Research and development activities on partitioning and transmutation of radioactive nuclides in Japan

Important official plans for the nuclear fuel cycle strategy in Japan have been made over the past year. The Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy says that basic and fundamental research and development activities on partitioning and transmutation are to be conducted to support the utilisation of nuclear energy in Japan. Research and development activities on partitioning and transmutation have been promoted for more than 15 years in Japan. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) are continuing the research and development on the partitioning and transmutation technologies. The technologies using commercialized fast reactors (FR) and using the accelerator-driven system (ADS) in the dedicated transmutation cycle of the double-strata fuel cycle have been developed. Research and development activities on FR are organised under the Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems. (authors)