An interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, is in the final phase of preparations before starting operation.
With fuel storage pools at nuclear plants across the country already at over 80% capacity, the Mutsu facility, the first such facility built outside a nuclear plant site, is expected to play a key role in Japan's efforts to establish a nuclear fuel cycle in which uranium and plutonium are extracted from spent fuel and reprocessed for use at nuclear plants.
However, many local residents are worried that the site may become a permanent storage facility.
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