End of the line for Japan’s dangerous, super expensive fast breeder nuclear reactor
Japanese parliamentarian and a critic of nuclear power Taro Kono said: ”We spend billions of yen every year just to maintain Monju. It’s crazy. We spend so much money just to keep things not running.”…
critics and nuclear watchdog groups call Monju Japan’s most dangerous reactor, because it uses plutonium fuel and cools its reactor with sodium, which can explode if it comes into contact with water.
Fast-breeder reactor faces closure, The Age, February 2, 2012 TSURUGA: Japan’s long and expensive pursuit of a super-efficient nuclear reactor is on the brink of failure amid new government concerns about its runaway costs.
The four-decade project to develop a so-called fast-breeder reactor has consumed more than $13 billion in funding, so far producing onlyaccidents, controversies and a single hour of electricity. Continue reading
Reprocessing not the answer to nuclear waste, say USA Government Accountability Office
“No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments — including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies — have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer,’’ the report said…..
A Long, Long Road to Recycling Nuclear Fuel, NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 15 Nov 11, The question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel from civilian power reactors has stirred renewed interest in reprocessing — that is, chopping up the fuel, retrieving materials that can power a reactor and possibly recovering the most troublesome waste products so they can be broken up in the reactor into easier-to-handle elements.
But the Energy Department, which is supposed to is evaluate different ways that the used fuel could be recycled, has a long way to go, according to the Government Accountability Office. Continue reading
USA’s MOX plutonium nuclear fuel plant a costly, dangerous, flop
“The government would be crazy to consider building another MOX plant. MOX cannot be recycled.”….
The Bomb Plant: A MOX White Elephant?, DC Bureau By Joseph Trento, on October 20th, 2011 The National Nuclear Security Administration may have a $10 billion taxpayer-financed white elephant on its hands based on Britain’s experience with a similar plant that has been shuttered after a decade of failed operations. Continue reading
Plutonium nuclear plant project stopped, – Japan
Japan utility to freeze nuclear power project, Monsters and Critics, Oct 17, 2011, Tokyo – Hokkaido Electric Power Co said Monday it would postpone a plutonium-thermal power generation project at its nuclear power plant on Japan’s northern island, after the company was accused of manipulating public opinion.
A report filed by an independent panel said the utility had asked employees and residents supporting the project to express opinion in favour of the nuclear energy at symposiums and other events organized by the central and local governments.
Hokkaido Electric was planning to implement its so-called pluthermal power generation in spring of 2012 at reactor 3 at the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant on the island.
Hokkaido Electric president Yoshitaka Sato told a news conference that the utility would accept the findings by the panel set up by the company to investigate the scandal…..
The scandal reinforced public mistrust in the nuclear power industry and apparently made it difficult for the restart of idled nuclear reactors….. Plutonium-thermal generation uses fuel made from a mixed oxide of plutonium and uranium (MOX fuel)… http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1669319.php/Japan-utility-to-freeze-nuclear-power-project
Concern over India’s Kalpakkam nuclear reprocessing facility
Indian peace activists have expressed suspicions that the plutonium separated at Indian civilian reprocessing facilities will be diverted and used to increase the country’s stock of atomic weapons.
Technological preparations towards the building of a full-scale fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam are reportedly in an advanced stage.
Anti-Nuclear Struggle Has Large Fallout, International News Magazine, 05 October 2011 Peter Custers “……..The Kalpakkam complex does not just harbour a nuclear power plant, but also a reprocessing facility- a plant where nuclear fuel rods, after they have outlived their use in reactors, are chemically treated so as to extract raw materials for re-use as energy source.
Storage of such high-level waste in tanks has resulted in catastrophic accidents, Continue reading
Nuclear Reprocessing not looking good, following France’s nuclear accident
French Nuke Accident Leads India To Reexamine Its Nuclear Ambitions, Forbes, Erica Giles, 20 Sept 11, “……..reprocessing is no silver bullet; in fact, it has created a bitter divide among nuclear experts – and not just because it can be a gateway to proliferation, as India itself so aptly demonstrated in 1974. “At this point, it’s like creationism versus evolution,” said Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, indicating that in his view, the anti-reprocessing camp has science on its side.
Reprocessing via the current commercial-scale process used in France, called PUREX, recovers only a small amount of additional energy and is more expensive than using virgin uranium, he said. And instead of reducing waste, it merely changes its form. “There’s no feasible, practical way to take material from the waste and use it in a nuclear power system so you could get rid of it over any kind of reasonable time frame,” he said.
