Five nuclear power plants that have passed safety clearances may be at risk of having their cooling systems crippled during huge eruptions of nearby volcanoes, the nation’s nuclear safety watchdog said Monday.
The five plants are Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai and Genkai plants in Kagoshima and Saga prefectures, respectively, the Mihama and Oi plants, both in Fukui Prefecture and run by Kansai Electric Power Co., and the Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture run by Shikoku Electric Power Co.
Additional research and data have revealed that the possible concentration of volcanic ash from huge eruptions could soar up to around 100 times that previously estimated. The findings emerged only after screenings of the plants by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
According to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, the concentration of volcanic ash that would be spewed could exceed the limit of the plants’ air filters.
In the event that volcanoes nearby erupt, the five plants and eight of their reactors could lose their external power supply and their emergency diesel generators would be rendered useless, according to the nuclear authority.
It now aims to raise the density level of volcanic ash that can affect nuclear plants by 100 times the current level, while pressing utilities to upgrade their air filters.
Reactor No. 3 at the Ikata plant and reactors Nos. 3 and 4 at the Genkai plant top the list of those most likely to be affected by clogged filters.
News of the findings by the NRA followed Kyushu Electric Power’s move Friday requesting that the regulatory agency perform inspections on the No. 4 reactor at the Genkai plant because it aims to put the reactor back online in early March. Pre-operational checks are the last procedure on the list to be carried out before a nuclear reactor can restart.
Kyushu Electric plans to load 193 fuel assemblies into the reactor in February. After reactivating it in early March, commercial operations scheduled to start in April. If things work out as planned, the No. 4 reactor will be active for the first time since December 2011, when it was halted for routine checkups.
On March 11 of that year, reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant were crippled following a powerful earthquake and massive tsunami, resulting in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The tsunami inundated the six-reactor plant, located 10 meters above sea level, and flooded power supply facilities there.
Reactor cooling systems were crippled. Reactors Nos. 1 to 3 suffered fuel meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged the buildings housing reactors No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4.
The five nuclear plants passed the tougher safety requirements introduced after the Fukushima meltdowns.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/19/national/cooling-systems-five-nra-cleared-nuke-plants-fail-nearby-volcanoes-erupt/#.WcGPZBdx3rc
September 20, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | NPPs, Volcano-Vulnerable |
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Kyushu Electric Power Co. aims to bring the No. 4 unit (left) at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture back online in early March.
SAGA – Kyushu Electric Power Co. on Friday has asked the Nuclear Regulation Authority to perform pre-operation inspections for the No. 4 reactor at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, telling the regulator it aims to put the reactor back online in early March.
Pre-use checks are the last procedure on the list for restarting a nuclear reactor.
Kyushu Electric plans to load 193 fuel assemblies into the reactor in February. After reactivating it in early March, the utility plans to start commercial operations in April.
If things work out as planned, the No. 4 reactor will be active for the first time since December 2011, when it was halted it for routine checkups.
In January this year, the NRA concluded that the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the plant in the town of Genkai meet the tougher safety standards introduced in July 2013 after the triple core meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture in March 2011.
The two reactors have passed all screenings required for reactivation. The Saga prefectural and Genkai municipal governments have already approved the restarts.
The No. 3 reactor is currently undergoing pre-use inspections and is expected to go back online in early January.
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.japantimes.co.jp%2Fnews%2F2017%2F09%2F15%2Fnational%2Fkyushu-electric-plans-restart-genkai-no-4-reactor-march%2F%23.Wbv2yrLyu3A&h=ATNLamXCCrPh6XY_RaeC4xDGzLRNIeTPsj1lMSVqe9DYkKBqZbplKHRkPvrBWTrDrl1sfIFuSuMVxqHlQwSl00bd3yfnW-hzr9YKhjURM8CKFWP_cCkDsIiwA6_igmTWjcAYLUSExvuw52tdtNUCIz81HKAvjT2ubbra7dH95Dp9u-Ftq2VJVRPziU21J3EGoYcuIlQkbfDFM7C8iXkJobR12ZAGFYx4G9Vu330iyvNpXXJzU9rpYtgL9ytpKmXP_1y0drRDWcO98YSVMktOm16x46zT0Xz8-JkW9ih6Dg
September 20, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | Genkai NPP |
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Japan won’t accept North Korea as nuclear power, Abe says, Nikkei Asian Review, 14 Sept
Prime minister vows to fortify defense, but rejects pursuit of strike capability, TOKYO — As North Korea rapidly develops its nuclear weapons capability and China grows as the top economic and military power in the region, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear program and to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities in an interview with The Nikkei and the Nikkei Asian Review……..
