The industry ministry plans to amend legislation to allow for "direct
disposal" of spent nuclear fuel, a move away from the nation’s
problem-plagued goal of creating a full nuclear fuel cycle, sources
said.
Instead of recycling all spent fuel to promote the use of nuclear energy, some of it would be buried deep in the ground without reprocessing, the sources said.
No decision has been made on the location of a final disposal site, a problem that has proved a conundrum in many countries that operate nuclear power plants.
The ministry’s plan comes amid pressure on the government to phase out nuclear energy following last year's disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The government has indicated it would gradually reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy, which would lessen the need to recycle the spent fuel.
To help decide on a new energy policy as early as in September, the government has proposed three options regarding the ratio of nuclear energy in power generation in 2030: zero percent, 15 percent and 20-25 percent.
It says spent nuclear fuel would be directly disposed of under the zero-percent scenario, while both reuse and direct disposal would be considered for the 15-percent and the 20- to 25-percent options.
No matter which option is adopted, the government plans to review its current policy of reusing all spent fuel from the nation’s nuclear reactors.
But Japan's Designated Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Law currently presupposes the reuse of spent fuel and contains no provision on direct disposal.
Read more: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201208250071
Instead of recycling all spent fuel to promote the use of nuclear energy, some of it would be buried deep in the ground without reprocessing, the sources said.
No decision has been made on the location of a final disposal site, a problem that has proved a conundrum in many countries that operate nuclear power plants.
The ministry’s plan comes amid pressure on the government to phase out nuclear energy following last year's disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The government has indicated it would gradually reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy, which would lessen the need to recycle the spent fuel.
To help decide on a new energy policy as early as in September, the government has proposed three options regarding the ratio of nuclear energy in power generation in 2030: zero percent, 15 percent and 20-25 percent.
It says spent nuclear fuel would be directly disposed of under the zero-percent scenario, while both reuse and direct disposal would be considered for the 15-percent and the 20- to 25-percent options.
No matter which option is adopted, the government plans to review its current policy of reusing all spent fuel from the nation’s nuclear reactors.
But Japan's Designated Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Law currently presupposes the reuse of spent fuel and contains no provision on direct disposal.
Read more: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201208250071
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