All-out efforts must be made to use plutonium at nuclear power plants in a stable manner.
The Japan-U.S. nuclear power cooperation agreement reached the end of its initial 30-year period on Monday, and was automatically extended.
This has left Japan and the United States with a situation in which the agreement can be terminated in the future, if either government gives the other notice six months in advance.
The accord exceptionally permits Japan, a nation without nuclear weapons, to use plutonium, a material whose utilization could lead to nuclear development.
The agreement is important for Japan, a nation poor in energy resources, because it aids the stable supply of electricity for the country. The nation needs to stay on its toes in working to make peaceful use of plutonium.
The bilateral pact has long served as a basis for Japan's nuclear fuel cycle policy. The nuclear fuel cycle entails extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power stations, to re-use it as nuclear fuel. To that end, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. is building a reprocessing plant and a fuel factory in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture.
The problem is that little headway has been made in reactivating the nuclear power plants whose operations were suspended due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. This is because pertinent examinations at the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) have been prolonged. Only 14 nuclear power reactors have so far passed such tests.
Of these, just four reactors have been granted permission to use plutonium fuel. This is a far cry from the target set by electric power suppliers prior to the quake disaster, calling for the use of the fuel at 16 to 18 plants nationwide.
Cooperation among firms key
Japan possesses about 47 tons of plutonium both at home and overseas. If the reprocessing plant is operated to capacity, the amount of our country's plutonium will increase by 7 tons each year. One nuclear power reactor uses about 0.4 tons of plutonium per operation. It is easy to see that an excess of plutonium will ensue.
The reprocessing plant will be completed three years from now, at the earliest. If the current situation continues, it could arouse doubts among other nations as to Japan's intentions.
The Aomori prefectural government has long demanded that if the plant is not put into operation, the spent nuclear fuel that was brought into the Rokkasho facility must be taken out of the prefecture. It will be difficult to run nuclear power stations that have no storage place for the spent nuclear fuel that is returned.
The government compiled a new basic energy plan this month. There is every reason for the plan to state that a reduction will be made in the amount of plutonium. The Japan Atomic Energy Commission will soon put together a policy for the use of plutonium, too.
First, efforts should be made to accelerate the consumption of the plutonium stockpile. An effective method for achieving this is to ensure that the nuclear power plants that were reactivated before others use the plutonium planned for use at other facilities.
It is advisable for electric power companies to cooperate with each other in promoting the efficient consumption of plutonium. Needless to say, accelerating the resumption of operations at nuclear power facilities is indispensable.
In the use of plutonium at nuclear power plants, it has been no easy task to gain the consent of local governments whose areas host such facilities. If reactivated power plants use the plutonium assigned to other facilities, it is expected to draw objections from relevant areas. It is essential for the central government and power utility firms to offer careful explanations in this respect.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 17, 2018)
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