Kan Calls for Spent Nuclear Fuel Review (sent by ALCOY) May 16th

Kan Calls for Spent Nuclear Fuel Review
Tokyo, May 16 (Jiji Press)

--Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday that the government will review Japan's handling of spent nuclear fuel, which is stored at many nuclear power stations in the country.
The lack of recycling systems for spent fuel should be examined, as well as what happened at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station's reactors after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Kan said at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting.
At the crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> nuclear station in northeastern Japan, a large amount of spent fuel is stored in water pools near each reactor.
The storing of spent fuel for a long time is "a source of various concerns," Kan said.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaieda told the same the committee session that at the moment, the government cannot tell when a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, can be put into full-fledged operation.

(2011/05/16-20:33)