Today, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) decided to reconsider the completion date of Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP) which had been announced as the first half of the Japanese Fiscal Year 2022.

JNFL will announce a new completion date of RRP by the end of this year, after resolving the major issues to be discussed at the review by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for the next step regarding the approval of design and construction plans and figuring out the status of the review because the progress of the review has significant impact on the completion date.

Approximately 95% of the construction works to conform to new regulatory requirements are expected to be completed by the end of the first half of FY 2022 except for connecting the newly installed components to existing pipes and others which will be carried out after the approval of design and construction plans by the NRA.

The remaining construction works include the installation of fire detectors and information acquiring system, which use semiconductors and other components that are difficult to procure due to the Covid-19, and seismic reinforcement works, which are newly added according to the results of the safety review, of the groundwater drainage system and the north ventilation stack. All these works are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year 2022.

JNFL is in the final stage towards the first part of the approval of design and construction plans by the NRA. JNFL intends to bundle up the remaining part of the approval of design and construction plans and apply for approval in November in order to improve our efficiency towards the review by NRA. JNFL aims to obtain the approval as early as possible by clarifying the categorization of facilities and the major issues to be discussed.