Up to 15 Japan reactors could use MOX fuel by 2030: trade group

摘要

At many as 15 reactors in Japan could be powered by mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2031, in an attempt to reduce the amount of separated plutonium owned by the country's 10 nuclear power operators, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in a statement Feb. 26. FEPC disclosed that the country’s 10 nuclear operators will own a total of 41.7 mt plutonium by March 31, 2021. Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, had 13.7 mt, followed by Kansai Electric Power Co., with 12.6 mt and Japan Atomic Power Co., with five mt. Electric Power Development Co., or EPDC, plans to finish building and start up the 1,383-MW Ohma advanced boiling water reactor by Dec. 2027, EPDC said in a statement Feb. 26. The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority is currently reviewing earthquakes and other geological factors at Ohma in Aomori prefecture, according to NRA records. This unit is designed to consume MOX fuel, including 1.7 mt of plutonium per year, EPDC said Feb. 26. Ohma, which was under construction at the time of the Fukushima I accident in 2011, is designed to operate on a full core of MOX fuel.