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Frank N. Von Hippel mentioned in ‘NY Times’ on story about Japan’s nuclear fuel reprocessing plant

November 16, 2015

TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s nuclear fuel reprocessing plant said Monday it was postponing the opening to as late as September 2018, citing regulators’ lengthy inspection procedures and time needed for safety upgrades.

The Rokkasho reprocessing plant in northern Japan has raised proliferation concerns because the plutonium it extracts from spent fuel — for the purpose of generating electricity — is enough to make thousands of nuclear bombs.