Press Release
Schedule Changed for Shipping New Fuel from Storage at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Unit 2
September 18, 2013
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.
Operation of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 ended in January 2009, and the period since November 2009 was designated the "disassembly work preparation period," which is the first stage in the decommissioning of the unit. During this time, Chubu Electric Power has been working to ship out the unit's fuel, targeting completion in FY2013.
Under the original plan, 148 new fuel assemblies being stored in the spent fuel storage pool at Hamaoka Unit 2 were to be shipped out to Hamaoka Unit 5 during FY2013 and managed there.
However, under new regulatory requirements that took effect in July this year, we anticipate that the procedures for seeking authorization to modify the reactor installation (which is required to ship the fuel to Unit 5) will take time. Therefore, we have changed our plans, so that during FY2014, we will decontaminate the fuel assemblies within the Unit 2 building, and once it is confirmed that there is no contamination, we will ship the fuel to a fuel processor.
The change in destination for the fuel we are shipping this time falls under changes to a decommissioning plan previously authorized by the national government, and we are therefore taking the procedures to seek authorization for such a plan change.
As for the spent fuel stored in the Hamaoka Unit 2 spent fuel storage pool, we anticipate that the shipping out of this fuel will be completed in FY2013 as originally planned. Moreover, there is no change to the overall period of decommissioning, including the disassembly work preparation period (FY2009-2014).
Chubu Electric Power will continue the decommissioning of Hamaoka Units 1 and 2, always making safety the highest priority.
