"MOX fuel," which is a dedicated transport ship that reuses plutonium, which is a spent nuclear fuel, arrived at the Takahama Nuclear Power Station of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. in Takahama Town, Fukui Prefecture from France, and the fuel delivery work began.
This MOX fuel was manufactured for use at the Takahama nuclear power plant, and it is the first time in about four years that it has been brought into Japan.
The ship loaded with "MOX fuel" was a dedicated transport ship armed for counterterrorism, and arrived at the quay of the Takahama nuclear power plant around 8 am on the 17th while being guarded by the Japan Coast Guard and police.
Then, the work of bringing in fuel began.
Plu-thermal power generation, which uses MOX fuel to generate electricity, is positioned as a pillar of the national nuclear fuel cycle policy, but MOX fuel, which reuses plutonium, has no domestic production system and is outsourced to overseas. increase.
At the Takahama nuclear power plant, 20 units of MOX fuel are currently used in Unit 3 and 16 units of MOX fuel are used in Unit 4, and up to 40 units of each are approved by the national government.
The transported MOX fuel was manufactured for use at Takahama Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4, and it is the first time in about four years since September 2017 that it has been brought into Japan.
Citizens' groups against transportation appeal for immediate suspension
On the opposite bank of the Takahama nuclear power plant, members of a civil society group opposed to the transportation of "MOX fuel" gathered and appealed for immediate suspension.
About 20 people gathered on the opposite bank about 2 km away from the Takahama nuclear power plant on the morning of the 17th, including members of Fukui prefecture, which opposes the transportation of "MOX fuel", and members of civil society groups made up of residents such as Kyoto prefecture.
When the transport ship appeared at around 7:30 am, the members were raising a banner with a banner saying "Do not allow MOX fuel to be brought in".
Mr. Isobayashi Kihara of Kyoto City, who was the representative of this protest, said, "MOX fuel is dangerous because its calorific value is harder to decrease than normal fuel and it must be stored for a long time in the fuel pool. I want you to stop and decommission the nuclear power plant. "