Japan Nuclear Fuel says reprocessing plant completion delayed due to screening process
TOKYO, Aug 23 (Reuters) -Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited said on Friday the completion of an under-construction nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, earlier set for the first half of fiscal year 2024, will be delayed due to a longer-than-expected screening process.
This marks the 27th delay for the plant in northern Japan's Rokkasho, which began construction in 1993 and was originally intended to be completed in 1997.
JNFL, co-owned by a number of companies including Tokyo Electric Power 9501.T and Kansai Electric Power 9503.T, estimates that responding to the review by the country's nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, will take about a year, a company spokesman said.
A new completion target for the plant will be set as early as Aug. 29 after reviewing the result of the NRA's meeting on Aug. 26, the spokesman added.
The company is adjusting its plans to complete the plant by the end of fiscal year 2026, Asahi newspaper reported on Friday.
The plant passed safety inspections by the NRA under new regulatory standards in 2020, but still needs to obtain design and construction permissions.
Once completed, the Rokkasho plant will be a key part of the country's nuclear fuel cycle, in which spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed into plutonium and then reused in reactors. The country does not currently have any operating reprocessing plants.
Completion has been delayed many times as Japan placed stricter safety regulation for the nuclear industry into effect after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power disaster.
Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Varun H K
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