“The international community must put pressure on North Korea until it commits to give up the nuclear weapons program. There is little point pursuing dialogue for the sake of dialogue. It has to be aimed at changing North Korea’s policies. We welcome that a new sanctions resolution was passed by the U.N. Security Council at such a speed and in a unanimous vote with support from both China and Russia…..”
September 16, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, politics international |
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Science Direct (accessed) 11th Sept 2017, Arnie Gundersen & Marco Kaltofen: Radioactively-hot particles detected in dusts and soils from Northern Japan by combination of gamma spectrometry,
autoradiography, and SEM/EDS analysis and implications in radiation risk
assessment. After the March 11, 2011, nuclear reactor meltdowns at
Fukushima Dai-ichi, 180 samples of Japanese particulate matter (dusts and
surface soils) and 235 similar U.S. and Canadian samples were collected and
analyzed sequentially by gamma spectrometry, autoradiography, and scanning
electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717317953
September 16, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
environment, Japan |
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TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog on Wednesday deferred giving safety clearance for two idle Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. reactors on the Sea of Japan coast, although its chairman said the utility was “qualified” as a nuclear plant operator.
Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said following Wednesday’s meeting that Tepco, operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, was qualified but needs to stipulate its resolve to ensure safe operation of nuclear plants in its safety rules.
“It’s insecure” if Tepco expresses its resolve to ensure safety only in words, Tanaka told a press conference.
Safety rules need to be approved by the regulator and if there is a grave violation the regulator can demand that the utility halt nuclear power operations.
The regulator will formally inform the utility’s president, Tomoaki Kobayakawa, about the matter on Sept. 20. A final decision on whether Tepco is fit to be an operator will be made following discussions with the economy, trade and industry minister.
If Tepco agrees to include its resolve to ensure safety in its safety rules, the regulator will compile a draft document for the Nos. 6 and 7 reactors at Tepco’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture that will serve as certification that the utility has satisfied new safety requirements implemented since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The regulator had been expected at Wednesday’s meeting to confirm that the units have cleared the new safety requirements, but it reversed course after facing criticism over a lack of debate on whether the operator is fit to run a nuclear power plant.
For a reactor to be restarted, it first needs to clear the stiffer safety requirements introduced in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, which was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. Tepco filed for safety assessments of the two units in September 2013.
According to sources close to the matter, the regulator had planned to give safety clearance while Tanaka was still on the board. Tanaka’s term expires on Sept. 18, although he will continue to work until Sept. 22.
The regulator had reached a near consensus on the issue of Tepco’s qualification when its members previously met on Sept. 6.
During the summer, the regulator questioned the Tepco management, including Kobayakawa, about its nuclear safety awareness. In July, Tanaka criticized Tepco’s attitude, saying, “An operator, which cannot take concrete measures for decommissioning efforts at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, does not have the right to resume operation of nuclear reactors.”
Tanaka urged the utility to further explain in writing issues such as how to deal with contaminated water at the Fukushima plant.
While Tepco, in its subsequent written response, did not give details about what it would do regarding the contaminated water, it did pledge to see through the scrapping of the plant, gaining a certain level of understanding from the regulator.
Meanwhile, the prospect of gaining local consent needed for the restart of the two reactors remains uncertain, with Niigata Gov. Ryuichi Yoneyama saying it will take “around three to four years” for the utility to win local consent for the envisioned restart.
