Page 13 - AsiaElec Week 09 2021

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nearby gas powered generation unit was still Tepco aims to finish pulling all fuel March 23, at the project site in Pengerang.
shut down. assemblies out of other reactor buildings by
Other units remained down and were the end of 2031, including the No. 1 building,
undergoing checks. where a lot of debris is scattered about, and
The magnitude 7.3-earthquake injured the No. 2 building, where radiation levels are NUCLEAR
more than 150 people, causing damage particularly high.
throughout the northern region, including Japan’s FEPC reaffirms
Fukushima, where the meltdowns after a
massive quake and tsunami 10 years ago left plans for mox use assuming
Japan without its fleet of reactors that supplied SOL AR
about a third of the country’s electricity. Rokkasho facilities begin
Southeast Asia’s biggest operation
solar energy park coming
NUCLEAR Japan’s Federation of Electric Power
Companies (FEPC) on 26 February
TEPCO finishes nuclear fuel up in Johor, Malaysia reaffirmed the plutonium utilisation plan it
announced in December, subject to operation
Johor is set to become a major producer of
removal from Fukushima eco-friendly energy in Southeast Asia with the of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and
opening of a RM1.4bn solar energy park in
mox fuel plant. FEPC represents the 11
reactor pool Pengerang, Kota Tinggi. power companies, comprising nine utilities
(excluding Okinawa Electric Power), Japan
The park, named after Sultan Ibrahim
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. Sultan Iskandar, will be the biggest of its kind Atomic Power Company and the Electric
said Sunday it has removed all 566 nuclear in the region with a capacity of 450MW, the Power Development Company (J-Power).
fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool of the ruler said today. “In Japan, where resources are scarce,
No. 3 reactor at its Fukushima No. 1 plant. He said the solar park is the first large- we will secure stable energy in the future,”
It is the first time that fuel removal has scale private investment project secured FEPC said. “In order to do so, it is essential to
been completed for any of the three reactors by the state for 2021 and was a result of his establish a nuclear fuel cycle in Japan. Despite
that suffered meltdowns in the March 2011 efforts to encourage investment and economic changes in the environment surrounding
accident at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture. development for the state. nuclear power generation after the accident
The fuel removal operation at the No. 3 Sultan Ibrahim said the project is also in at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant,
reactor began in April 2019. line with the Johor Sustainable Development pluthermal [mox] fuel remains important.”
On Sunday, the company using remote Plan 2030 which prioritises environmental FEPC said, in line with the December
control devices moved the last six assemblies sustainability in the development of the plan it was aiming for early and maximum
to a common storage facility within the plant economy and prosperity of the people. implementation of mox use at least by
premises. A large covering was placed over He added that the project will become 2030, with 12 nuclear unit using mox by
the upper part of the No. 3 reactor building the largest solar power storage system in the then, assuming operation of the Rokkasho
to prevent radioactive substances from being region when fully operational by 2023. facilities. This would meet the requirements of
scattered. The project will not only boost economic national policy to reduce stocks of plutonium,
Tepco planned to start the fuel removal growth but also place Johor as a leading including those held abroad.
from the No. 3 reactor building as early as late renewable energy producer internationally, he Since the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi
2014, but delayed the schedule repeatedly as it said in a statement. accident the Nuclear Regulation Authority has
faced difficulty getting rid of debris left by the “We are thankful that Johor is among approved four reactors to restart using mox
explosion in the building. the states that are blessed with high solar -- Kyushu Electric Power’s Genkai 3, Shikoku
The operation also took more time than irradiance. It’s about time we explore this Electric Power’s Ikata 3 and Kansai Electric’s
expected due to machinery malfunction resource to improve power generation Takahama 3 and 4. Of these, only Genkai 3 is
issues. capacity and contribute to the production of currently operating.
The removal of 1,533 fuel assemblies from renewable energy,” he said. FEPC estimated that these four units
the No. 4 reactor building was completed in Sultan Ibrahim is expected to attend would use a total of 0.2 tonnes of plutonium
December 2014. the groundbreaking for the solar park on in 2021, 0.7 tonnes in 2022 and 1.4 tonnes in

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