The move could cost Kansai Electric ¥6 billion ($46 million) fuel already produced by Commox - a joint enterprise between France's Cogema (who own the Melox plant) and Belgium's Belgonucleaire.
A statement issued by METI said: "The ministry cannot confirm that Kansai Electric's own preliminary audit and evaluation at the Melox plant, or the company's dispatch of its own staff to the plant, are sufficient to confirm the fabrication state and quality assurance activities. The ministry will not pass the said MOX fuel even if the company files an application for an examination."
Kansai Electric said: "There is no quality problem" with the MOX concerned, but added that it understood METI's response was the "final decision of the ministry responsible for nuclear safety regulation."