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170914/p2g/00m/0dm/006000c
September 15, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP, NRA, Restart |
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Japan’s nuclear regulators have affirmed that Tokyo Electric Power Company is eligible to operate nuclear reactors again, but they have imposed some conditions.
The members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority made the decision at a meeting on Wednesday.
They have been debating whether or not to give the utility a green light to restart 2 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan.
TEPCO is the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.
During the meeting, a plan was put forth. According to the plan, TEPCO must express in its safety regulations its determination to tackle the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant and its determination to prioritize safety over economic efficiency. In return, the regulators will certify that the company is eligible to operate nuclear reactors.
The plan also requires the industry ministry to make its intention to supervise the company clear.
At the meeting on Wednesday, the regulators agreed to certify that TEPCO is eligible to operate reactors as long as the industry ministry and the president of TEPCO agree to the provisions in the plan.
The regulators will compile a report that will effectively certify that TEPCO has their approval to restart the 2 reactors in Niigata.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170913_34/
September 14, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | Eligibility, Tepco |
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The nation’s nuclear watchdog gave conditional approval Sept. 13 to Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s application to resume operations of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.
It marks the first time that reactors operated by TEPCO, which manages the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have passed more stringent reactor regulations imposed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority after the triple meltdown in 2011.
The two reactors at the plant in Niigata Prefecture–the No. 6 and No. 7 units–are the first boiling-water reactors in Japan to clear the regulations. They are the same type as the reactors at the Fukushima plant.
The NRA already accepts that TEPCO has the technological know-how to operate the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, one of the world’s largest.
But it had harbored doubts about the company’s fitness to operate a nuclear plant, given its tendency to put its balance sheet ahead of safety precautions.
The NRA ordered TEPCO to provide in the legally required safety code a detailed explanation of procedures it will take to ensure that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is operated safely.
That way, the watchdog body aims to make the utility legally accountable if problems arise.
It will also closely monitor the utility’s actions in adhering to the safety code once the NRA approves the measures proposed by TEPCO.
The NRA will summon Tomoaki Kobayakawa, the new president of TEPCO, to request a more demanding safety code from the company.
As another condition for a restart, the NRA called for the industry ministry’s clear-cut commitment to oversee TEPCO’s compliance with safety if it is satisfied with the utility’s pledge to respond appropriately to the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The industry ministry oversees the nuclear industry.
Despite the NRA’s conditional approval, the utility will need to gain consent from local governments for a restart.
Niigata Governor Ryuichi Yoneyama, who took office last year, has made it clear that he will not agree to the restart until the prefectural government completes its investigation into the Fukushima nuclear disaster to determine what went wrong. The investigation is expected to take several years.
In an effort to underscore its eligibility as an operator of a nuclear plant, TEPCO submitted a written pledge in August that it is “determined to take the initiative in addressing the needs of victims in Fukushima Prefecture and accomplish the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.”
If the safety code and the industry minister’s commitment are secured, the NRA concluded that the utility will be eligible to resume operations of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the NRA, said at the Sept. 13 meeting that TEPCO’s vow in August is “binding.”
The NRA indicated that if TEPCO fails to adhere to its “promise” to heed to safety, it will exercise the power to suspend the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s operations or revoke its license to operate it.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has seven reactors. The No. 6 reactor and the No. 7 reactor started operations in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Each has a capacity of 1.36 gigawatts.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709130058.html
September 14, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP, Restart |
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Japan commission supports nuclear power despite Fukushima, Kedger Enquirer
BY MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 TOKYO
Japan’s nuclear policy-setting Atomic Energy Commission called Thursday for nuclear power to remain a key component of the country’s energy supply despite broad public support for a less nuclear-reliant society.
The commission recommended in a report that nuclear power account for at least 20 percent of Japan’s energy supply in 2030, citing a previous government energy plan. It said rising utility costs caused by expensive fossil fuel imports and slow reactor restarts have affected Japan’s economy……..
