nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

China again delays building Westinghouse-designed AP1000 nuclear reactor, because of safety worries

China nuclear reactor delayed again on ‘safety concerns’ https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/china-nuclear-reactor-delayed-again-on-safety-concerns.html

  • Fuel loading at the world’s first Westinghouse-designed AP1000 nuclear reactor on China’s east coast has been delayed due to “safety concerns” — the latest in a long line of setbacks for the project.
  • Officials with the U.S.-based Westinghouse had expected fuel loading to start last year, and it would have been followed by around six months of performance tests before the reactor could go into full operation in 2018.

Fuel loading at the world’s first Westinghouse-designed AP1000 nuclear reactor on China’s east coast has been delayed due to “safety concerns” — the latest in a long line of setbacks for the project, the China Daily reported on Tuesday.

The third-generation reactor, located in Sanmen in Zhejiang province, was originally expected to make its debut in 2014.

Officials with U.S.-based Westinghouse had expected fuel loading to start last year, and it would have been followed by around six months of performance tests before the reactor could go into full operation in 2018.

 But fuel loading has now been suspended as China tries to ensure the project meets the highest possible safety standards, the China Daily said, citing a spokesman with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

Westinghouse was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.

Westinghouse, owned by Japan’s Toshiba, signed an agreement in 2007 to build four AP1000 reactor units at two sites in China, hoping the projects would serve as a shop window for the firm.

But the company filed for bankruptcy last March, hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the United States.

China was originally seen as the lifeline for the global nuclear sector, with the country keen to approve dozens of new reactor projects to ease its dependence on polluting coal-fired electricity.

China is currently targeting total installed nuclear capacity of 58 gigawatts by the end of 2020, up from 35.8 gigawatts by the end of last year. It also said it would aim to have another 30 gigawatts under construction by the end of the decade.

But the pace of planned nuclear construction in the country was scaled back in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Delays to the Sanmen and Haiyang AP1000 projects, as well as the French-designed European Pressurised Reactor units at Taishan in Guangdong province, have held back the sector, and no new nuclear project has been approved in China in two years.

China’s nuclear firms are currently building their own homegrown third-generation reactor design known as the Hualong One.

February 14, 2018 Posted by | China, safety | Leave a comment

New types of nuclear weapons being developed by Pakistan

Pak developing new types of nuclear weapons: US, Economic Times, Feb 13, 2018,

  Pakistan is developing new types of nuclear weapons, including short-range tactical ones, that bring more risks to the region, America’s intelligence chief warned today.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats’ remarks came days after a group of Pakistan -based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists struck the Sunjuwan Military Camp in Jammu   on Saturday , killing seven people including six soldiers.

“Pakistan is developing new types of nuclear weapons, including short-range tactical weapons,” Coats told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats organised by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Pakistan continues to produce nuclear weapons and develop n ew types of nuclear weapons, including short-range tactical weapons, sea-based cruise missiles, air-launched cruise missiles, and longer-range ballistic missiles, he warned.

“These new types of nuclear weapons will introduce new risks for escalation of dynamics and security in the region,” Coats said, reflecting on the risks involved in developing such types of nuclear weapons. …….https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pak-developing-new-types-of-nuclear-weapons-us/articleshow/62907167.cms

February 14, 2018 Posted by | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear weapons – always the goal of India’s “peaceful” nuclear power

The Nation 11th Feb 2018, Indian army chief calls our strategic and tactical nuclear capability `a bluff’. His view may be rooted in India’s own bitter enrichment experience (1980-1985).

Ramana points out during initial operations that India’s enrichment plant `had frequent breakdown as a result of corrosion  and failure of parts’. `Many leaders of Indian Department of Atomic  Energy held that uranium enrichment was very difficult and were skeptical of Pakistani claims that they had succeeded in enriching uranium to weapons grade levels’.

From day one, India’s nuclear programme has been dual-use oriented. Nehru never ruled out the nuclear option for India . He wrote to Homi Bhabha `Apart from building power stations and developing electricity there is always a built-in advantage of defence use [of nuclear enrichment] if the need should arise’. According to Srinivasan, former head of Indian Atomic Energy Commission, `Nuclear technology was developed by a country for its own benefit, whether for peaceful purposes or military applications’.
https://nation.com.pk/11-Feb-2018/unmasking-india-s-secret-nuclear-capability

February 14, 2018 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Drone to examine highly radioactive debris inside Fukushima No. 3 reactor building

Drone to probe Fukushima N-plant interior, The Japan News , 10 Feb 18   The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to use a small unmanned aerial vehicle to closely inspect conditions inside the No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as early as this month.

