08-07-2025
Tepco plans to move spent nuclear fuel from Fukushima to Mutsu facility
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) suggested Monday that it plans to transfer spent nuclear fuel from its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to an interim storage facility in the city of Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture.
The plan was included in a medium- to long-term program for the facility, presented to Aomori Gov. Soichiro Miyashita by Tepco President Tomoaki Kobayakawa at a meeting in the Aomori Prefectural Government office the same day.
Spent nuclear fuel stored at the plant's No. 5 and No. 6 reactors, a joint storage pool and the Fukushima No. 2 plant at the time of the March 2011 nuclear meltdown at the No. 1 plant is set to be transferred to the Mutsu facility.
"As a result of the inspections and technical assessments conducted after the accident, it is technically feasible to carry out the intermediate storage and reprocessing" of the spent nuclear fuel, Kobayakawa said at the meeting, seeking Miyashita's understanding.
The governor told reporters after the meeting that the plan should be "on the premise that safety is confirmed in a thorough screening by the Secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority."
Mutsu Mayor Tomoya Yamamoto said that he is opposed to accepting spent fuel that is not deemed safe.
Tepco also said it will conduct a technical consideration of whether nuclear fuel stored in the spent fuel pools of the Fukushima No. 1 plant's No. 1 to No. 4 reactors can also undergo intermediate storage and reprocessing.
The interim facility will store spent fuel from nuclear plants operated by Tepco and Japan Atomic Power for up to 50 years. It is the only facility in Japan outside of nuclear plant sites that uses a dry storage method in which spent fuel is stored in metal casks and chilled with natural air.
It began operations last November, and the Aomori prefectural and Mutsu city governments had been urging Tepco to present a program for the facility swiftly.