Thursday’s report comes as regulators are making final preparations to certify the safety of two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in northern Japan, also operated by TEPCO. The utility says restarting the Kashiwazaki plant, one of its three nuclear plants, is vital to finance the massive cost of the Fukushima cleanup and compensation for disaster-hit residents.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday deemed TEPCO “competent” to run the plant safely and its final greenlight is expected within weeks, though its actual restart could be months away, after an on-site inspection and local consent. Many Japanese oppose the Kashiwazaki plant’s restart, saying TEPCO should not be allowed to operate a nuclear plant until it fully investigates the cause of the Fukushima accident and completes the cleanup.
The report also endorsed Japan’s ambitious pursuit of a nuclear fuel cycle program using plutonium, despite a decision last year to scrap the Monju reactor, a centerpiece of the plutonium fuel program, following decades of poor safety records and technical problems. Japan faces growing international scrutiny over its plutonium stockpile because the element can be used to make atomic weapons.
Japan currently has a stockpile of 47 tons of plutonium — 10 tons at home and the rest in Britain and France, which reprocess and store spent fuel for Japan. Japan plans to start up its controversial Rokkasho reprocessing plant next year, but critics say that would only add to the problem.
Without the prospect of achieving a plutonium-burning fast reactor, Japan has resorted to burning a mixture of plutonium and uranium fuel called MOX in conventional reactors as a last ditch measure to consume plutonium. The report calls it “the only realistic method of making use of plutonium.”
The need to reduce its plutonium stockpile adds to Japan’s push for reactor restarts. It would require 16 to 18 reactors to burn enough MOX to keep its plutonium stockpile from growing, according to a pre-Fukushima accident target set by the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, an umbrella group for Japanese utilities. The target is unchanged, though widely seen as too optimistic.
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/mari%20yamaguchi http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/business/article173245106.html
September 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, politics |
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Times 7th Sept 2017, Japan should discuss hosting nuclear weapons on its territory, a former
defence minister said in a sign that the North Korean threat is changing
the military balance in the region. In what would once have been a shocking
breach of taboo in the only country to have suffered the ravages of atomic
bombs, Shigeru Ishiba said that Japan should debate the abolition of what
are known as the “three non-nuclear principles” — not producing or
possessing nuclear weapons or allowing them on Japanese soil.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/we-should-break-taboo-around-nuclear-weapons-former-japan-minister-says-jpr6sppl2
September 11, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, weapons and war |
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https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170910_02/ People in the Japanese city of Nagasaki have staged a sit-in to voice their opposition to the use of nuclear weapons. This comes amid growing concerns over North Korea’s military provocations.
The protest was held on Saturday as North Korea marked the 69th anniversary of the country’s founding.
Nagasaki suffered an atomic bombing toward the end of World War Two. The attack occurred on August 9th, 1945. A group of survivors and others hold an event to remember the bombing on the 9th of every month at the city’s Nagasaki Peace Park.
About 80 people, including survivors of the atomic bombing and high school students, took part in Saturday’s protest.
Koichi Kawano, who heads a group of survivors, says he wants to urge the Japanese government to do more to discourage Pyongyang from conducting nuclear tests.
Another participant, Sachiho Mizoguchi, is one of the high school students who ask people to sign a petition calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. She said she took part in the sit-in to protest against the North’s nuclear tests.
Eiji Okumura, a survivor of the atomic bombing, says North Korea conducted a nuclear test after the United Nations took a step toward the creation of a nuclear-free world by adopting a treaty that banned nuclear weapons. Okamura said he cannot tolerate the North’s latest nuclear test, and he wants to express his anger through the sit-in.
September 11, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, opposition to nuclear |
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Japanese nuclear plant may be on quake fault line https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/19/nuclear.japan
· Leak during tremor worse than originally admitted
· IAEA calls for openness in investigation of errors Justin McCurry in Tokyo , July 2007 The world’s biggest nuclear power station faces an uncertain future after it emerged yesterday that it may lie directly above the fault line that triggered Monday’s earthquake in which nine people died and more than 1,000 were injured.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant – the biggest in the world in terms of output capacity – shook violently when a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Niigata prefecture in northern Japan on Monday morning. The plant was not designed to resist shaking caused by earthquakes of greater than magnitude 6.5.
