Tokyo

Bucking the international trend towards ending programmes to build nuclear power plants that breed their own fuel, Japan is drawing up plans to reopen its prototype fast-breeder reactor.

The Monju reactor at Fukui, 500 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, has been closed since an accident in 1995, when sodium coolant leaked from a cracked pipe and burst into flames. There were no injuries, but local residents were angered by an attempt to cover up the incident.

Fast-breeder reactors can potentially use uranium fuel many times more efficiently than conventional reactors. But they are expensive to build, and only cover their costs if uranium is expensive, which it has not been. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have all halted their fast-breeder programmes in recent years.

The Monju reactor's reopening is part of a long-term plan released by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission last month. Japanese officials argue that, because of its lack of fossil fuels and other natural resources, the country has no choice but to develop nuclear energy.

The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC), which operates Monju, must gain approval from the local governor before it can prepare for the reopening. Officials say operations will resume in 2003 at the earliest and run for 20 years.

Their goal is to show that fast-breeder reactors can operate continuously and reliably, and to establish safe and effective techniques for handling sodium. The JNC says it plans to turn Monju into “an international centre for cooperation, open to researchers from Japan and abroad”.

But not everyone is convinced that the JNC is adequately concerned about safety at the reactor. Critics complain about the absence of a properly independent safety commission, akin to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The central government is also negotiating the possibility of passing a bullet train through Fukui, where Monju is located, arousing suspicions that the government is trying to buy off local criticism.

→ http://sta-atm.jst.go.jp/jicst/NC/tyoki/siryo/tyoki_e1208/siryoe.htm