TEPCO will use the drone to examine the location of scattered debris and the level of radiation inside the reactor building, among other things.

It will be the first drone-based research conducted inside the plant’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings, in which nuclear meltdowns occurred.

……..TEPCO’s plan is for the drone to enter the No. 3 reactor building through a bay for large cargo on the first floor, then fly upward through a series of openings from the first to the fifth floor.

The drone will check areas including the building’s third floor, which has not been sufficiently monitored because radiation levels are too high.

According to TEPCO, key equipment such as that used to cool spent nuclear fuel pools are located on the third floor.

Confirming the location of possible obstacles and the level of radiation is necessary before decommissioning work can progress.

………Work is currently under way to construct a dome-shaped roof over the building to facilitate the removal of fuel that remains in the spent fuel storage pools. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004230028

February 12, 2018 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Quiet diplomacy brought South and North Korean athletes together for the Winter Olympics

The Quiet Diplomacy to Save the Olympics in a Nuclear Standoff, NYT. By JANE PERLEZ, CHOE SANG-HUN and REBECCA R. RUIZ, 

BEIJING — In late December, a group of teenagers from North Korea traveled to the Chinese city of Kunming to play in an obscure under-15 soccer tournament. On the field, under a wintry sun, they faced teams from China and South Korea. Off the field, there was an unusual spectator: Choi Moon-soon, the governor of the province in South Korea hosting the Winter Olympics.

Mr. Choi had flown more than 1,000 miles to meet the North Korean officials accompanying the young players — and to make the case for North Korea to attend the Olympics. “We were looking for any contact with North Korea, and the youth soccer teams were the only inter-Korean exchange still going on,” he later recalled.

Even before Mr. Choi returned to South Korea, his government sent another signal: In a television interview, the South’s president, Moon Jae-in, said he favored postponing annual joint military exercises with the United States — an unmistakable overture to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who had long condemned the exercises.

Mr. Kim soon reciprocated, declaring at the start of the year that he was sending his athletes to the Olympics. There, they will march in the opening ceremony on Friday under a unified Korean flag with the South Koreans — a historic moment for the divided Korean Peninsula.

The 11th-hour accommodation was the culmination of months of quiet discussions and behind-the-scenes diplomacy aimed at persuading North Korea to attend the Olympics, much of which unfolded even as the isolated nation tested its first intercontinental ballistic missiles and detonated its most powerful nuclear device yet.

With President Trump threatening to respond to the North with “fire and fury,” the possibility of war on the Korean Peninsula overshadowed Olympic preparations, frightening fans and athletes alike, and prompting some nations to consider skipping the Games altogether.

But the International Olympic Committee and South Korea pressed ahead. It was too late to move the Games, and cancellation was unthinkable.

The best hope for success, organizers concluded, was to persuade North Korea to participate. If the North came to the Games, it seemed more likely to exercise restraint and refrain from the missile launches and nuclear tests that had rattled the world. Some, including Mr. Moon, argued that the Olympics could even be the start of talks to resolve the nuclear crisis.

But getting North Korea to attend the Games was a diplomatic puzzle in itself, especially amid escalating tensions. Those interested in a successful Olympics confronted a challenge similar to what diplomats trying to defuse the nuclear crisis had grappled with for years: Mr. Kim calls all the shots in North Korea, but no one knows what he wants and there are few channels for communicating with him………..

 in a surprise development on Wednesday, the North said that Mr. Kim’s influential sister, Kim Yo-jong, would attend the Games, making her the first immediate member of the North’s ruling family to set foot in the South.

White House officials have defended delaying the joint military exercises, saying that South Korea needed to focus on Olympic security for such a vital event. “For us it’s a practical matter,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters.

But the Olympics hardly resolve the nuclear standoff. Before heading to the Games, Vice President Mike Pence delivered perhaps his harshest remarks about the North Korean regime. “The American people, the people of Japan and freedom-loving people across the wider world long for the day when peace and prosperity replace Pyongyang’s belligerence and brutality,” he said.

Such language, analysts said, edged the Trump administration closer to a position of “regime change,” something it has not formally embraced.

