A nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, resumed operations Monday after having been closed since a fire and explosion in March 1997.
Workers at the plant of the state-run Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, about 120 km northeast of Tokyo, began reprocessing uranium solution taken from a fuel plant of JCO Co., also in the same village, officials of the institute said.
Next Monday, the plant will start reprocessing spent nuclear fuel from the advanced thermal reactor Fugen in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, and the reprocessing is expected to be completed by Dec. 19, the officials said.
The Tokai facility was at the center of Japan's nuclear reprocessing operations until the March 1997 accident, which exposed 37 workers to high levels of radiation.