Japan's Nuclear Reprocessing and Decommissioning Facilitation Organization (NuRO), responsible for the management of the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, revealed a substantial increase in the cost of the facility. The construction cost is now expected to reach 3.7 billion yen (about $25 billion). The total cost of the Rokkasho project, which includes the operating cost over 40 years as well as decommissioning, is expected to reach 15.6 trillion yen ($104 billion).

NuRO listed several factors that led to the cost increase:

• Progress in consideration of compliance with new regulatory standards,
• Facility maintenance and management following the revision of the completion date from "as early as possible in the first half of fiscal year 2024" to "during fiscal year 2026,"
• Additional measures related to regulatory compliance and stable operation,
• Reflection of the latest economic indicators.

NuRO also confirmed that the plant, constructed by the Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL), is not expected to begin operations before the end of the 2026 fiscal year (end of March 2027). This decision was announced by JNFL in August 2024. It should be noted that the actual shearing and reprocessing operation is scheduled to start in the latter half of FY2027.

For a background of the Rokkasho project, see the 2023 post by Tatsujiro Suzuki - "Japan's never ending reprocessing saga."