu Electric Power’s Hamaoka nuclear power station in Shizuoka Prefecture are scheduled to follow suit and begin pluthermal generation in fiscal 2010. The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan initially planned to start the pluthermal program at 16-18 reactors across the nation by fiscal 2010, but in June of this year it moved the whole schedule back to fiscal 2015. Overseas, this type of nuclear power generation started as early as 1963 in Belgium. Countries such as France and the United States also have been undertaking it. By the end of 2008, 6,350 units of MOX fuel had been burned at 58 reactors throughout the world.
Japan’s energy policy counts on nuclear power significantly to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, especially imported oil. Nuclear power’s share of total electricity output, 30% at present, is expected to increase in the future. Its importance has grown even more critical now that the Hatoyama government has committed itself to deeper greenhouse gas emission cuts. In this context, the government’s ultimate goal is to establish a complete nuclear fuel cycle system through a fast-breeder reactor, which is a nuclear reactor that generates new fissile or fissionable material at a greater rate than it consumes such material.
However, the fast-breeder reactor program has been stalled since an accident in 1995 at its prototype, Monju, in Fukui Prefecture. Pluthermal generation is to play a transitional role until around 2050, when the fast-breeder reactor is expected to go into commercial operation.
Some problems, however, remain to be resolved. While pluthermal generation can save uranium, the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is costlier than direct disposal. Moreover, the construction of a domestic reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, has repeatedly—17 times in total— been delayed, with the cost ballooning to 2,200 billion yen, three times the initial plan, according to The Nikkei of November 5. Another problem is that the decision on a final disposal place to bury high-level radioactive waste is still up in the air. The government intends to take 20 years to decide the final location.
Despite all of these problems, however, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan appears to be holding fast to its nuclear power promotion policy. In 2006 the party upgraded nuclear power to the status of “principal energy” from the lesser position it had assigned to it as a “transitional energy.” In defending the nuclear cycle policy, including pluthermal generation, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Masayuki Naoshima declared, “The nation’s nuclear power policy will not undergo a major change even after the shift of government to the Democratic Party of Japan” (Asahi Shimbun, November 5).
Major Newspaper Commentaries: The Nikkei Is Most Positive
Among the major newspapers, the most positive about the pluthermal program was The Nikkei, which argued in its November 7 editorial that “for Japan, which imports the bulk of the energy resources it needs, a ‘nuclear fuel cycle policy’ that reuses spent fuel for nuclear power generation is something we cannot get around.” The newspaper recognized that the significance of the pluthermal program would only grow as “struggles for uranium resources are expected to intensify over the medium- and long-term, given the rush for construction of nuclear power plants in such emerging countries as India and China.”
The Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun more or less concurred. The Yomiuri said in its November 7 editorial that “[the pluthermal program] should be pushed forward steadily while confirming its safety.” It added, “It can also be said to be an essential policy from the point of view of national security, because not keeping any surplus plutonium will prevent nuclear proliferation.” The Sankei (November 7) brushed aside the negative view against pluthermal generation, saying, “In Belgium and Germany, which have been undertaking pluthermal generation since the 1960s, there have been no major cases of trouble.”
By contrast, the Mainichi was highly skeptical. It started its editorial of November 6 with the assertion that “When ‘merits’ and ‘problems’ are compared, the problems far outweigh the merits at this moment. The ‘nuclear fuel cycle’ on which the Japanese government has centered its nuclear power policy is burdened with a mountain of problems.” The Asahi also sounded cautious. While admitting in its November 6 editorial that “Using plutonium in the pluthermal program to decrease the stockpile is in line with the nation’s international pledge not to possess surplus plutonium,” the newspaper raised the question, “Should plutonium be extracted from spent fuel and reused? Or should the use of nuclear fuel be limited to one time only and the spent fuel be disposed of without extracting plutonium?” It called on the Hatoyama government to “seek a public consensus on this issue.”
(Copyright 2009 Foreign Press Center, Japan)
*Japan Brief is an original production of the Foreign Press Center, Japan, and does not represent the views of the Government of Japan or of any other body.
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