The subcommittee is chaired by Prof. KUROSAKI Ken of the Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University (KURNS).
At the meeting, Director-General KUME Takashi of the Electricity and Gas Industry Department of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) said, “With power consumption rising globally as the digital and green transformations (DX and GX) accelerate, it is essential that we secure decarbonization power sources to achieve stability in the energy supply, economic growth, and decarbonization at the same time.”
As for domestic nuclear power plants, Kume expectantly said that “prospects for restarting the Onagawa- 2 and Shimane-2 NPPs have become more concrete.”
He also referred to the development of relationships with data centers overseas, citing the example of a project in the United States to restart the Three Mile Island-1 NPP and provide the electricity to Microsoft. “The value of nuclear power and the roles it can play are being appreciated once again worldwide,” he said.
Relating to the agenda of the subcommittee meeting, Kume then referred to several changes, released at the end of August, to the schedule drawn up by Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) to complete its Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) and MOX Fabrication Plant (J-MOX).
He also reiterated Japan’s national basic policy of establishing the nuclear fuel cycle, emphasizing that “its completion is an important matter that will have to be accomplished,” setting the stage for the discussions to follow.
Next at the meeting, a representative from ANRE explained trends in nuclear energy, related issues, and key matters. Regarding the completion of the nuclear fuel cycle and the safe, stable use of the RRP on a long-term basis, he noted several medium- and long-term issues beyond efforts toward early completion, including the advancement of maintenance technology, the procurement of replacement parts and components, the maintenance of supply chains and technologies, and reprocessing technology for spent MOX fuel.
He also mentioned the importance of public-private cooperative responses and cooperation with France, which leads Japan in terms of operational experience.
Regarding spent fuel interim storage, a cask was delivered on September 26 to the spent fuel interim storage facility in Mutsu―a recyclable fuel storage center―from Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPPs of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), for regulatory pre-service inspections.
Concerning that matter, the ANRE representative said that his organization was acting on the assumption that the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) would be the “destination” referred to by Aomori Governor MIYASHITA Soichiro at a meeting in July in his request that clarification be made of “the destination of spent fuel delivered after leaving the interim storage facility.”
Representing the power companies at the meeting were MIZUTA Hitoshi, who chairs the Nuclear Energy Promotion and Countermeasures Committee of Japan’s Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC), and JNFL Executive President MASUDA Naohiro.
Mizuta discussed changes to the completion targets for the RRP and J-MOX, saying that they “would not immediately affect NPP operations,” but stressed that FEPC would continue to support JNFL as part of concerted public and private efforts to strengthen its management and in technological aspects.
Meanwhile, JNFL’s Masuda explained why the examinations of the RRP and J-MOX were taking so long, saying, “The facilities are unique―very unlike power reactors―without any examination precedents. The RRP is a huge facility, equivalent to five or six NPPs. The company had been too concerned with designs that had been approved in the past, and has not sufficiently explained compatibility with regulations.”
Next, a reading was made of an opinion concerning the change in the RRP’s completion time submitted in writing by subcommittee member Governor SUGIMOTO Tatsuji of Fukui Prefecture, who could not make it to the meeting this time.
“It is a serious matter,” the governor wrote, “in that it creates concerns not only about the nuclear fuel cycle, but also about the safe operation of NPPs around the country—where the storage-pool situation is tight—as well as about the stability of electricity supply.”
Regarding the matter of the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), the governor urged “deepened nationwide discussions, including in major electricity consumption areas.”
Finally at the meeting, President MASUI Hideki of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF)—who was attending as a special member—noted the need to maintain supply chains for the reprocessing plant and the steady implementation of the plan to use mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel.
Looking back on discussions so far about the development of a business environment toward building new NPPs, Masui also asked the subcommittee to coordinate efforts with the Strategic Policy Committee, under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, which has been addressing the next Strategic Energy Plan.
