Delay of two years for Oma nuclear power plant

• 5 years ago (2018-09-05)
• David Flin

Asia 846 Nuclear 639

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Construction of Oma nuclear power plant in northern Japan, designed to use recycled fuel, has been delayed by two years, and will not start operation until at least 2026. This is a major setback to Japan’s commitment to reducing its stockpile of plutonium.

This is the third construction delay to the plant.

Electric Power Development, also known as J-Power, cited a time-consuming screening process based on safety standards revised after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. J-Power hopes to resume work late this year. Plant construction began in 2008, but was paused after the Fukushima meltdown. The work is less than 40 per cent complete.

Toshifumi Watanabe, President of J-Power, had said in January that the company would do everything possible to keep the start of operation around fiscal 2024, as planned.

Oma is being built by Hitachi. The plant will use mixed oxide fuel. One reactor at Oma will consume 1.1 tons of plutonium annually, compared with 0.4 tons at a conventional reactor. Japan possesses about 47 tons of plutonium.