……….Mr. Moon continues to argue that the North’s participation in the Olympics may lead to talks on resolving the nuclear standoff, and he has publicly credited Mr. Trump’s tough policies with contributing to the détente.

Mr. Trump has been happy to accept credit, boasting that the Olympics were moving ahead because of him and expressing satisfaction, and even a hint of hope, over the North’s decision to attend.

“I’d like to see them getting involved in the Olympics,” he told reporters in January, “and maybe things go from there.”https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/08/world/asia/north-korea-olympics.html

February 10, 2018 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

Russia’s nuclear macho men spin propaganda to Indian kids

I had a bit of  a laugh, reading this one.

Russia is using the same pathetic old comics and jolly stories that Western nuclear companies have now given up on.

And once again – it’s the macho nuclear men that are doing the nuclear spinning to kids. (The West now uses sophisticated young women as much as they can, with more subtle propaganda)

 

Nuclear ABC: Rosatom Explains Nuclear Science to Indian School Children, https://sputniknews.com/asia/201802091061516702-nuclear-eduction-indian-children/

 As part of the celebrations marking 30 years of Indo-Russia cooperation in nuclear energy, a Festival of Science was organized in the Indian capital New Delhi. The festival was sponsored by the Russian State Energy Corporation Rosatom which also came up with a children’s book on nuclear science.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — During the festival that was held from 6 to 9 February, experts gave presentations and held interactive sessions with children and teachers from different schools in Delhi. The occasion was designed to nurture the interest of children towards nuclear physics, Rosatom officials told Sputnik.

Nuclear experts and scientists of Rosatom also visited some schools in Delhi and conducted awareness sessions for children on the peaceful use of the atomic energy. Rosatom also released a book titled ‘Nuclear ABC’ in English and Hindi to help in the awareness drive. The book was jointly released on Thursday by Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev, Professor Emeritus of Jawaharlal University R Rajaraman, Fedor Rozovskiy, Director of Russian Center along with officials of Rosatom at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, New Delhi. The book launch was attended by hundreds of school children.

“The book is yet another instance of the rich history of Indo-Russian scientific cooperation dating back to the Soviet era,” professor R. Rajaraman said during the launch.

Prof Rajaraman hailed Russia’s assistance in achieving its nuclear energy targets.

February 10, 2018 Posted by | Education, India, Russia | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency trying hard to market nuclear power to Indonesia (never mind the earthquakes)

IAEA Director General Visits Indonesia: Highlights Close Cooperation in Using Nuclear Technology, Aabha Dixit, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication 9 Feb 18 

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano praised the cooperation between Indonesia and the IAEA in bringing the benefits of nuclear technology to countries in Asia and Africa, during his visit to the country earlier this week. He pointed to areas such as enhancing food security, cattle cultivation, and plant breeding, where Indonesia has assisted trainees from Mozambique and Papua New Guinea.

During the visit, Director General Amano and Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education Muhammad Nasir, further strengthened this cooperation, signing Practical Arrangements on enhancing technical cooperation among developing countries. The Practical Arrangements cover a three-year period (2018-2021).

“Indonesia is an advanced user of nuclear technology in many areas and shares its expertise with other countries,” he said………

Mr Amano was also briefed on the consideration being given to possible nuclear power development and areas in which IAEA support would be required.  He noted that having nuclear energy is a Member State’s internal decision and the IAEA stands ready to support efforts when a national decision is made. Elements, such as the IAEA Milestone Approach, which includes public communication, stakeholder involvement and setting up of a nuclear energy programme implementation organization, were covered.  https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-director-general-visits-indonesia-highlights-close-cooperation-in-using-nuclear-technology

February 10, 2018 Posted by | Indonesia, marketing | Leave a comment

India keeping up in the nuclear arms race – 2 Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile in one Week

India Test Fires Second Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile in a Week, The nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile was test fired on February 7. The Diplomat, By Franz-Stefan GadyFebruary 09, 2018 

For the second time in just a week, India’s Strategic Forces Command (SFC) has test launched a short-range nuclear capable ballistic missile as part of its annual training cycle to test the combat readiness of the Indian Army’s missile forces.

The Prithvi-II tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile was test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on Dr. Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha on February 7, according to defense sources speaking to local media………

The February 7 missile test follows the test firing of an Agni-I short-range nuclear capable ballistic missile on February 6. According to defense sources, the launch was a “complete success.” The Agni-I has an operational range of 700-900 kilometers and can carry a 1,000-kilogram conventional or nuclear payload.

