US-Japan Nuclear Power Cooperation: Good Opportunity To Collaborate on Fast-Neutron Reactors

Published in Sankei News
(Japan) on 7 January 2022
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Dorothy Phoenix. Edited by Patricia Simoni.
Cooperation between the U.S. and Japan in the field of nuclear energy has grown even closer.

In an online conference, Koichi Hagiuda, the Japanese minister of economy, trade and industry, and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced plans for the Japanese government to work on developing plutonium-burning fast-neutron reactors, next-generation nuclear power plants and small modular reactors in an international collaborative project.

It is extremely important for Japan as a small country with limited resources to be proactive in using nuclear power for energy security, and at the same time, as a way to contribute to a global call for decarbonization.

With regard to fast-neutron reactors, technical cooperation is highlighted in a development plan by Bill Gates establishing a U.S. nuclear power company that will cooperate with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The Monju Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, designed to output 280,000 kilowatts of electricity, which was under development, was decommissioned six years ago due to defective inspection equipment., However, 250 days of operating data were collected, and constitutes valuable intellectual property.

The U.S., which is proceeding with plans for new fast-neutron reactors, will establish a meaningful cooperative relationship with Japan, which has been having trouble building its own new fast-neutron reactors.

Fast-neutron reactor facilities play an important role in the nuclear fuel cycle that forms the basis of Japan’s nuclear power policy. Previous collaborative research efforts with France are currently suspended, and we hope that Japan will regain this lost this lost ground.

Japan, a non-nuclear state, will be able to recover and recycle plutonium from spent nuclear fuel pursuant to the U.S.-Japan nuclear agreement.

From this perspective, U.S.-Japan cooperation on fast-neutron reactor development is essential. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has emphasized the importance of the nuclear fuel cycle as an issue in the next Liberal Democratic Party presidential election.

Fast-neutron reactors now make it possible to decrease the volume of high-level radioactive waste and harm from nuclear power generation. In addition, next-generation nuclear plants will contribute to reduced geological disposal of nuclear waste.

Domestically, people object to the growing development of nuclear facilities because they use large amounts of sodium metals that ignite on contact with air. But aren’t Russia’s fast-neutron reactors working successfully?

With respect to small nuclear power plants, Poland is taking note of Japan’s next-generation power plants and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Eleven years after the Fukushima incident, the world has seen a recurrence in the use of nuclear power. Government leaders, including Kishida and Hagiuda, should show they have a shrewd understanding of this course of events.


日米の原子力連携 高速炉への協力は好機だ

原子力分野での日米連携が一段と緊密化する運びとなった。

萩生田光一経済産業相が米エネルギー省のグランホルム長官とのオンライン会談で、プルトニウムを燃やせる高速炉や次世代原発・小型モジュール炉(SMR)などの国際連携による開発に日本政府として取り組む方針を表明した。

原子力の積極利用は、資源小国の日本にとってエネルギー安全保障上、極めて重要であり、同時に国際的な要請となっている脱炭素化にも資する道である。

高速炉に関してはビル・ゲイツ氏が設立した米国の原子力企業の開発計画に日本原子力研究開発機構と三菱重工業が技術協力する話が具体化している。

日本では原子力機構の「もんじゅ」(電気出力28万キロワット)の開発が進んでいたが、機器の点検不備などで6年前に廃炉が決定されている。しかし、250日に及ぶ運転データが蓄積されており、貴重な知的財産だ。

新たに高速炉計画を進める米国と、国内での高速炉の新規建設が困難な日本の双方に意義のある協力関係が成立する。

高速炉は日本が原子力政策の基本に据える核燃料サイクルの中で主要な役割を担う設備である。フランスとの間で先行していた共同研究は中断状態であり、その遅れを取り戻したい。

非核保有国の日本が原発の使用済み燃料からプルトニウムを回収し、燃料としてリサイクルできるのは、日米原子力協定に支えられてのことである。

この観点からも高速炉開発の日米協力は重要だ。岸田文雄首相は自民党総裁選で核燃料サイクルの重要性を主張している。

高速炉は、原子力発電で発生する高レベル放射性廃棄物(核のごみ)の減容化や有害度の低減を可能にする。地層処分の負担軽減にも貢献する次世代原発なのだ。

空気に触れると発火する金属ナトリウムを大量に使うため、開発の難度が高いとする消極意見が国内にはあるが、ロシアの高速炉は実用化されているではないか。

SMRに関しては、ポーランドが日本の次世代原発・高温ガス炉に注目している。福島事故から11年を迎える中、世界は原子力に回帰しつつある。岸田氏や萩生田氏らの政府首脳には、この流れをしっかり読み取ってもらいたい。
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Canada: Trump vs. Musk, the Emperor and the Oligarch

Mexico: Big Tech and the Police State

Germany: Donald Trump’s Military Intervention in LA Is a Planned Escalation

Russia: Trump Is Shielding America*

Taiwan: The Beginning of a Post-Hegemonic Era: A New Normal for International Relations

Topics

Germany: Donald Trump’s Military Intervention in LA Is a Planned Escalation

Mexico: Migration: A Political Crisis?

Poland: Los Angeles Riots: Battle for America’s Future

Germany: Donald Trump Is Damaging the US

Canada: President Trump, the G7 and Canada’s New ‘Realistic’ Foreign Policy

Taiwan: The Beginning of a Post-Hegemonic Era: A New Normal for International Relations

Canada: Trump vs. Musk, the Emperor and the Oligarch

Mexico: Big Tech and the Police State

Related Articles

Japan: Trump’s 100 Days: A Future with No Visible Change So Far

Japan: US Administration Losing Credibility 3 Months into Policy of Threats

Japan: US-Japan Defense Minister Summit: US-Japan Defense Chief Talks Strengthen Concerns about Single-Minded Focus on Strength

Japan: Trump’s Tariffs Threaten To Repeat Historical Mistakes

Hong Kong: China, Japan, South Korea Pave Way for Summit Talks; Liu Teng-Chung: Responding to Trump