ANOMORI: Local governments in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and an operator of an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel signed a safety agreement in the city of Aomori Friday to start operations at the facility.

The interim storage facility in the Aomori city of Mutsu will store spent nuclear fuel until it is reprocessed. The facility is run by Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co., or RFS, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and Japan Atomic Power Co.

The facility will accept spent nuclear fuel from TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power, aiming to start operations by September. Before the official start, it will accept a metallic container, called a cask, containing 69 units of spent fuel, from TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.

The Aomori prefectural government, the Mutsu city government and RFS signed the safety agreement, which spells out the local governments’ rights and RFS’s obligations in order to secure the safety of local residents and preserve the environment.

The facility will store spent nuclear fuel for 50 years, with the agreement clearly stating that the fuel will be removed by the end of storage.

The safety agreement says expanding the facility would need advance approval from the prefecture and the city. It also sets out RFS’ reporting requirements and allows the local governments to conduct on-site inspections of the facility.

Signing such a nuclear facility safety agreement was the first since the 2011 reactor meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

At a press conference after the signing ceremony, Aomori Governor Soichiro Miyashita said that RFS should put safety first. RFS President Yasunari Takahashi said that safety is the number one priority.

The agreement was signed as operations at a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in the Aomori village of Rokkasho have been delayed, while the final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste has not been decided.

JIJI Press