The Agni-I was last successfully test fired in November 2017.

Both the Agni-I and Prithvi-II are part of the missile arsenal India maintains to uphold its nuclear warfighting doctrine of credible minimum deterrence. As I explained: “India has a No First-Use (NFU) policy and keeps its nuclear warheads de-mated from the actual missiles. India is estimated to possess 120-130 nuclear warheads.”

This January, the SFC also tested India’s most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Agni-V, as I reported:

The Agni-V, a three-stage solid fueled missile, has an approximate range of 5,500-5,800 kilometers [the exact range remains classified], and can carry a 1,500-kilogram (3,300-pound) nuclear warhead. India has reportedly also been working on multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) for the Agni-V in order to ensure a credible second-strike capability.

While shorter range nuclear capable missiles are designed to deter Pakistan, the Agni-V missile is being developed to field a credible nuclear deterrent against China. https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/india-test-fires-second-nuclear-capable-ballistic-missile-in-a-week/

February 9, 2018 Posted by | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Kansai to start loading fuel at Ohi 3 ahead of restart

The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of unit 3 at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Japan’s Fukui Prefecture will begin tomorrow, Kansai Electric Power Company announced. The utility plans to return both units 3 and 4 at the plant to commercial operation by mid-2018.
Ohi 3 and 4 460 (Kansai Electric).jpg
Ohi units 3 and 4
Following the shutdown of all of Japan’s reactors after the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Ohi 3 and 4 were given permission to resume operation in August 2012. However, the two 1180 MWe pressurised water reactors (PWRs) were taken offline again for Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) inspections in September 2013.
 
Under Japan’s reactor restart process, plant operators are required to apply to the NRA for: permission to make changes to the reactor installation; approval of its construction plan to strengthen the plant; and, final safety inspections to ensure the unit meets new safety requirements. Operators are required to add certain safety-enhancing equipment within five years of receiving the NRA’s approval of a reactor engineering work programme.
 
Kansai submitted its construction plan application for Ohi 3 and 4 in July 2013. The NRA approved the plan for strengthening the units in August last year.
 
Following pre-operation inspections of the units to confirm that the safety countermeasure equipment complies with the approved construction plan at the plant, Kansai is now set to start loading fuel into unit 3 ahead of its restart. In November, the utility said it expected to restart the reactor around mid-March, with commercial operation scheduled from early-April.
 
The governor of Japan’s Fukui Prefecture approved the restart of Ohi units 3 and 4 in November. Unit 4 is also expected to be restarted in the coming months. Kansai earlier said it expects to refuel the reactor in mid-April, restart it around mid-May, with commercial operation expected to resume in early June.
 
In December, Kansai announced that it will not seek permission to restart Ohi units 1 and 2, which have been offline since July 2011 and December 2011, respectively. The company will now apply to decommission the two 1175 MWe PWRs, which are approaching 40 years old.
 
Of Japan’s 42 operable reactors, five have so far cleared inspections confirming they meet the new regulatory safety standards and have resumed operation. These are: Kyushu’s Sendai units 1 and 2; Shikoku’s Ikata unit 3; and Kansai’s Takahama units 3 and 4. Another 19 reactors have applied to restart.

February 9, 2018 Posted by | Japan | , , | Leave a comment

Abe, ex-Prime Minister Kan go head to head in nuclear debate

jkllmmùù.jpg
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and former Prime Minister Naoto Kan at a Lower House Budget Committee session on Feb. 6
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and predecessor Naoto Kan had a rare face-to-face showdown at a Lower House Budget Committee session over their nuclear energy policies on Feb. 6.
Abe admitted that his Liberal Democratic Party shares partial responsibility for failing to prevent the Fukushima nuclear emergency, but slammed those who advocate abandoning nuclear power generation as irresponsible.
The triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, occurred when the now-disbanded Democratic Party of Japan was in power and Kan was prime minister. He is now a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
Most of the nation’s nuclear plants were built on the back of the LDP’s energy policy during the party’s long stints in power.
“The LDP did not give sufficient consideration to (safety issues of) nuclear facilities while it was in power (before the DPJ’s tenure), did it?” Kan accused Abe. “The LDP should admit its part in failing to prevent the Fukushima accident.”
Abe responded: “That is absolutely correct. The government and the nuclear plant operator were blinded by the safety myth (that nothing catastrophic could happen to a Japanese nuclear power plant), and that caused such tragedy.”
Abe also blasted the no-nuclear plant policy promoted by former LDP Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and like-minded lawmakers from opposition parties, saying he “cannot recognize it as a responsible energy policy.”
In an argument over the true cost of nuclear power generation, neither Abe nor Kan would budge from their viewpoints.
Abe indicated he will continue to support restarting nuclear plants around Japan, saying “power bills paid by typical households rose by about 10 percent (on average) while many nuclear plants remained offline.”
Kan condemned Abe’s position as “calculating only what is convenient for yourself,” pointing out that the cost for dealing with the accident’s aftermath and radiation contamination has already more than doubled from what was initially expected.

