The Nuclear Safety Commission has approved a plan to allow a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture burn mixed oxide (MOX) fuel containing plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel. This paves the way for the use of the fuel at the boiling water reactor in the town of Okuma.
The Fukushima reactor, which will be operated by TEPCO, will be the second facility for which MOX fuel is approved. Its use has already been approved for the No 4 reactor of Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture, operated by KEPCO.