On another day of embarrassment for Japan’s nuclear power industry, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates the plant, said the amount of radioactivity in water that leaked into the sea during the earthquake was 50% higher than it had originally said. The firm blamed a calculation error and said the levels were still well within safety standards.
Late yesterday it also said that 400 drums – not 100 as first reported – of low-level radioactive waste had toppled over during the quake. About 40 lost their lids, spilling their contents on to the ground as they fell. The spillage was one of more than 50 malfunctions the plant experienced in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
International nuclear inspectors said they were concerned by Tepco’s apparent lack of preparedness for such a powerful quake.
“It is clear that this earthquake … was stronger than what the reactor was designed for,” Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “I would hope and I trust that Japan would be fully transparent in its investigation.”
The mayor of Kashiwazaki, Hiroshi Aida, ordered Tepco to close the plant indefinitely. “The safety of the plant must be assured before it is reopened,” he said. The closure has forced the firm to ask six other power utilities to supply it with additional electricity through to the end of September to avoid power cuts when demand peaks later this summer.
Tepco is under pressure to explain why it took so long to inform the authorities of radioactive leaks and why just four employees were on hand to tackle a fire inside an electrical transformer that was extinguished only after firefighters arrived almost 90 minutes later.
The mishaps have raised questions about the wisdom of building nuclear power stations in a country where earth tremors are recorded, on average, every few minutes. New safety regulations were brought in last year, but upgrading ageing reactors to withstand larger tremors will require huge investment.
Akira Fukushima, of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said no irregularities had been found in critical areas of the plant, but added: “It is possible that the epicentre fault line does run beneath the power plant.”
Inspectors reportedly identified four fault lines in the area while conducting a geological survey before work began on the Kashiwazaki plant in 1980, but concluded that they were inactive.
The Citizen’s Nuclear Information Centre said that the fault believed to have triggered the earthquake was not discovered during pre-construction surveys. “Clearly Japan’s earthquake safety standards are inadequate,” it said in a statement.
Tepco’s president, Tsunehisa Katsumata, defended the firm. “It is hard to make everything go perfectly … I think fundamentally we have confirmed that our safety measures work,” he said.
Japan, which has very few indigenous energy sources, depends on 55 nuclear plants for 30% of its electricity. Despite mounting public opposition, it plans to increase capacity to 40% by the end of the decade.
September 9, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, safety |
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World’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant One Step Closer To Operation http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Worlds-Largest-Nuclear-Power-Plant-One-Step-Closer-To-Operation.html By Irina Slav – Sep 07, 2017, The Kashiwasaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s largest, may get clearance to resume operations after six years of dormancy following the Fukushima disaster. The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) granted the plant’s operator, Tepco, a qualified approval of its safety plan, and it could grant it effective approval as early as next week.
While the watchdog could issue a formal approval for Kashiwasaki-Kariwa’s restart later this fall, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, the actual resumption of the reactors is questionable: there is strong local community opposition to nuclear power as fears of another meltdown still linger.
Regulators have conducted technical safety evaluations of the plant, whose reactors are of the same kind as those that melted down in Fukushima, but there are still some reservations regarding Tepco’s safety efforts. The NRA has requested that Tepco’s proposed safety measures for Kashiwasaki-Kariwa be made more legally binding, and has set up a panel to devise ways to guarantee the utility keeps its word.
Even if the NRA approves the restart of the plant, however, the Niigata prefecture is unlikely to support it with an approval of its own. The governor, Ryuchi Yoneyama, is an outspoken opponent of nuclear power, and following the news of NRA’s pending approval said that the prefecture had “absolutely no intention of approving a restart” of the Kashiwasaki-Kariwa facility before an safety inspection of Fukushima was completed.
Tepco first applied for approval to restart two of Kashiwasaki-Kariwa’s seven reactors back in 2013, and has since worked to fulfill all safety requirements that regulators imposed. The company’s shares, however, jumped 3 percent on the news of NRA’s approval despite the slim chance of Kashiwasaki-Kariwa actually returning to operation.