February 9, 2018 Posted by | Japan | , , | Leave a comment

Desperate to save its failing nuclear business, Toshiba looks to Ukraine

Toshiba seeks deal in Ukraine to revive nuclear power business, Asahi Shimbun, By TOSHIO KAWADA/ Staff Writer, February 8, 2018  Toshiba Corp. is planning another foray into an overseas nuclear-power industry, forced in part by the disastrous consequences of its previous failure abroad, sources said.

The Tokyo-based company has started negotiations with Energoatom, a Ukrainian state-run power company, to supply turbine generators for use in its nuclear power plants. The two companies concluded a memorandum in October 2017.

Toshiba in March 2017 said it was withdrawing from the business of designing and constructing entire nuclear power plants overseas following the collapse of its U.S. nuclear arm, Westinghouse Electric Co.

However, Toshiba judged that it would not suffer such a huge deficit again if it only supplies equipment to nuclear power plants abroad, the sources said.

“There will be little concern that we will suffer a huge loss (from an overseas deal),” a source related to Toshiba said.

Energoatom operates 15 nuclear reactors and is building two others in Ukraine. It plans to replace the generators of old reactors to increase output.

Toshiba wants to win a deal with Energoatom to export the replacement generators and provide maintenance services after they go into operation.

If Toshiba succeeds in the equipment supply business in Ukraine, it will consider looking at other markets abroad, the sources said.

Toshiba is desperate for a steady source of income…….

Toshiba plans to earn steady profits from its nuclear business, believing competition with other companies will not be so fierce, the sources said.

But if this endeavor fails to pan out, Toshiba’s management situation could worsen. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201802080050.html

February 9, 2018 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Taiwan’s problem in searching for geological location for nuclear waste dump

GDF Watch 5th Feb 2018, Taiwan has published a report today on their geological disposal plans. The
country has decided to prioritise looking for granite-based locations for
the disposal of high-level radioactive waste, but acknowledged that such
locations were limited to only a small part of Taiwan.

The proposal is the conclusion of an 11-year study to evaluate suitable host rock suitable for
storing spent fuel. Energy company Taipower, which is responsible for
managing radioactive waste, said it will give priority to assessing the
building of a national geological repository in granite because Sweden and
Finland have also chosen granite-based sites for their waste repositories.
But it has not ruled out other host rock choices.
http://www.gdfwatch.org.uk/2018/02/05/taiwan-opts-geological-disposal/

February 9, 2018 Posted by | Taiwan, wastes | Leave a comment

American companies’plans to market nuclear technology to India have come to nothing

The Hindu 3rd Feb 2018, Watching the Republic Day parade, where 10 ASEAN leaders were chief guests,
it was easy to miss the fact that the dates of their visit also marked the
anniversary of another big visit three years ago: the visit by then U.S.
President Barack Obama, when he announced a “breakthrough” in the
India-U.S. civil nuclear deal, to finally pave the way for a commercial
contract.

“The deal is done,” Sujatha Singh, who was Foreign Secretary
at the time, said as the government issued papers and held briefings
describing the nature of the agreement between India and the U.S. on
supplier liability and tracking requirements, which would enable American
companies to build nuclear power reactors in India.

Today, nearly a decade since the memoranda of understanding were inked, and three years after the
last wrinkles were ironed out, there is no sign yet of any concrete
contract between an American company and the Indian authorities to build a
reactor.

In 2009, both GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse had begun talks
on techno-commercial agreements for six reactors each in India. These
commercial contracts were to be the start of the ‘payoff’ for the U.S.
that had considerably shifted its stand on non-proliferation to give India
the waivers needed, and they were to herald India’s arrival on the global
nuclear power stage in return.

