Japanese nuclear regulators are taking a more cautious approach toward the timing of Rokkasho's commissioning.
Activating the Rokkasho plant would produce that much each year, said officials and industry experts.
Mr. Abe is pro-nuclear power, but his office said he wouldn't comment on Rokkasho.
Rokkasho has been seen as a facility that would allow Tokyo to reduce its plutonium stockpile by burning it as fuel.
The construction of the Rokkasho facility is largely completed, and nuclear-industry experts believe it could reach full capacity in a number of months.
The Obama administration widely believes Rokkasho had been mothballed as a result of these delays, said U.S. officials who have worked on nuclear policy.
Rokkasho has been seen as a facility that will allow Tokyo to reduce radioactive wastes from its nuclear power plants by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.
Yasufumi Fukushi, a spokesman for Rokkasho's operator, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.
The December election of Mr. Abe, however, has bred new life into Japan's nuclear-power program and the prospects for the Rokkasho facility, said government and industry officials.
But U.S. officials said they believe Tokyo needs to put in place effective regulatory bodies in the wake of the Fukushima accident to effectively operate facilities like Rokkasho.
U.S. officials said the commissioning of Rokkasho will only increase pressure from Seoul that it be formally allowed to follow Tokyo and begin producing its own nuclear fuel.
Japan Nuclear Fuel's Mr. Fukushi stressed that the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will closely monitor Rokkasho's operation to guard against potential diversion of the weapons-usable plutonium.
The Obama administration fears that whenever Rokkasho starts operating, it will add a new dimension of friction in the region, prompting other countries to seek greater nuclear capabilities and more control over them.
He also said the government is pushing ahead with Rokkasho as part of a national energy policy that seeks to reduce overall plutonium stockpiles by processing them into the fuel to power reactors.
应用推荐