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The Plutonium-Use Plan for Research and Development in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency for Japanese Fiscal Year 2010

Mar. 15 , 2010

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announces the plutonium-use plan for research and development for Japanese Fiscal Year (JFY) 2010 as follows:

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"The Plutonium-Use Plan for Research and Development in the JAEA for JFY 2010" is shown in Table-1.

Outline
At the end of JFY 2009, JAEA is holding ca. 3.1 ton of fissile plutonium (tPuf) for the future use.
In particular, being expected to restart by the end of JFY 2009, the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor "MONJU"used ca. 0.5 ton plutonium in the fuels loaded to the core as a preparation for the Core Confirmation Test of the System Start-up Test (SST). In JFY 2010, and plans to use ca. 0.2 tPuf as newly loaded fuels for the 40% rated-power System Function Test of the SST.
The spent fuel of ca.5 tons U is reprocessed in JFY 2010 at Tokai Reprocessing Plant (TRP) after measures for improvement of quakeproof safety to have executed since JFY 2008 are completed.
JAEA plans to reprocess ca. 0.01tPuf.
At the end of JFY 2010, JAEA will hold ca. 3.0 tPuf
JAEA plans to use the plutonium in �MONJU �and in the Experimental Fast Reactor �JOYO�.
�MONJU �is expected to use the plutonium approximately seven years after JFY2011 for the research and development in �Monju�.
And the another, �Joyo� is under repairing after the fuel handling malfunction occurred by the collision of the rotation plug with the material testing rig, MARICO in 2007. When the plutonium use in �JOYO�begins after the repair, �JOYO�is expected to use about 0.1 tPuf every year for approximately 2 years.
The annual amount and expected time to consume the plutonium, however, will depend on the actual progress of research and development, and therefore will be subject to change.


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