nuclear-news

Japan – nuclear power woes

Hiccups causing major delays at nuclear plant THE ASAHI SHIMBUN BY EISUKE SASAKI AND HIDENORI TSUBOYA 3 March 09 “……………….technical failures, responsible for yet another delay in two- decade-old efforts to launch the plant, are far from last-minute crinkles.

Not only have they proved frustratingly difficult to iron out, the problems at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, conceived as a major link in Japan’s nuclear fuel recycling program, could shake the program to its foundations.

Plant operator Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) announced Jan. 30 it would postpone the end of testing from February to August–the 16th time it has delayed completion of the plant, which was originally due to go into full operation more than a decade ago, in 1997.

The technical troubles affecting one of its two glass melting furnaces, built to treat complex, heat-generating radioactive materials so that they can be buried safely in the ground, continue to confound JNFL.

When in operation, the Rokkasho plant will reprocess spent fuel from nuclear power stations in Japan to extract plutonium, which will be burned again to generate electricity. But the latest delay could jeopardize the nation’s nuclear fuel recycling policy.

The last five delays were due to malfunctions that occurred in the furnace in the process of vitrifying the liquid high-level radioactive waste…………………the Rokkasho plant employs technology developed in France,……………………Meanwhile, Japan’s fuel recycling program has come under scrutiny from the international community, which has asked questions about the country’s handling of weapons-grade plutonium. Among non-nuclear nations, Japan is the only country allowed under the international nonproliferation regime to produce plutonium in its reprocessing plant………………………….will leave a vast quantity of weapons-grade plutonium from the 31 tons already possessed by Japan–25 tons of which are in storage in Britain and France, where Japan sent spent fuel to be reprocessed from the 1980s, and 6 tons in Japan…………………the changing international political climate could affect Japan’s plans. Under the new administration of President Barack Obama, the United States will likely shift away from its nuclear fuel recycling policy.

asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Hiccups causing major delays at nuclear plant – English

March 4, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan