Testing Resumes on Japan's Fast-Breeder Reactor
- 14 years ago
Japan's fast-breeder nuclear reactor began testing on Wednesday, 14 years after it was closed due to a fire blamed on leaking coolant.
The reactor is a prototype fast-breeder type and is the nation's first such reactor to generate electricity.
Located on the Sea of Japan coast, 250 miles west of Tokyo, the 280-megawatt reactor is designed to burn plutonium refined from the spent fuel of conventional reactors, and at the same time create more fuel.
Construction began in 1985, but it has been shut since an accident in December 1995 in which 1,400 pounds of liquid sodium leaked from a cooling system, causing a fire.
Japan has minimal natural energy resources, and fast-breeder reactors, even at double the cost of a conventional reactor, are seen as a big step towards energy self-sufficiency.
Nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars have been spent and the operator, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency says it expects to spend around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars per year on the reactor in the coming years.
The reactor is a prototype fast-breeder type and is the nation's first such reactor to generate electricity.
Located on the Sea of Japan coast, 250 miles west of Tokyo, the 280-megawatt reactor is designed to burn plutonium refined from the spent fuel of conventional reactors, and at the same time create more fuel.
Construction began in 1985, but it has been shut since an accident in December 1995 in which 1,400 pounds of liquid sodium leaked from a cooling system, causing a fire.
Japan has minimal natural energy resources, and fast-breeder reactors, even at double the cost of a conventional reactor, are seen as a big step towards energy self-sufficiency.
Nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars have been spent and the operator, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency says it expects to spend around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars per year on the reactor in the coming years.