TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power Ask Eight Utilities to Use Mutsu Spent Fuel Storage Facility

Tokyo Electric Power Company and Japan Atomic Power Company on August 10 asked eight other utilities that operate nuclear plants to study moving spent nuclear fuel to the intermediate storage facility in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture. The request was confirmed through interviews on August 12. Mutsu City had previously agreed to expand the range of companies allowed to deliver fuel.

In December 2025, TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power told Mutsu City that spent fuel generated by the two companies alone would not reach the initially planned delivery volume, and that they intended to pursue inter-company cooperation with other utilities. Mutsu Mayor Tomoya Yamamoto on August 7, 2026, approved allowing companies other than the two to deliver fuel. The eight utilities asked include Hokkaido Electric Power, Tohoku Electric Power, Chubu Electric Power, Hokuriku Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, Chugoku Electric Power, Shikoku Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power.

The facility is operated by Recyclable Fuel Storage Company (RFS), established with funding from TEPCO and Japan Atomic Power, and is used for temporary storage of spent fuel before reprocessing. Mutsu City, taking into account the nuclear fuel tax levied on RFS, requires the facility to accept fuel at its full capacity of 5,000 tons.