The Fukushima disaster, caused by a tsunami in 2011, displaced 160,000 people, many of them permanently, and led to the shut down of all 50 nuclear reactors in the country. The cost of the disaster is estimated at US$197 billion.
September 9, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, politics |
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Nuclear regulator does dizzying U-turn on TEPCO reactor restart plans
From left, the No. 5, 6 and 7 reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant are seen in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in this April 21, 2016 file photo.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the utility responsible for the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and its March 2011 triple meltdown, is aiming to get the reactors at its other power plants back on line.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which must approve any restarts, had been holding to a very strict line on TEPCO applications. However, on Sept. 6 the NRA abruptly changed track, taking a more sympathetic attitude and indicating that the No. 6 and 7 reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture would likely pass their safety inspections — a prerequisite for restart approval.
Despite the NRA’s suddenly sunny attitude, the prefectural government has not budged from its more cautious position. And TEPCO, which has made the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant a chief pillar of its business recovery plans, cannot flip the reactors’ “on” switch without the prefecture’s imprimatur, meaning the plant still has no clear restart schedule.
When the NRA summoned TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa and other top managers on July 10 this year to testify on the utility’s competence to keep running nuclear plants, authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka was unequivocal and unforgiving.
Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka speaks to the Mainichi Shimbun during an Aug. 29, 2017 interview. (Mainichi)
“If TEPCO is unwilling or unable to finalize the decommissioning of the Fukushima (No. 1 station) reactors, it is simply not qualified to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant,” Tanaka told the executives, adding, “I don’t see TEPCO showing any independent initiative whatsoever.”
The NRA chairman was referring to the longstanding problems with contaminated water and radioactive waste disposal plaguing TEPCO’s Fukushima plant decommissioning efforts. The utility tends to focus too much on trying to read the government’s mind on any and all Fukushima issues — an attitude that has long drawn NRA criticism.
When the NRA inspected the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s No. 6 and 7 reactors, it added a new evaluation category to the usual technological checklist, though it was not part of the new safety standards: “eligibility.” That is, TEPCO’s eligibility to run a nuclear power plant at all. After all, it was one of TEPCO’s plants that had succumbed to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. “TEPCO is different from other (power) companies,” Tanaka had said.
TEPCO President Kobayakawa and Chairman Takashi Kawamura are also a source of NRA concern. The two had no role in the utility’s response to the 2011 meltdowns, and Kobayakawa replaced a much more experienced hand in Naomi Hirose, a TEPCO managing director when the disaster struck. After his NRA dressing-down in July, Kobayakawa apparently visited the Fukushima disaster zone seven times.
However, there has been an apparent U-turn in Tanaka’s stance. A document submitted on Aug. 25 to the NRA under Kobayakawa’s name was sewn with phrases like, “We will carry the (Fukushima) reactor decommissioning through to the end,” and other terms suggesting a determined TEPCO attitude. At the same time, the document was bereft of details on specific preparedness measures or progress benchmarks for the decommissioning work.
Nevertheless, when Kobayakawa again appeared before the NRA on Aug. 30, the body indicated its acceptance of TEPCO’s position. Taking the contaminated water problem “as one example,” Tanaka stated that he recognized TEPCO’s lack of concrete countermeasure planning couldn’t be helped under the circumstances. One NRA executive revealed to the Mainichi Shimbun, “We avoided demanding a detailed (disposal measures) plan because we don’t legally have that authority, and doing so could pose legal risks.”
Pro-TEPCO sentiment was on conspicuous display when the NRA met again on Sept. 6, including acting Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa’s declaration that he “felt TEPCO’s drive to pass on the lessons of the (Fukushima nuclear) accident.”
Committee member Nobuhiko Ban stated that while the document the utility had submitted in the summer was a “declaration of intent,” he was “concerned over whether this alone can constitute eligibility” to run a nuclear plant. However, Tanaka wrapped up discussion by saying that “circumstances are not such that we can deny (TEPCO’s) eligibility.”
