Construction of Japanese reactor to resume

[wtmusic]

"The Japan Electric Power Development Corp (J-Power) will resume construction of the Ohma nuclear power plant in Aomori prefecture. It will be the first Japanese nuclear construction project to restart since all such projects were suspended following the Fukushima accident.

Work to build the 1383 MWe (gross) Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) in Aomori prefecture was 40% complete in March 2011 when a tsunami caused the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco's) Fukushima Daiichi plant. An extended hiatus followed, during which Japan developed a new energy strategy.

J-Power said today that 'the treatment of nuclear power plants under construction became clear' thanks to the revised energy policy announced by the Japanese government. Accordingly the company decided to resume construction of the Ohma plant, 'with the understanding of the local communities.'"

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Construction_of_Japanese_reactor_to_resume-0110124.html

[bananas]

1. Big mistake - this will "use all mixed oxide (MOX) uranium and plutonium nuclear fuel"

They should abandon this project, you'd think they learned nothing from Fukushima.
Instead they're going to throw good money after bad and create even bigger problems.

J-Power plans to use all mixed oxide (MOX) uranium and plutonium nuclear fuel in the reactor core of Ohma, which necessitates some design variation from the ABWR standard. Amendments for the different reactive and thermal properties of MOX fuel include a higher-capacity liquid control injection system; additional safety valves to release steam; control rods with enhanced neutron absorption; and automatic fuel inspection devices to reduce radiation exposure to workers.

Ohma would be the first Japanese reactor built to run solely on MOX fuel incorporating recycled plutonium. It will be able to consume a quarter of all domestically-produced MOX fuel and hence make a major contribution to Japan's "pluthermal" policy of recycling plutonium recovered from used fuel. This policy increases Japan's self-sufficiency in energy fuels from 4% to 18% by making maximum use of imported uranium.

The start of construction of the Ohma plant was originally due in August 2007, with commercial operation planned for March 2012. However, the imposition of more stringent seismic regulations put back the start of construction May 2008 and commercial operation to November 2014. J-Power said that it has not yet scheduled a new date for the start of operation "but intends to review the matter in the future based on progress in construction."

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Why?

It wasn't actually a problem in Fukushima. No moreso than the rest of the fuel.

[Mnemosyne]

2. Are they insane? nt