Japan restarts controversial nuclear reactor (Roundup)

May 6, 2010, 13:58 GMT

Tokyo - Japan restarted a controversial fast-breeder nuclear reactor Thursday for the first time since a major accident led to its forced shutdown more than 14 years ago.

Despite technical hiccups and protests by residents, Japan's only fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, resumed operation at 10:36 am (0136 GMT) after workers removed control rods from the reactor.

The 280-megawatt Monju reactor, operated by the state-run Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), is expected to reach criticality, or the point when a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining, on Saturday. It is gradually to raise its power output and begin full-fledged operations in the spring of 2013.

JAEA chief Toshio Okazaki told a news conference after the relaunch that his agency would place top priority on maintaining safety.

A few days ahead of the planned restart a sodium detector broke down. The government was quick to say that it was only a small glitch and nothing to worry about.

Issei Nishikawa, the governor of Fukui prefecture where the reactor is located, approved the reopening. The region, which hosts another dozen reactors, haggled hard with the central government for approval, and was promised a link to the bullet train network into the bargain.

Anti-nuclear activist Miwako Ogiso said she was appalled that the provincial government has not put the safety of the people before economic considerations.

The latest problems were 'alarm signs' that Monju is still not safe, said the activist, who has been fighting against the breeder in Japan's courts for years, without much success.

The government was using the media to influence the population, she said, in an effort to prevent serious debate about the nuclear industry, despite several occasions when the industry was caught covering up accidents.

In 1985, construction of Monju began and its reactor first achieved criticality in April 1994.

In 1995, its operation was suspended following a leak of 640 kilograms of its sodium coolant. Liquid sodium is highly reactive with water or air, causing fires.

The public was further infuriated as the operator attempted to cover up important data from the accident.

Fast breeder reactors are designed to make nuclear fuel by producing more fissile material than they consume. Their design is regarded as risky in regards to nuclear proliferation, as the component materials must be reprocessed to be used, a technology which can also be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Resource-poor Japan plans to add more than a dozen reactors by 2030 to the 55 reactors currently in operation, to reach its goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020.

The proportion of the country's energy generated from nuclear plants is to increase to 50 per cent from the current one third, and the utilization of the power plants is to increase from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of their generating capacity.

Monju is already decades behind its original schedule, and the government has so far poured some 900 billion yen (9.7 billion dollars) into the project.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency expects to spend another 23 billion yen a year on the fast-breeder programme in the coming years. The government wants to complete the development of a commercial fast-breeder reactor by around 2050.

Western nations have already abandoned their fast-breeder projects because of safety issues, high costs and concerns over the proliferation of plutonium.