Remote Town Offers Solution to Japan's Shortage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage

19 Aug, 2023

Remote Town Offers Solution to Japan's Shortage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage

On Friday, a small Japanese town announced its agreement to undergo a geological assessment to determine its suitability as an interim storage site for spent nuclear fuel. Kaminoseki, located in the southwestern Yamaguchi prefecture, has accepted an offer from Chugoku Electric Power Co. for a survey. This move comes in response to a pressing issue as both Chugoku Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co., the two major utility operators, are facing nearly full spent fuel storage pools.

While the Japanese government is advocating for increased utilization of nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source, the country's nuclear plants are grappling with a shortage of storage capacity. The origin of this issue can be linked to Japan's discontinued nuclear fuel recycling program, which was designed to reprocess plutonium from used fuel for repurposing. Despite encountering significant technical setbacks, the government has persisted in this program. The failure and subsequent decommissioning of the plutonium-burning Monju reactor, along with the decades-long delay in launching the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in northern Japan, are notable instances of these challenges.

Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in 2011, numerous reactors were temporarily shut down, leading to delayed restarts and a reduction in the stockpile of spent fuel. Nonetheless, under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's leadership, the administration chose to rescind the phaseout plan and give precedence to nuclear power as a form of clean energy. This decision rekindled concerns regarding the scarcity of storage space.

Earlier this month, Chugoku Electric proposed a joint effort with Kansai Electric to construct a storage facility. However, this plan was met with vehement protests from local residents, who confronted the mayor with their discontent. Chugoku Electric's persistent proposition to construct a nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki has encountered a decade-long delay owing to the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe. This delay has impacted subsidies for the aging and shrinking population of the remote town.

Kaminoseki's Mayor Tetsuo Nishi expressed a sense of urgency during a televised news conference, highlighting the town's need for action rather than waiting to mitigate economic decline. Kansai Electric, a major nuclear plant operator in Japan, is in dire need of additional spent fuel storage due to its cooling pools being over 80% full. The company has committed to identifying a potential interim storage site by the year's end.

Approximately 19,000 tons of spent fuel, a byproduct of nuclear power generation, are currently stored at power plants across Japan. This constitutes around 80% of the storage capacity, according to the economy and industry ministry. The delay in the spent fuel reprocessing program has not only exacerbated Japan's existing plutonium stockpile but has also raised international concerns. Additionally, Japan lacks a permanent repository for high-level nuclear waste.

The concept of an intermediate facility involves storing nuclear-spent fuel in dry casks for several decades until it can be moved for reprocessing or to a final repository. Experts assert that this method is considerably safer than leaving it in exposed cooling pools at the plants. Should this storage facility materialize, it would become Japan's second of its kind. The sole existing facility is situated in Mutsu, near Rokkasho, and is designated for Tokyo Electric Power Co. and a smaller utility.