Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s nuclear fuel reprocessing plant under construction in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, in 2018 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The completion of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture will be delayed by two years, the 26th postponement since the project started three decades ago.
Senior officials with Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd., operator of the facility under construction, said the new completion date will be in the first half of fiscal 2024.
The officials visited the Aomori prefectural government and the village hall of Rokkasho, the site of the plant, on Dec. 26 to explain the situation.
An earlier completion timeframe was listed as in the first half of fiscal 2022. But the company in September postponed this deadline without giving a new date.
It said prolonged safety checks of the facility by the Nuclear Regulation Authority made it difficult to do so and pledged to announce the new deadline by the year-end.
According to Japan Nuclear Fuel’s latest estimate, the NRA’s screening of the detailed design of the plant will take about a year, while checks of the plant will take four to seven months after it clears the safety standards.
The company said it will work hard to move up the completion to an early date of the first half of fiscal 2024.
However, the NRA has repeatedly criticized the company over its failure to submit documents that would allow the regulator to examine the facility’s safety features.
Construction of the plant began in 1993.
It is expected to play a crucial role in Japan’s nuclear energy policy to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from reactors across the country to extract uranium and plutonium for reuse.
But completion of the plant has been repeatedly delayed due to a flurry of equipment malfunctions and extended safety screenings by the NRA.
The project’s price tag has now shot up to an estimated 14.4 trillion yen ($108.4 billion).
