
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 6, 1994                   TAG: 9404060105
SECTION: NATIONAL/INT                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Short

PLUTONIUM REACTOR IS STARTED UP

Japan's widely criticized plan to use plutonium to produce energy took an important step forward Tuesday when engineers shifted an experimental ``fast-breeder'' reactor into continuous operation.

Protesters denounced the reactor, which produces more plutonium than it uses, as unsafe and unwise. Police said about 100 people rallied peacefully outside the plant in Tsuruga, 200 miles from Tokyo on the Sea of Japan coast.

Critics say plutonium is too lethal for safe use, and they also worry it could become the target for terrorists who want to build a nuclear bomb.

The 280,000-kilowatt nuclear power station, which cost $5.9 billion, is named Monju after the Buddhist deity of wisdom. It will not begin transmitting electricity until April 1995 and will not be at full power until late next year. Its start-up was delayed 11/2 years by a series of technical problems.

by CNB