TEPCO Cancels Spent Fuel Transport from Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 After Aomori Refuses Additional Shipments
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on August 28, 2024, canceled a planned shipment of 138 spent fuel assemblies from Unit 6 of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture to the interim storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. The cancellation followed Aomori Governor Miyashiro Soichiro's refusal to accept additional fuel, citing uncertainty over the completion of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.' s reprocessing plant in Rokkasho, the facility's final destination. TEPCO said the plan to ship 207 assemblies from Unit 5 in early 2027 remains unchanged, and the cancellation has no immediate business impact due to sufficient on-site storage capacity.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on August 28, 2024, that it had canceled a plan to transport spent nuclear fuel from Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture to the interim storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. The shipment, originally scheduled between July and September 2024, was to involve 138 fuel assemblies.
The cancellation came after Aomori Governor Soichiro Miyashiro refused to accept additional fuel deliveries, citing the uncertain outlook for the completion of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.' s nuclear fuel recycling facility in Rokkasho, which is the designated final destination for the stored fuel.
TEPCO stated that the plan to transport 207 fuel assemblies from Unit 5 of the same plant to the interim storage facility between January and March 2027 remains unchanged. Regarding the canceled Unit 6 shipment, TEPCO said it will determine a new transport schedule once Aomori Prefecture indicates its willingness to accept the fuel. The company noted that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant currently has sufficient on-site storage capacity, so the cancellation does not affect its ongoing operations.
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