Decommission of Monju Nuclear Reactor to Cost Japan $3.2Bln

The decommission of the Monju fast neutron reactor, which has been shut down due to safety problems, will cost Japan some $3.2 billion, the Kyodo news agency reported Monday, citing the Japanese government.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — According to Kyodo, the sum covers the dismantling of the reactor and the extraction of the nuclear fuel.

Earlier in the day, Issei Nishikawa, the governor of the Fukui Prefecture, where the reactor is situated, said that the decommission was unacceptable, since the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) would not be able to conduct a safe process of decommission.

The final decision on the decommission of the reactor is reportedly set to be made on Tuesday.

The Monju reactor was shut down in May 2013, after the JAEA failed to fix all the troubles with the reactor's systems. The Japanese government estimated that the restart of Monju, the maintenance of which had already demanded $12 billion, would cost another $6 billion over the next 10 years.