JAPC summarily reported the update to Fukui Prefecture and Tsuruga City, where the plant is located, and submitted a revised decommissioning plan to the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan (NRA).
Tsuruga-1, Japan’s first commercial light water reactor, began operation in March 1970 and has been undergoing decommissioning since 2017. The decommissioning process has been divided into three phases, with the plant currently in the first phase—the “preparation period for reactor dismantling.”
To ensure the efficient transportation of dismantled waste, JAPC is already conducting dismantling and removal work on facilities within the reactor and turbine buildings as well as on such structures as diesel oil storage tanks. The dismantling of the reactor itself was initially scheduled to start in FY26 (April 2026 to March 2027).
However, the manufacturer that had originally been contracted for the dismantling part of the reactor containment vessel—the suppression chamber—had to withdraw due to internal circumstances. Although JAPC has already selected another manufacturer, the additional time required for developing the necessary dismantling equipment led to the postponement of the decommissioning completion date this time.
According to a statement released by JAPC, “We will continue prioritizing safety while steadily advancing the decommissioning of Tsuruga-1, and remain committed to transparent and initiative-taking communication.”
