 The cost of MOX fuel had roughly quadrupled from 1999 to 2017, creating doubts about the economics of nuclear fuel reprocessing.In 2018 the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission updated plutonium guidelines to try to reduce plutonium stockpiles, stipulating that the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant should only produce the amount of plutonium required for MOX fuel for Japan's nuclear power plants.Japan is divided into a number of regions that each get electric service from their respective regional provider, all utilities hold a monopoly and are strictly regulated by the Japanese government.