Interim Storage Facility in Japan to Accept N-Fuel from JAPC; 1st Time for Facility to Accept Spent N-Fuel from Firm Other Than TEPCO

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:37 JST, January 31, 2025

An interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, will begin accepting spent nuclear fuel from Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC) starting fiscal 2027, according to sources.

Currently, the facility, which began operating in November, stores spent nuclear fuel from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.

It will be the first time the facility will accept spent nuclear fuel from a company other than TEPCO. The facility’s operator, Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co., submitted a storage plan to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday.

According to officials, the JAPC will send two casks of spent nuclear fuel — one from the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture and one from the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture — to the facility in fiscal 2027.

The Mutsu facility accepted its first cask, which contained 12 tons of spent nuclear fuel, from TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in September, before the facility started operating. Seven more casks are scheduled to be delivered from the plant in fiscal 2025-26, and five more are expected in fiscal 2027. The facility is expected to store up to 5,000 tons in two buildings.

The facility is the first interim storage facility in Japan to store spent nuclear fuel outside of a nuclear power plant. It will store spent nuclear fuel for up to 50 years.

The facility will play a part in the government’s nuclear fuel cycle policy to reprocess and utilize spent nuclear fuel. However, the reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, and other related facilities are not expected to begin operating anytime soon.