Permits to commence the construction of a temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in Mutsu city in the Aomori prefecture have been granted to Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) and Japan Atomic Power (Japco).
The facility will comprise two buildings with a combined capacity to store around 5000t of SNF and is slated to be operated by a joint company between Tepco and Japco when it becomes operational, which is expected by around 2010.
SNF will be stored at the plant until it is reprocessed at Japan Nuclear Fuel's reprocessing plant in Rokkasho village in Aomori prefecture.
A condition of the licence is that the stored SNF be removed from the facility after its 50-year operational period.
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