Japan Nuke Agency To Export Domestically 'Useless' Uranium Ore

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) plans to export a total of 125 metric tons of nuclear-related materials including uranium ore collected domestically and overseas in connection with the organization's uranium prospecting projects in Japan, Daisuke Oka reported for Mainichi Shimbun.

Photo Insert: JAEA will outsource the work to refine uranium ore into fuel for nuclear power reactors and have the contractor purchase the refined material.

JAEA will outsource the work to refine uranium ore into fuel for nuclear power reactors and have the contractor purchase the refined material. This means that the Japanese agency will be taking nuclear-related materials that have no use in Japan and discarding them overseas.

The materials to be exported include uranium ore and ion-exchange resin that has adsorbed uranium.

These materials are currently stored at the JAEA's Ningyo-toge Environmental Engineering Center in Okayama Prefecture and the Tono Geoscience Center in Gifu Prefecture, which controls the Tono Mine.

Uranium ore had been mined from the Ningyo pass mining area, as well as being imported from overseas for research purposes.

The uranium mines at the two centers are set to be closed down, and uranium ore needs to be removed for them to be shut down. Uranium ore is a resource needed for the operation of nuclear power reactors, but Japan doesn't have a processing plant.

At the same time, the material is not supposed to be discarded as waste. As some of it emits radiation exceeding permissible levels, Japan would need a legitimate reason to take it out of the country.

As a general rule, nuclear waste must be disposed of at the location where it was created, meaning that taking it outside Japan could violate international regulations. Under such circumstances, the idea of commissioning another party to refine the materials emerged.

The JAEA signed a 170-million-yen (roughly $1.24 million) contract with a subsidiary of Tokyo-based trading house Sojitz Corp. in December 2021 to handle projects including the shipment of the materials overseas.

The transportation is scheduled to be completed by February 2023. A US firm is seen as a candidate for the work, but no deal has been finalized.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic