Link: http://fukushimaupdate.com/japan-and-france-to-promote-fast-breeder-reactors/
JAPAN AND FRANCE TO PROMOTE FAST BREEDER REACTORS MAY 6, 2014
Translator
via Enformable.com / May 5, 2014 /Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French President Francois Hollande met during a summit meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday and agreed that the two countries will work to promote the research and development of fast breeder reactors.
The Monju Nuclear Power Plant located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture.
According to Japanese sources with knowledge of the agreement, Japan will provide technical assistance on France’s fast breeder reactor development projects. France has also demanded that Japan use the Monju fast breeder reactor (pictured) to test fuel for France’s Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration (ASTRID). The ASTRID reactor concept is the same as the Monju reactor in Japan. There have been serious questions raised about whether the Monju reactor will be fit to use for research purposes, let alone commercial use. Japan has spent nearly 10 trillion Yen on the project, and in return the Monju reactor has been kept offline for most of the past 19 years due to repeated failures , safety problems and organizational issues. Currently, the Monju reactor is shut down while the operator, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) continues organizational reforms and improves its safety management. To meet France’s demands, the Japanese government has agreed to accelerate the reforms at the JAEA and get the Monju reactor to pass safety checks by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).