Japan’s plutonium stockpile increased by 2.9 tons over one year to 47.1 tons at the end of 2013, and the country has no current operation in place to reduce what has become an international concern.
Japan’s plutonium stockpile increased by 2.9 tons over one year to 47.1 tons at the end of 2013, and the country has no current operation in place to reduce what has become an international concern.
The Cabinet Office submitted a report to the Japan Atomic Energy Commission about the amount of plutonium possessed by Japan both domestically and abroad.
Half of the increase came from reprocessing work of spent nuclear fuel commissioned in Britain.
With no reprocessing facilities operating in Japan, domestically-produced plutonium levels remained flat.
However, the domestic plutonium stockpile increased by 1.5 tons to 10.8 tons, including 0.9 tons of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel that was returned to Japan in June 2013. That fuel, which contains uranium and plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel produced in Japan, was manufactured in France after reprocessing.
The removal of unused MOX fuel in March 2013 from a reactor at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture added 640 kilograms to the domestic stockpile.
Unused nuclear fuel kept in nuclear reactors is not included in the plutonium statistics because it is considered “in use.” The removal of the fuel from the reactor led to its addition to the stockpile.
Japan had planned to burn MOX fuel at its nuclear power plants, but they are all currently shut down in light of tougher safety standards set after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The growing amount of plutonium has raised concerns in the United States that the stockpile could become the target of terrorist attacks or used to produce nuclear weapons.
Japan and eight other nations submit reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency about the amount of plutonium possessed domestically for civilian purposes.
Britain possessed the largest amount at the end of 2012, with 120 tons.