Monju Nuclear Power Plant - 2012 Budget

2012 Budget

At the end of the fiscal year 2011, a budget of 29 million dollars was asked to continue the Monju project. This money would cover the costs of maintenance and the costs of the test-run, planned in the summer of 2012. On 20 November a seven member Japanese government commission decided that the future of the Monju-reactor should be thoroughly reviewed before a decision could be made for this 2012 budget. Some members of the commission thought that there would be only little public support to restart the fast-breeder project, and that it was uncertain that the reactor could be taken into commercial service in 2050 as originally planned. Other members said that the Monju project should be stopped completely, and that all efforts should be put into the international fusion-reactor project ITER instead. Decisions about the 2012-budget would be taken after the discussions in a panel of cabinet members about the nuclear policy of Japan, including the fast-breeder reactor project, would be complete.