Japan plans more plant restarts (but still has nowhere to store nuclear waste)

Two interesting stories out today relating to Japan's proposed restarts of some of its nuclear reactor fleet despite the complete absence of anywhere to store high-level radioactive waste.

An article in the Japan Times notes that the government will begin to draw up a list of possible sites next year and once an agreement has been reached with the relevant authority targeted to house the facility surveys will be undertaken OVER A PERIOD OF 20 YEARS to determine its suitability.

In the meantime a Nuclear Waste Management Organisation of Japan official is quoted as saying that at present, "there are about 18,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel stored in about 40,000 canisters at Japan’s nuclear power plants." These will have nowhere to go for at least 25-30 years, deepening of course on how long it takes for the 10 sq. km underground storage facilities to be built.

And that's if the targeted municipalities agree to having such facilities built in their back yards.

Another story in the Mainichi outlines a proposal by the mayor of Takahama in Fukui, which hosts the reactors that were restarted earlier this month, to store spent fuel inside dry casks within the grounds of the nuclear facility itself.

The result, say some experts, is that spent fuel will continue to pile up inside the facility, potentially turning it into a massive security risk.

Japan's nuclear waste problem has been hampered by the massive failure of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Aomori. Since construction began on the reprocessing plant in 1997, the projected operating date has been put back 18 times. The latest delay has delayed that opening date once more, this time to 2018. Over the years an estimated US$20 billion has been invested in the massive site -- three times more than the original estimate.

One nuclear scientist I interviewed for Yoshida's Dilemma said he doubted Rokkasho would ever commence operations, yet the facility is maintained largely because it has brought in close to US$26 billion in various nuclear-related grants and subsidies to the local government coffers. Meanwhile, just under half of Rokkasho village's 11,000 residents are employed doing jobs that are related to the reprocessing facility. Another reason is that the national government continues to believe that recycling nuclear fuel holds an important key to Japan's energy future.

Even should the facility become fully operational, Japan will still need to find ways to safely store high-level radioactive waste, a problem that plagues several other countries with nuclear power facilities. Japan's nuclear power industry is over 50 years old, and we are looking at another 20 years, at least, before this problem can even begin to be addressed.