Japan Atomic Energy Research and Development Organization strengthens cooperation with U.S. Terrapower
Japan plans to join hands with the United States to speed up the development of fast reactors, the next generation nuclear reactors.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 31st, Japan’s Atomic Energy Research and Development Organization agreed to strengthen cooperation with Terra Power, a company supported by the U.S. government.
Terrapower is a next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) company founded by Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates.
Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Terra Power revised the memorandum signed in January last year.
Terra Power, which is leading the way in the development of demonstration reactors, has decided to provide technology support to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Japan’s Atomic Energy Research and Development Organization also decided to provide Terra Power with the technology it has developed so far.
Terra Power is building a demonstration reactor in Wyoming, USA, and aims to operate it after 2028.
Japan is setting a goal of starting the design of a demonstration reactor, a precursor to commercial high-temperature gas, next year and operating it in the 2040s. Last July, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was selected as a key design company.
Japan developed the experimental reactor Joyo in 1977 and the prototype reactor Monju in 1994. However, Monju, which was called the ‘dream reactor’, was treated as a pitiful complex as problems continued to arise, and its decommissioning was confirmed in 2016. Japan’s demonstration reactor development has also stalled.
Japan plans to absorb the latest reactor design technology and safety measure know-how provided by the United States and reflect them in the development of the demonstration reactor.
In Japan, fast reactors are key nuclear fuel cycle facilities that remove plutonium contained in spent fuel and reuse it.
The development of a fast reactor proceeds through four stages: ① a basic ‘experimental reactor’ without power generation facilities, ② a ‘prototype reactor’ capable of producing power, ③ an ‘experimental reactor’ that verifies economic feasibility, and ④ a practical reactor (commercial reactor).
Japan Atomic Energy Research and Development Agency is actively engaged in international cooperation. An agreement has been reached on joint development of nuclear fuel with a British research institute promoting the development of a demonstration reactor. An agreement was reached on development cooperation in November last year with a Polish research institute that aims to operate an experimental reactor in the late 2020s.
Source: Donga
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