Today marks an important step for Japan’s energy independence and for the future of the nuclear industry.  As World Nuclear News and others are reporting, Kyushu Electric Power Company restarted Unit 3 of the Genkai nuclear power plant using MOX (mixed oxide) fuel recycled at AREVA’s MELOX facility in Marcoule, France.  Eventually, the Genkai plant plans to use MOX fuel at one-quarter of their 193 assemblies.

Because of Japan’s unique place on the world stage – a nation with a large energy appetite but relatively few natural resources – they’ve embarked on a plan to generate fully 40% of their energy from nuclear power and to start their own recycling operations on the islands, instead of sending their used nuclear fuel to France for recycling (as they’d done up until 1998, when they started collecting their own fuel).  They’ve known for a long time that just storing away once-used  
nuclear fuel and calling it “waste” – as we do here in the U.S. – doesn’t make sense.  Not only does recycling get more energy out of the used nuclear fuel, it also reduces the volume of the most dangerous waste by over 60%.

We’re proud to be working with Japan in taking this first step toward a cleaner, carbon-free, independent energy future.  Japan’s example makes it clear that a crucial stepping stone toward sustainability and energy independence – not only in Japan, but here in the U.S. and Canada as well – is expanding the use of nuclear power and putting in place a program to recycle used fuel.

Kyushu is one of the first of AREVA’s agreements to supply MOX fuel to Japan; the latest came in September with Chogoku.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

Yesterday Japan’s Chugoku EPCo utility signed a contract for AREVA to supply 40 Mixed-Oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies for one of the reactors at the Shimane nuclear power plant located in the city of Matsue.

MOX fuel is a distinct blend of uranium and plutonium oxides, but is particularly interesting because the plutonium used in the fuel is recovered from used nuclear fuel and fabricated into MOX fuel at AREVA’s MELOX plant in southern France. AREVA has decades of experience fabricating MOX fuel assemblies that have been used for energy generation in several countries including the United States, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Japan.

And right now AREVA is in the process of bringing this recycling expertise to the United States. As Shaw AREVA MOX Services LLC, we are currently constructing the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. This Department of Energy project will be a facility that removes surplus weapons-grade plutonium and recycles it to make MOX fuel for use in nuclear reactors. When completed, the facility will have the capacity to take 3.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and turn it into MOX fuel each year, providing the United States with important energy and non-proliferation benefits.

To find out more about the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, click here.

Worker at MELOX Facility

by Jarret Adams

Today, some 35 reactors around the world are using mixed-oxide fuel produced by AREVA, and fuel for more is under development. Our customers are found throughout Western Europe and Japan. Some German nuclear power plants have been using MOX fuel successfully in their reactors for 35 years.

MOX has many benefits, but among the most important are that it allows utilities to use recycled nuclear fuel and reduces the amount of material that must be disposed in a final repository. In fact, the use of recycling together with MOX fuel allow for countries to reduce the volume of material for disposal in a repository by a factor of five.

For some utilities, MOX fuel is more than just a good way to manage used fuel. MOX fuel can also help customers hedge against volatility in the uranium market. Because most MOX fuel comes from recycled fuel, no fresh uranium and enrichment are needed.

AREVA announced last month a new agreement with Japan’s Ohma nuclear power plant. This follows on agreements signed between AREVA and several Japanese utilities to supply MOX fuel for 16 to 18 reactors in the country beginning in 2010.

In the United States, AREVA is partnering with the Shaw Group construct the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina. This facility will convert former weapons-grade material into MOX fuel for U.S. electric utilities. Construction began in August 2007 and the facility is now approximately 17 percent complete.