Japan's MOX fuel plan faces rocky 1999 debut

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

Wednesday February 3, 5:15 am Eastern Time

Japan's MOX fuel plan faces rocky 1999 debut

TOKYO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A cornerstone of Japan's resource-poor 
nuclear programme -- the use of mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) in 
conventional reactors -- faces a difficult debut this year, government 
officials said on Wednesday.  

Kansai Electric Power Co Inc and Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc 
(TEPCO) are co-sponsoring the shipment of MOX fuel from Europe 
for use this year at two plants operated by them.  

However, several obstacles still need to be cleared and Kansai 
Electric, which was due to be the first of the two to use the fuel, 
said it would delay its planned spring introduction to a later date 
because of various unspecified difficulties.  

An official at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's (MITI) 
nuclear industry division said it hoped to see MOX fuel used as 
planned this year, but that several formalities still needed to be 
completed.  

``The ministry is working (as are the power utilities) towards the 
goal of seeing MOX fuel introduced in 1999,'' the MITI official said.  

``However, there is still no knowing when (MOX fuel) will actually be 
introduced,'' he said.

Japan relies heavily on imports for its energy needs and buys some 
80 percent of its energy resources from overseas.

Nuclear power, the source of about 30 percent of the electricity 
generated in Japan, and its recycled use is seen as crucial in 
meeting Japan's growing energy demand.   

Japan favours using MOX fuel, a blend of uranium and plutonium 
recycled from spent nuclear fuel, partly because it enables fresh 
nuclear fuel use at reactors to be cut by between 20 and 30 
percent.  

An official at Japan's Science and Technology Agency said that 
despite the difficulties, the introduction of MOX fuel remained an 
important part of Japan's nuclear policy.  

One of the hurdles faced by the programme is transporting the fuel 
from Europe to Japan.

The MOX fuel, which is mostly processed from spent nuclear fuel in 
Europe, will be transported to Japan on a British-flagged ship 
owned by a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, the MITI official 
said.  

A plan drafted by the Japanese government and presented to the 
United States calls for the fuel to be carried in two specially 
refurbished ships manned by security units.  

Under a bilateral nuclear pact, Japan must secure Washington's 
agreement on how nuclear material produced in the U.S. is 
guarded when it is transported.  

The original uranium used in the two Japanese power plants before 
it was recycled as spent nuclear fuel, were of U.S. origin.

Kansai Electric is due to use MOX fuel at a 870,000 kilowatt (kw) 
reactor at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of 
Japan coast.  

TEPCO plans to use MOX fuel at a 784,000 kw reactor at the 
Fukushima No 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture on the Pacific 
coast.  

TEPCO, the world's largest power company, said it plans to 
introduce MOX fuel use when it halts the plant for regular checks 
around October.   

Two more reactors are due to use MOX fuel from next year, with 
plans for 16 to 18 of Japan's 51 nationwide commercial  
reactors to use the fuel by 2010. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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