Japan's first shipment of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel since the Fukushima nuclear crisis broke out on March, 11, 2011, arrived early Thursday at the Sea of Japan port of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture.
But the fuel, which took more than two months to get here from France and is intended to be used in reactor 3 of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama nuclear plant, is likely to sit in storage for a while.
The central government has yet to approve either the restart of reactors 3 and 4, which Kepco will seek after new safety standards go into effect next month, or the use of the MOX fuel in reactor 3.