The Rokkasho reprocessing plant, due to be completed last month, will not now be finished until October 2010. The further delay is to allow for cleaning and inspections of the vitrification facility.
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) has applied to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for permission to change the work plan, pushing back the scheduled completion date to next year. The change to the work plan is the 14th made since legislation launching the project was enacted, Atoms in Japan noted, listing some of the work required before commissioning can get back on track.
Most of this seems to concern the vitrification line, where dried out and powdered high-level radioactive waste is mixed with molten glass and poured into flasks for permanent storage.
Click here to read more about the delay of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant.
