Tag Archives: Monju

Final fuel-removal exercise starts for problem-plagued Monju reactor via The Japan Times

[…] The JAEA will launch actual fuel removal operations this month if it finds the work can be conducted safely. It was initially planned to begin late last month but was postponed after problems plagued the equipment test. In the … Continue reading

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Monju reactor project failed to pay off after swallowing ¥1.13 trillion of taxpayers’ money: auditors via The Japan Times

[…] The trouble-plagued prototype, which only ran for 250 days, was designed to play a key role in Japan’s quest to set up a nuclear fuel recycling program, but the project only achieved 16 percent of the intended results, the … Continue reading

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Monju reactor set for decommissioning lacks sodium removal method via The Mainichi

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has revealed that the Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, which is set to be decommissioned, was designed without any consideration of ever having to remove liquid sodium from inside the … Continue reading

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Japan commission supports nuclear power despite Fukushima via Minneapolis Star Tribune

By Mari Yamaguchi TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear policy-setting Atomic Energy Commission called Thursday for nuclear power to remain a key component of the country’s energy supply despite broad public support for a less nuclear-reliant society. The commission recommended in a … Continue reading

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How does Japan justify keeping such a huge stock of plutonium? via The Hankyoreh

[…] According to a document that was made public by the Japanese Cabinet Office in July, Japan held 47.8 tons of plutonium as of the end of 2015. Since 8 kg of plutonium is needed to manufacture a single nuclear … Continue reading

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Future of Japan’s Monju plutonium breeder reactor under review via International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM)

Masafumi Takubo and Frank von Hippel On 29 August 2016, Mainichi Shimbun reported on an ongoing review by Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat of options for the future of Monju. According to Mainichi, the Secretariat estimates that it would cost ¥600 billion … Continue reading

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Monju and the nuclear fuel cycle via The Japan Times

Media reports that the government is finally weighing whether to pull the plug on the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, due to the massive cost needed to restart the long-dormant facility, should come as no surprise. Once touted … Continue reading

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Nuclear regulators keep ban on Monju reactor via NHK World

Japan’s nuclear regulator has dismissed a plea to lift its order banning the operation of an experimental reactor in Fukui Prefecture. The Nuclear Regulation Authority in 2013 ordered the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which operates the prototype Monju fast breeder … Continue reading

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Japan’s Monju reactor a costly hot potato no one wants to handle via The Japan Times

Japan is missing its own deadline to find a new operator for a prototype nuclear power program that has failed to succeed in the two decades since it was built, threatening the resource-poor country’s support of a technology other nations … Continue reading

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Japan’s Plutonium Problem via The New York Times

[…] For this, one can thank a powerful network of utility companies, conservative politicians and bureaucrats in Japan, who peddle the notion that plutonium constitutes a sort of thermodynamic elixir. A byproduct of burning uranium, plutonium itself can be processed … Continue reading

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