Japan

Japan has 55 operational reactors and two new ones under construction. They contribute around 30 percent to total electricity generation. 35 reactors were provisionally shut down in 2011.

The waste is stored at different locations. An interim storage facility for low- and intermediate-level waste and high-level waste has been in operation at Rokkasho-mura since 1992; spent fuel has also been stored there since 1999. Spent fuel is also stored at the reactor sites. In Mutsu, a large-capacity storage facility for spent fuel is currently being constructed. Various research organisations also operate their own storage facilities for low- and intermediate-level waste. High-level waste is also stored at the research centre of JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) in Tokai.

A surface repository for low- and intermediate-level waste has been operating at Rokkasho-mura since 1992. Planning of an underground (around 100 metres deep) repository for decommissioning waste is currently underway. In 2008, the Government assigned JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) the task of planning and implementing a surface repository for waste from medicine and research.

NUMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan) is planning a geological repository for high-level waste. Site selection should be made by 2025.

Rock laboratories in granite were operated in the former iron and copper mine at Kamaishi and the uranium mine at Tono from 1988 to 1998 and from 1986 to 2003 respectively. New rock laboratories are now under construction at Horonobe (sediments) and Mizunami (crystalline).

Since April 2008, NUMO has also been responsible for disposal of TRU waste from reprocessing and MOX fuel fabrication.

Further information:
 

www.jaea.go.jp/english/index.shtml (Japan Atomic Energy Agency)
www.jnfl.co.jp/english/index.html (Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.)
www.numo.or.jp/en/index.html (Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan)