TOKYO - A Japanese utility has started dismantling an old nuclear reactor with an eye toward building a new one, a spokesman said on March 18, as the country drives for more clean energy.
This is the first such attempt on a commercial unit in Japan, after Chubu Electric decided in 2008 to dismantle two reactors at its Hamaoka plant in the central Shizuoka region, to avoid paying for costly anti-earthquake measures for them.
Only about 25 nuclear reactors worldwide have been fully dismantled, according to the World Nuclear Association.
Japan, targeting net-zero emissions by 2050, is shifting back to nuclear power after shutting down all its 54 reactors after the tsunami-triggered 2011 Fukushima meltdown.
Under its current plan, Japan aims for nuclear power to account for 20 to 22 per cent of its electricity by 2030, up from well under 10 per cent now.
It is slowly bringing its still-operable units online, and also plans to extend their lifespan, while encouraging the development of next-generation atomic plants.
On March 17, Chubu Electric began removing the top lid of its “Number Two” reactor at Hamaoka, before a similar exercise starts for another unit at the same plant, a company spokesman told AFP on March 18.
The complicated dismantling process is expected to continue until 2042, which means building a replacement reactor is still many years away.
A total of 26 reactors in Japan, including the Hamaoka units and research units, are currently slated for dismantling, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
Japan scrapped a research reactor in the 1990s after it ended operations in 1976.
Meanwhile Japan is also embroiled in a decades-long project to scrap the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant, which was hit by a huge tsunami in 2011, triggering the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. AFP
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