Instead, GE-Hitachi’s plans were shelved after it rejected the Obama-Modi agreement in January 2015, saying GE would
not accept the compromise formula on supplier liability. (While others have
indicated they would accept the liability offer, none of them has put that
on paper.) Toshiba-Westinghouse then carried the baton to actualise the
India-U.S. civil nuclear deal, but ran into a different storm as both
Toshiba and Westinghouse had major financial troubles last year. After a
near-bankruptcy, Toshiba jettisoned Westinghouse for just $4.6 billion to a
Canadian consortium, a deal that is now expected to be cleared by the end
of 2018.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/forging-a-new-nuclear-deal/article22637628.ece

February 5, 2018 Posted by | business and costs, India, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

The mammoth task of cleaning up Fukushima’s radioactive nuclear reactor wrecks has only just begun

Power Engineering 31st Jan 2018, Worst-Hit Reactor at Fukushima May be Easiest to Clean Up. High atop Fukushima’s most damaged nuclear reactor, the final pieces of a jelly-roll shaped cover are being put in place to seal in highly radioactive dust.

Blown apart by a hydrogen explosion in 2011 after an earthquake and tsunamihit Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, reactor Unit 3 is undergoing painstaking construction ahead of a milestone that is the first step toward dismantling the plant. The operating floor — from where new fuel rods
used to be lowered into the core — has been rebuilt and if all goes as planned, huge cranes will begin removing 566 sets of still-radioactive fuel
rods from a storage pool just below it later this year.

It has taken seven years just to get this far, but now the real work of cleaning up the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant can begin. “If you compare it with mountain climbing, we’ve only been preparing to climb. Now, we finally get to actually start climbing,” said Daisuke Hirose, an official at the plant’s decommissioning and decontamination unit.

Cleaning up the plant’s three reactors that had at least partial meltdowns after the earthquake and tsunami is a monumental task expected to take three to four decades. Taking out the stored fuel rods is only a preliminary step and just removing the ones in Unit 3 is expected to take a year. Still ahead is the uncharted challenge of removing an estimated 800 tons of melted fuel and debris inside the cracked containment chambers — six times that of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.  http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2018/01/worst-hit-reactor-at-fukushima-may-be-easiest-to-clean-up.html

February 5, 2018 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Artificial intelligence to enhance the thinking skills of nuclear submarine commanding officers,

China’s plan to use artificial intelligence to boost the thinking skills of nuclear submarine commanders
Equipping nuclear submarines with AI would give China an upper hand in undersea battles while pushing applications of the technology to a new level, SCMP, Stephen Chen,  05 February, 2018,  China is working to update the rugged old computer systems on nuclear submarines with artificial intelligence to enhance the potential thinking skills of commanding officers, a senior scientist involved with the programme told the South China Morning Post.

A submarine with AI-augmented brainpower not only would give China’s large navy an upper hand in battle under the world’s oceans but would push applications of AI technology to a new level, according to the researcher, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the project’s sensitivity.

“Though a submarine has enormous power of destruction, its brain is actually quite small,” the researcher said.

While a nuclear submarine depends on the skill, experience and efficiency of its crew to operate effectively, the demands of modern warfare could introduce variables that would cause even the smoothest-run operation to come unglued.

For instance, if the 100 to 300 people in the sub’s crew were forced to remain together in their canister in deep, dark water for months, the rising stress level could affect the commanding officers’ decision-making powers, even leading to bad judgment.

An AI decision-support system with “its own thoughts” would reduce the commanding officers’ workload and mental burden, according to the researcher……….

Up till now, the “thinking” function on a nuclear sub, including interpreting and answering signals picked up by sonar, a system for detecting objects under water by emitting sound pulses, has been handled almost exclusively by human naval personnel, not by machines.

Now, through AI technology, a convolutional neural network undergirds so-called machine learning. This structure underpins a decision support system that can acquire knowledge, improve skills and develop new strategy without human intervention.

By mimicking the workings of the human brain, the system can process a large amount of data. On a nuclear submarine, data could come from the Chinese navy’s rapidly increasing observation networks, the submarine’s own sensors or daily interactions with the crew…….. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2131127/chinas-plan-use-artificial-intelligence-boost-thinking-skills

February 5, 2018 Posted by | China, technology, weapons and war | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »