Uranium Enrichment in Japan

Abstract

It is a great pleasure for us to be given an opportunity to report on "Uranium Enrichment in Japan" on the occasion of the conference. The history of centrifuge development is rather old in Japan. There had been some early works limited only to theoretical interest, while it was in 1959, a few years later from the start of atomic energy program, that the first centrifuge was constructed in Japan. From 1961, Atomic Fuel Corporation became a major organization for centrifuge development, that was continued by newly established Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) at the reorganization in 1967. In 1969, Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) started a three year project to evaluate whether Japanese future enrichment development program would be based on gas centrifuge or diffusion technologies. In 1972, from a critical appraisal of progress and achievement in this three year project, JAEC came to a conclusion that centrifuge process should be developed for domestic uranium enrichment and decided to promote intensive R&D on centrifuge process as a national project. As a consequence of this national concerted effort, Japan moved toward the construction of uranium enrichment pilot plant in 1977, which came into full operation in 1982. PNC is now in the stage of demonstration plant construction. We would first like to brief the pilot plant experience, and then like to refer to the domestic enrichment program as well as R&D program in Japan.