Mutsu City Requests Submission of Revised Plan for 5,000-Ton Transport to Spent Fuel Interim Storage Facility

On August 7, Tomoya Yamamoto, Mayor of Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, met with representatives of Recycle Fuel Storage (RFS) and its co-investors Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO HD) and Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC), requesting the three parties to submit a revised mid-to-long-term spent nuclear fuel transport plan, with “inter-operator cooperation” taken into consideration. The plan may involve accepting spent nuclear fuel from other electric power companies.

The facility in question, located in Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture, is currently Japan's only interim spent fuel storage facility situated outside a nuclear power plant site. Under the existing siting agreement, the facility's acceptance scope is limited to spent nuclear fuel generated from nuclear power plants owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Japan Atomic Power Company.

In December last year, TEPCO HD and related parties explained to Mutsu City and the Aomori Prefectural Government that, based on mid-to-long-term projections, the total amount of spent nuclear fuel expected to be transported into the facility is approximately 4,500 tons, lower than the initially envisioned 5,000 tons. The companies subsequently proposed that, through inter-operator cooperation, spent nuclear fuel from other electric power companies not covered by the existing siting agreement could be accepted to make up the shortfall of approximately 500 tons.

In response, Mutsu City stated that if the total accepted volume fails to reach 5,000 tons, local tax and subsidy revenues may fall below expectations. In March this year, the Mutsu City Assembly adopted a petition from the Mutsu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, calling for concrete studies on inter-company cooperation. On the 7th, Tomoya Yamamoto expressed his hope that the companies concerned would, based on careful consideration of future arrangements, re-examine options including inter-operator cooperation and submit a revised transport plan.

A TEPCO HD official in charge of Aomori business stated after the meeting that the company, together with Japan Atomic Power Company, would communicate with other electric power companies, formulate a transport plan targeting the 5,000-ton acceptance goal, and report back to the local governments.

However, the Aomori Prefectural Government remains cautious. A prefectural government official stated that substantive discussions are difficult until Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited's spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho Village presents a feasible completion plan. The reprocessing plant is positioned as an important facility for future acceptance and processing of spent nuclear fuel, but its completion timeline remains uncertain.

As a result, Aomori Prefectural Governor Soichiro Miyashita has not yet approved new spent nuclear fuel transport plans for the current fiscal year. TEPCO HD has previously cancelled the transport of spent nuclear fuel from Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant to the Mutsu City interim storage facility, originally scheduled between July and September, involving 138 fuel assemblies and approximately 24 tons. To date, the facility has received a cumulative total of approximately 36 tons of spent nuclear fuel, with acceptance work at a standstill since March this year.