Dumbest Megaproject Ever? Japan’s Monju Nuclear Power Plant
Japan’s “wisdom” nuclear power plant has produced one hour of electricity at a cost of 15 billion dollars. This may well be the dumbest megaproject ever. And it’s not alone in massive underperformance. But better ways exist.
Japan’s Monju nuclear power plant was named after the Buddhist deity symbolizing wisdom. The decision to build Monju would prove anything but.
Monju is a prototype fast-breeder reactor, the first of its kind for commercial use. It was intended to become the cornerstone of a high-priority national program to reuse and eventually produce nuclear fuel in a country with few energy sources of its own (Tabuchi 2011, Phys.org 2014).*
Construction was approved by the High Court in 1983 and began in 1986. With the long gestation period typical of nuclear power, inauguration took place 12 years later, in 1995.
An attempt by the operator to cover up the accident developed into a political scandal.
A few months after inauguration, in December 1995, a major fire, possibly caused by defective welding, shut down the facility…
