A troubled nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture formally passed safety checks on Wednesday despite lingering questions about the future of the government's decades-old nuclear-fuel-cycle policy based on uranium recycling.
The plant in the village of Rokkasho has been under construction for nearly three decades. It has long been intended to play a key role in the country's nuclear policy by taking spent fuel from reactors and extracting uranium and plutonium for reuse.
The plant, operated by Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd., cleared the tougher safety standards introduced in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, including more robust measures against earthquakes and tsunami.