Tanaka will leave his NRA post on Sept. 18 after completing his five-year term in the chairmanship, and at a post-meeting news conference he was asked if he had wanted to bring the TEPCO issue to a close while in office.
“I can’t say that I’ve never felt that way,” Tanaka replied.
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170907/p2a/00m/0na/019000c
NRA doubts TEPCO’s safety vow in Niigata, plans legal move
Tokyo Electric Power Co. wants to restart the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors, shown in the forefront, at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority, skeptical of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s promise to put safety ahead of profits, plans to gain legal assurances before allowing the embattled utility to start operating nuclear reactors again.
TEPCO has applied to restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, which would be the first run by the company since the disaster unfolded at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011.
Although NRA members agreed that the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant passed new regulations on technological aspects, they could not agree on whether the company has learned its lessons about safety management since the triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant.
To ensure TEPCO will put safety at the forefront of its operations, the NRA is considering holding the utility legally responsible for completing the entire decommissioning process of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The regulator expects to draft a checklist to verify the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s safety and other steps before it makes a final decision on whether to allow TEPCO to restart the reactors. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13.
The NRA had previously determined that 12 reactors at six nuclear plants met new nuclear reactor regulations shortly after completion of their technological examinations.
The NRA also finished its technological examinations of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors, the newest ones at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
The plant has seven reactors, making it one of the largest nuclear power stations in the world. The two reactors that TEPCO wants to put online each has a capacity of 1.36 gigawatts.
TEPCO has said the resumption of the reactors are needed to turn around its business fortunes.
But NRA commissioners are reluctant to allow TEPCO to bring the plant online based solely on the results of the technological screening.
After the chairman and president of the utility were replaced in June, the NRA summoned the new top executives in July.
The watchdog demanded that they give a written response to the regulator’s position that TEPCO “is not qualified to operate the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, given the seeming lack of determination and spotty track record to take the initiative in decommissioning (the Fukushima No. 1 plant).”
In August, the company submitted a paper to the NRA promising to “take the initiative in addressing the problem of victims of the nuclear disaster and to fulfill the task to decommission the plant.”
The paper also said the company “has no intention whatsoever to place economic performance over safety at the (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa) plant.”
Tomoaki Kobayakawa, the new president of TEPCO, called the paper a “promise to the public.”
Although the NRA commissioners on Sept. 6 recognized TEPCO’s commitment to safety to a certain degree, doubts remained.
Nobuhiko Ban, an NRA member who is a specialist on radiological protection, called for a system that would keep TEPCO committed to safety management in the future.
“Is it all right for us to take TEPCO’s vow at face value?” he said.
The NRA then decided to consider legal ways to hold TEPCO accountable for safety issues.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709070026.html
September 7, 2017
Posted by dunrenard |
Japan | Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP, NRC, Reactor Restart, Tepco |
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Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has announced that the “ice wall” (formally known as the “Land-Side Impermeable Wall”) under construction at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan has been
critically affected by rainfall from recent typhoons that have melted parts of the ice structure, allowing new pathways for highly contaminated waterto leak from the basements of the reactor buildings.
http://enformable.com/2016/09/ice-wall-fukushima-daiichi-damaged-recent-typhoons-japan/
September 6, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Fukushima continuing |
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Nuclear plant operator halts uranium production, https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170903_04/, The operator of a uranium enrichment plant in northern Japan has suspended uranium production to see if there are problems with its quality control system.
The plant in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture, is the only commercial facility in Japan to enrich uranium for nuclear power generation. A division of Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited that operates the plant was ordered to improve its quality control system last year.
It reported to the president that steps were taken, which turned out not to be true.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority then approved measures to prevent similar irregularities. The operator met the government requirements for producing uranium in May.
In one of a series of safety mishaps, a fire started at an emergency power generator. The operator had failed to replace parts for 28 years, more than 10 years longer than recommended by the manufacturer.
Officials at the authority said they wonder if the operator has the ability to determine problems and challenges. Japan Nuclear Fuel decided to take uranium out from enrichment facilities and once again check quality control problems.
September 4, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Japan, reprocessing |
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nuclear-news 