Monju restart faces yet another delay

TSURUGA, Fukui Pref. (Kyodo) Resumption of the suspended Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor is likely to be postponed for several more months, sources close to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday.

The restart, currently scheduled for February, has already been postponed three times.

The new delay will be necessary because of delays in tests on the safety of the entire facility in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, the sources said.

Monju, with a power output capacity of 280 megawatts, began generating power in August 1995. It was shut down due to a fire that Dec. 8 caused by a sodium coolant leak from a worn-out thermometer.

It is called a fast-breeder reactor because it generates more plutonium than it consumes.