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The Government Revitalization Unit, a 7-member body set up to cut wasteful spending, on Sunday began a four-day meeting in Tokyo to review the nation's nuclear energy programs and various government policies, such as social security.
The first day's session focused on nuclear energy. Chief among the panel's recommendations was a review of the long-troubled Monju fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture, which panel members said was sucking up too much public funds.
Renho, the minister in charge of administrative reform and government revitalization, said the Monju reactor and the nation's reliance on nuclear energy are urgent issues that cannot be put off, NHK reported.
The panel, which consists of ruling and opposition lawmakers, as well as private-sector experts, recommended that a request for 2.2 billion yen for Monju tests in the fiscal 2012 national budget be canceled.
The project has already used more than 1 trillion yen in taxpayers' money over the past 40 years. It is supposed to be put into use in 2050, but panel members say Monju does not have public support, Jiji Press reported.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
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naruhodo1
That last paragraph makes no sense at all!
wanderlust
The nuclear village which gorges itself from the public trough may finally have to go on a diet? Monju has produced one hours worth of electricity over it's life, while it's goal to recycle plutonium has not been achieved, and given the current state of nuclear power development in Japan, may never be.
But expect massive lobbying from the utilities and utility sponsored academics, as well as paid-off local politicians, claiming it is necessary. With such easy money available in the past, no-one wants to go back to being a fisherman or lacquer painter...
ebisen
2050?!?! Nope, that's a mistake.. By 2050 we've better have the hydrogen fusing, making al fissile technology look stone-age...
cactusJack
Those Monju employees need to get on their computers and send a bunch of "in favor" e-mails, pronto.
WilliB
Both Germany and France killed their fast breeder projects; Japan should do so too. This particular technology is simply too iffy to realize.
SquidBert
ebisen said:
In fact I think the news article has got its facts mixed up somehow. In fact other articles about the GRU session also mentions ITER which is supposed to reach commercial operation in the 2050's. The possible gains if we can get fusion working is great, but so are the investments into this technology that is still unproven.
Monju should already have been showing results yesterday(figuratively). And even if they manage to get this thing working, I think the design is most likely already obsolete.
MaboDofuIsSpicy
40 Years? Time for a divorce.
SquidBert
@Moderator
I think last paragraph of article, is referring to ITER rather than Monju. I think this is the source of confusion here.
Moderator
The story is correct. Practical use for the Monju reactor was planned to begin around 2050.
SquidBert
With all due respect to article writers and moderators.
I actually think the Monju schedule:
http://www.jaea.go.jp/04/monju/EnglishSite/4_Press%20release/December%2016,%202010_IVTM%20Withdrawal%20and%20SST%20Schedule.pdf
Targets rated power operation in 2013.
I have also seen somewhere that Monju was supposed to be replaced by the next gen of this reactor which was planned for 2025. 2050 might be the year that J-gov/nuclear-village targeted commercial viability or something like that.
2050 was also the year that ITER(or rather successor DEMO) targeted gird power production (if memory serves me right).
wanderlust
@squidbert - you are quite correct - according to a presentation from the Fast Breeder Reactor Research and Development Center, Tsuruga Head Office, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Monju was supposed to be operational, producing power in 2013, with safety licensing taking place from 2001 to 2003, and the system start up tests from mid-2010 through to mid 2013.
The date 2050 is suggested as the date when Fast Reactors start contributing power. In the meantime, the life of existing reactors was planned to be extended to 60 years, and a new generation of LWRs to be built and run from 2010 through to 2100.
This presentation is published on the web Feb 2011.
rickyvee
in squidbert we trust!
i love renho and her team. she loves grilling beaurcrats and taking away their funding! Monju should have been de-funded many years ago. as squidbert mentioned above, the technology is already outdated. fast breed reactors simply have not lived up to their hype.
j4p4nFTW
This is an important issue and one which we must discuss in order to reach an understanding. However, it is an issue largely out of our hands, as policymakers who know what's best for the nation will ultimately make the call. If there is a public benefit from this project, then by all means we should fund it with public money.
smithinjapan
How much do you want to bet they'll pour more money into it anyway?
Johannes Weber
A nice fairy tale. As a nuclear physicist, I can say without any doubt that the future energy supply is certainly not a simple issue, where politician know what is best. Even physicists don't know yet, which approaches (to fusion) will be viable (though I favour the stellarator concept as the best). How do You expect politicians to make an educated call if not even the educated people understand it clearly and we all know very well that politician NEVER truly understand what they are doing?
The 2050 deadline is the official timeline for commercial fusion. Fourty years from now on. Actually, these fourty years are a constant. In 1962, Edward Teller (one of the fathers of the H bomb) already stated that it would take 40 years.
Monju doesn't have any significant benefits. If you really want to research breeder reactors, then research those with large cores in hope of mitigating the long-lived nuclear waste problem. Otherwise, don't waste money on technology, which has been already rejected in three of the countries leading in nuclear power.
SquidBert
@Johannes
The 40 year time frame reminds me of the following xkcd comic about scientists and time frames. http://xkcd.com/678/
Besides , I heard that the ITER fusion project is implementing SAP Business Process software. That can easily add 15 years (and countless costs) to any project. :-)
j4p4nFTW
@Weber
I think you are misunderstanding. It's not important really on what the money is spent on. It is just important that the money is spent, since it provides jobs and post retirement opportunities for log term underpaid civil servants.
Blair Herron
Since the second accident in 2010, it has stopped operating, but still costs 40,000,000yen a DAY for maintenance fee. That's a lot of tax payers' money. Maybe it should be used more practical like development of new energy resource or something...