Japan's plan to reprocess and recycle spent nuclear fuel in a reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, will be a huge waste of electricity users' money and an environmental threat, according to a French atomic power expert.
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd., which runs the plant, had been planning to finish the trial run of its Rokkasho plant for commercial operation by the end of the year. But due to a glitch found in the plant, the schedule has been delayed until next spring at the earliest, since JNFL plans to conduct a trial run until February.
"Plutonium separation from nuclear waste complicates the nuclear-waste management problem greatly," Mycle Schneider, an independent consultant on energy and nuclear policy, said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.