Japan Uses Controverisal Nuke Fuel

Critics of Weapons-Grade "MOX" Fuel Say It's Too Volatile and Generates High Amounts of Radioactive Waste

(AP)  Japan used weapons-grade plutonium to fuel a nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time as part of efforts to boost its atomic energy program.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. said workers fired up the No. 3 reactor at its Genkai plant in the southern prefecture of Saga using MOX fuel - a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium oxide.

The reactor is scheduled to start generating electricity Monday for a monthlong test run, and then begin full-fledged operations after a final government inspection and approval in early December, company official Futoshi Kai said.

The Genkai plant marks the beginning of Japan's use of MOX fuel for so-called "pluthermal" power generation, approved by the Cabinet more than a decade ago.

MOX fuel is a central element of Japan's plans to reduce its dependence on energy imports. Supporters say nuclear power is a viable clean energy that will support global efforts against climate change because it is essentially carbon-free.

Critics say MOX is too volatile and produces highly radioactive waste. Dozens of protesters rallied outside the government office in Saga on Thursday, raising safety concerns about the use of plutonium-based fuel.

Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa said he reminded Kyushu Electric to give safety top priority, and promised local residents that officials would closely monitor plant operations.

Japan, which now relies on nuclear plants for a third of its electricity needs, aims to raise that to nearly 40 percent in 2010. The government has said it hopes to convert as many as 18 nuclear reactors that now use more common uranium to those that use MOX.

The Japanese public, however, has grown increasingly wary of the nuclear power industry following a spate of safety problems, shutdowns and cover-ups.

[burt23]

I am afraid they never use weapons grade plutonium in reactors. The fact that it is mox fuel says it not weapons grade.

Weapons grade is 90% u235 and 10 u238. Commercial reactor fuels uses 3-4% enriched fuel. commercial grade plutonium is what they were using on the order of 4-5% enriched to 95% other stuff. They down blend it with u238 which is good because you can not then use it is a weapon.

I wish when they write these articles they would do just a google search or two and not look so stupid.

[GRLCowan]

"I am afraid they never use weapons grade plutonium in reactors" -- it would be truer, and more to the point, to say they never use reactor-grade plutonium in weapons, where its usability, even in theory, is doubtful. But bomb plutonium serves just fine in reactors, and is promptly degraded -- made no longer weapon-grade -- by them.

If CBS has any connection with a maker of wind turbines and of gas-fired power plants that the wind turbines serve to greenwash, it is likely that their error was actually a lie.

[missme4]

"OX is too volatile and produces highly radioactive waste"


They can ship the waste to america and store it in illinois with the rest of the world's trash.

[friend2allq]

There are technical issues relating to the use of MOX fuel in reactors that were not originally designed to use this fuel. Reactors should be reviewed before running MOX just to make sure that the reactor will respond safely (with a negative reactivity coefficient) while running on MOX fuel.

It may not be widely appreciated how much weapons grade Uranium the United States has purchased from Russia and used to power its commercial nuclear reactors. Nuclear warheads that were once on guided missile ICBMs aimed at American cities are now providing 50% of the nuclear energy produced in the United States--one tenth of America's overall electric power production. By 2013 the Megatons to Megawatts program between the United States and Russia is expected to "burn" 500 metric tons of Highly Enriched Uranium that could have been used to make additional nuclear weapons but which were actually used to provide valuable commercial electrical power in the United States.

[lmartink]

And maybe the Japanese can get rid of their nuclear waste by making it into harpoons, and shooting those into whales and dolphins.

[rwsmith29456]

Better used in reactors than bombs.

[ToolMangler1]

Some people forget that this fuel already exists. It won't go away until you extract every last bit of energy it has. Using it as fuel for Reactors and Space Ships (for exploration) is the only way to do that "without making the planet 'glow' in the daytime."

[missme4]

Use in space ships? Huh? Do you have any clue how much extra weight you would have to carry in order to protect the astronauts from the radiation?

[ToolMangler1]

Did you ever see the movie "2001" A Space Odyssey?
That was a Nuclear fueled ship. Yes' It was SciFi. but the tecnology existed then and now. That ship never had to lift from earths surface.
Quit thinging 'Rockets' and start thinking 'Ion Thrusters" and Space Craft..

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/04/nasa-trumps-star-trek-ion-drive-live.html

[ToolMangler1]

Greenies and other 'Over the top' groups have such a narrow field of view that they can't see the trees for the forest, (I said it that way on purposse)

Maybe I can help them, "Living is then single greatest cause of 'death'.

(non-thinkers beware, this one will expose you)

[Cyber998]

Your comment makes no sense. It's not "Greenies" protesting, such a definition is so vague, that no such group exists. The people protesting are worried about safety - both environmental and directly towards humans.

Many of your "Greenies" support the use of nuclear power as a source of carbon-free (or at least far less carbon intensive) power generation.

[missme4]

"(non-thinkers beware, this one will expose you)"

Yes, I think it did expose you. Don't look now, but your brain is hanging out. I said it that way on purpose). *Rolls eyes*

[mjlewis6]

I understand the concern since plutonium half life is rather long and the amount of energy which is produced. There is a surplus of plutonium at present.

The SWITCH to this fuel is due to the ABUNDANCE of plutonium available from the destruction of WMD's in both Russia and the United States. Plutonium is not an element that will just go away when no longer configured in a weapon. Hence, its packaging for commercial use seems to both eliminate its threat of use as a weapon and benefit people at large. It seems more logical than attempting to launch a one-way vehicle at the sun with all of the surplus plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons.

[ToolMangler1]

" It seems more logical than attempting to launch a one-way vehicle at the sun with all of the surplus plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons."


I agree with your assessment, but the Sun is still a viable alternative...