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Japan to promote next-generation gas-cooled reactor

12:05 am, April 04, 2014

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government will promote further research and development of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, as part of a new basic energy plan that includes efforts to promote the development of highly safe and secure nuclear technology, government sources said.

As one candidate for envisaged next-generation nuclear reactors, high-temperature gas-cooled reactors use highly heat-resistant ceramics to cover the fuel inside. This makes them less susceptible to a core meltdown than other types of reactors.

It remains unknown when and whether new nuclear power stations—or new reactors, for that matter—will be built in the nation. Yet the draft of the new energy plan demonstrates the government’s determination to make progress in developing highly safe nuclear technology, drawing on the bitter lessons learned from the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Serving as guidelines for mid- and long-term energy policies, the basic energy plan draft released in February clearly stipulates that the government will promote technological development aimed at enhancing the safety of light water reactors, including countermeasures for severe accidents, given their widespread use across the nation.

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[link to the-japan-news.com]