Many Indians are protesting their country’s rapid nuclear expansion, most recently exemplified by a mass fast in Tamil Nadu state against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project. But neither their concerns nor nuclear accidents are likely to alter India’s plans…. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericagies/2011/09/19/french-nuclear-explosion-causes-india-to-think-hard-about-its-nuclear-ambitions/
Isle of Man wants full closedown of Sellafield nuclear plant
Closure of nuclear plant is welcomed, Isle of man Examiner, 4 August 2011 GREEN campaigners and the island’s Environment Minister have welcomed news that a part of the reprocessing operation at Sellafield nuclear plant is to close…
Japan was the only customer for the MOX plant,
Environment Minister John Shimmin welcomed the news but pointed out the MOX plant was only a small part of the operation at Sellafield. The Manx government’s long-held policy is to call for the full closure of all operations at Sellafield. Continue reading
No more MOX plutonium fuel to be processed at Sellafield
UK Plutonium-Processing Plant to Close, 9 News. 4 Aug 11, A British nuclear agency says the country’s only plutonium-processing plant will be closed in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster.The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said on Wednesday the “risk profile” of its Sellafield mixed oxide fuel plant had changed following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant….environmental campaigners say the plant’s closure highlights what they describe as the folly of the country’s nuclear industry. The recycled nuclear fuel, referred to as MOX, was also used at the Fukushima plant.http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8281227/uk-plutonium-processing-plant-to-close
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Nuclear reprocessing plant closes down
Globally, the shutdown leaves just one other commercial MOX facility operating globally: the French MELOX plant located in Gard.
UK closes key nuclear reprocessing plant – Nature News Blog August 03, 2011 Today the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced the closure of the Mixed Oxide fuel fabrication facility at Sellafield. “The reason for this is directly related to the tragic events in Japan and its ongoing impact on the power markets,” Tony Fountain, the decommissioning authority’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. Continue reading
USA’s pro nuclear Blue Ribbon Waste Commission rejects nuclear reprocessing
The good news: The BRC rejects reprocessing for now. The report states: “No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments—including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies—have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer.
Waste Commission rubberstamps more nuclear, but rejects reprocessing – for now Beyond Nuclear 30 July 11, A year and a half after its creation, on July 29th Energy Secretary Chu’s “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future” (BRC) has published its draft report of recommendations for dealing with the mountain of U.S. high-level radioactive waste now nearly 70 years high. Continue reading
The massive costs of disposing of spent nuclear fuel
Contrary to power company figures, cost of nuclear power generation highest: research, Mainichi daily News, 23 July 11 “……There’s also a problem that’s specific to nuclear energy. As Oshima points out, massive amounts of money are needed to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, Continue reading
Japan might suspend developing its troubled fast breeder reactor
Unlike regular light-water reactors fueled by uranium, the Monju reactor, operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, runs on an oxide mix of plutonium and uranium, or MOX, made from spent nuclear fuel from existing plants.
The reactor first achieved criticality in 1994, but was shut down due to a serious accident involving a leak of sodium coolant and a resulting fire in 1995.
Science minister says gov’t will mull halting Monju prototype reactor project, Mainichi Japan) July 15, 2011TOKYO (Kyodo) — Science minister Yoshiaki Takaki indicated Friday that the government will consider suspending the development of the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju in the wake of the country’s worst nuclear crisis that continues at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Continue reading
Long Branch Center refutes any need for USA nuclear reprocessing
Local environmental group submits comment on nuclear-fuel reprocessing facilities, Mountain Xpress, by Margaret Williams 10 July 11Secretary
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff
fax 301-415-1101
Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov
Re: Comment on Docket ID NRC–2010–0267, NRC “Draft Regulatory Basis for a Potential Rulemaking on Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facilities” Continue reading
AREVA pushing for nuclear reprocessing in USA
Areva sees nuclear waste recycling planning by 2015 (Reuters) By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON | Mon Jun 6, 2011– Areva hopes that by 2015, it can start planning construction of a facility for recycling nuclear waste in the United States, an executive for the French nuclear power company said on Monday.
Jacques Besnainou, head of Areva’s North American unit, said the company was in discussions with several utilities about forming an alliance to advocate for a recycling center……Areva has said it would cost about $25 billion to build a recycling center in the United States. Besnainou suggested part of the funding for the project could come from the federal government’s Nuclear Waste Fund, which brings in about $750 million in fees annually from U.S. ratepayers….
Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant the world’s most dangerous complex
Making Hamaoka a special concern to its opponents is the presence of plutonium. Chubu is the only utility in Japan to have signed a contract to process mixed oxide fuel containing plutonium and uranium with the Sellafield plant in the UK.
The industry’s clout, its collusion with government watchdogs and a largely
compliant media have helped smother concerns about this potentially explosive collision of state-of-the-art atomic power with primordial seismic instability
‘We all said disaster would strike here, not Fukushima’, The Independent, 3 May 11, After a 40-year campaign, warnings about the vast nuclear power station on Japan’s earthquake faultline are finally being heard. By David McNeill in Omaezeki and Nanako Otani, Norihiko Watanabe is pointing to his home, 600m from what he calls the most dangerous nuclear power complex on the planet. “There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world,” he says, eyes widening. “If it blows up, we’re all finished.” Continue reading
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