Plan to launch new model uranium enrichment machine axed

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Plan to launch new model uranium enrichment machine axed

TOKYO, June 22 (Kyodo) - The operator of a uranium enrichment plant 
in Aomori Prefecture and electric power firms have decided to call 
off a plan to develop a new model of a processing unit for the plant, 
company officials said Thursday. 

Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) has also suspended plans to complete 
construction of the plant, which supplies enriched uranium to 
reactors run by the electric power companies, officials said. 

As a result, the Rokkasho plant could be forced to halt operations 
after the current processing centrifuges' operating lives are over. 

The decisions are also likely to cause a significant delay to Japan's 
domestic uranium enrichment program, which aims at putting into 
operation processing units developed and constructed domestically. 
More than 300 billion yen have been budgeted for the program since 
the 1970s. 

A JNFL official said, ''Specific plans are up in the air at this 
time, and we will make an announcement by around fall.'' 

According to related sources, a new scheme is being considered to 
develop a more sophisticated version of the existing centrifuge 
rather than the initially planned new model. This, it is hoped, would 
allow the price of enriched uranium produced at the plant to be 
competitive internationally. 

The development of a more sophisticated centrifuge is expected to 
take six or seven years. 

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has accepted the new 
plan and is considering providing subsidies for it next fiscal year, 
which begins April 2001, the sources said. 

JNFL had until recently been jointly developing with electric power 
companies and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute a 
centrifuge with a capacity 2.6 times that of existing units. 

But numerous problems arose, such as some parts corroding, the 
machines being unable to perform consistently over long periods, and 
the costs running double those for similar machines developed abroad. 


The development of a more sophisticated centrifuge would involve 
inviting technicians from the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development 
Institute to create a unit with a capacity about 5.3 times the 
existing units so that the enriched uranium can be priced 
competitively, the sources said. 

The development will be conducted at the research-and-development 
facility at the nuclear fuel cycle base in the Rokkasho plant, they 
said. 

The completion of a stand-alone centrifuge is expected to take about 
three years, while the technology for mass production will take three 
to four years to establish, the sources said. 

Enrichment of uranium involves lifting the concentration of flammable 
uranium 235 in naturally existing uranium from 0.7% to between 3% and 
5% by centrifuging, making it suitable for use as nuclear fuel. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
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