Kansai Electric shuts nuclear reactor on malfunction
TSURUGA (Kyodo) — Kansai Electric Power Co. said Thursday it has shut down the No. 2 nuclear reactor at its power plant in Mihama, Fukui Prefecture due to technical trouble.
The shutdown may further tighten the power supply of the company, which is expected to face shortages this winter, as only two reactors — the No. 2 unit at the Oi plant and the No. 3 unit at the Takahama plant — are in operation among 11 reactors in the prefecture run by the utility.
The Oi unit and the Takahama unit are scheduled to go offline, respectively, on Dec. 16 and in February for periodic checkups, according to the utility.
At the Mihama plant’s No. 2 reactor, a malfunction of a pressure valve had caused leakage of cooling water. The utility started shutting the reactor manually Wednesday as the amount of leaked water was about to exceed the processing capacity of the plant’s wastewater treatment system.
The No. 2 reactor will undergo a regular checkup on Dec. 18 as scheduled.
Kyodo Press, December 8, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/12/08/20111208p2g00m0dm035000c.html
Fukui municipalities call on gov’t to keep nuclear power plants
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Fukui Prefecture municipalities that host nuclear power plants urged the central government on Tuesday to maintain the plants at a time when it is mulling the best combination of energy sources following the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
“The host communities hope the need for nuclear power generation will be shown and such power will be used in the search for a better mix of power sources,” a group representing the municipalities said in a statement.
Jitaro Yamaguchi, chairman of the group and also mayor of Mihama town that hosts a Kansai Electric Power Co. nuclear power plant, handed the statement to Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano at the ministry.
Yamaguchi also said the request is premised on ensuring the safety of residents in areas with nuclear power stations.
Edano responded, “Even if the nation’s (nuclear power) policy changes, we intend to thoroughly fulfill our responsibility (to the municipalities).”
On the same day, Mitsuharu Kanazawa, mayor of Oma town in Aomori Prefecture, asked Tadahiro Matsushita, senior vice industry minister, to realize the early resumption of construction of Electric Power Development Co.’s Oma nuclear power plant.
Kyodo Press, November 30, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/30/20111130p2g00m0dm026000c.html
Radioactive water leaks at Kyushu Electric’s Genkai reactor
SAGA (Kyodo) — Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Saturday that 1.8 tons of coolant water containing radioactive materials had leaked within a purification system at an idled reactor at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture.
But the utility failed to report the leak to the local governments when it detected it Friday morning, only notifying them of trouble with pumps in the system for the No. 3 reactor, which has been suspended for regular checkups, prompting the Genkai mayor to complain.
The water leaked from a joining area of the pumps, with no radioactive materials leaking outside the reactor building, and has been completely recovered, the utility said, adding that the intensity of radioactive matter contained is unknown.
On Friday, the company serving the Kyushu region in southwestern Japan said a rise in temperature over 80C at the base of one of the pumps triggered an alarm, but didn’t reveal the water leak on the grounds that it did not go outside the purification system.
The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the leak within the purification system posed no immediate safety threat and urged the firm to investigate the cause.
But Genkai Mayor Hideo Kishimoto said, “It should have reported properly (to the Genkai town and Saga prefectural governments). I have been repeatedly telling it to change its corporate culture.”
Kyodo Press, December 10, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20111209p2g00m0dm181000c.html
Reactor idled at Kyushu Electric’s Genkai nuclear plant for checks
SAGA, Japan (Kyodo) — Kyushu Electric Power Co. idled the No. 1 reactor at its nuclear power plant in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, on Thursday for regular checks, leaving nine of the nation’s 54 commercial reactors in operation.
Thursday’s move also left only one reactor in operation on the southwestern Japan island of Kyushu. That reactor, the No. 4 unit at the Genkai plant, is also scheduled to go offline on Dec. 25 for similar checks.
The utility has already begun first-stage work to assess the safety of the No. 1 reactor, a prerequisite for its restart after the checks are complete. But the safety of the reactor has been called into question because it began operation more than 35 years ago.
The four other reactors owned by the utility — the Nos. 2 and 3 reactors at the Genkai plant and the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture — are already offline for regular checks.
Kyodo Press, December 2, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/12/02/20111202p2g00m0dm033000c.html
Gov’t panel to discuss whether to decommission Genkai No. 1 nuclear reactor
The government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) decided on Nov. 29 to set up a subcommittee to discuss whether to review its safety assessments of the No. 1 reactor at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture in what could be a step toward decommissioning the aging reactor.
NISA, an arm of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, made the decision after some experts said at its hearing on measures against the aging of nuclear reactors on Nov. 29 that the pressure vessel of the Genkai No. 1 reactor was deteriorating faster than generally assumed and that the reactor should be decommissioned. The No. 1 reactor, the oldest reactor operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co., became operational in 1975.
It has been revealed that a process called “embrittlement” by which the pressure vessel becomes fragile after being exposed to neutrons emitted from the reactor core has progressed much faster than previously thought. Therefore, some experts have pointed out that the vessel, if cooled down quickly, could break down easily.
The No. 1 reactor will go through regular inspections from Dec. 1, but NISA’s subcommittee plans to come up with final safety assessments of the reactor by the end of March 2012, and therefore there is a possibility of the reactor remaining shut down at least until then. Moreover, depending on the subcommittee’s conclusions, Kyushu Electric’s explanation that there is “no safety problem” could be undermined and calls for decommissioning of the reactor would likely emerge stronger.
At the hearing held on Nov. 29, Hiromitsu Ino, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said, “I think the Genkai No. 1 nuclear reactor, which has been deteriorating much faster than predicted, should be decommissioned.” On whether to resume operations of the reactor after regular inspections, he said, “Clearing the arguments presented at the hearing is a prerequisite.” Another expert said, “There is a need to review the traditional methods of assessing the safety of pressure vessels.”
Mainichi Shimbun, November 30, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/30/20111130p2a00m0na012000c.html
Kansai Electric estimates 200 bil. yen required for nuclear plant safety
FUKUI, Japan (Kyodo) — Kansai Electric Power Co. estimates that around 200 billion yen will be required to protect its nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture from major natural disasters, utility officials said Monday.
The estimate, which is up from an initially projected 70 billion yen, is included in an additional set of safety measures presented to the Fukui prefectural government, the officials said.
Under the measures, Kansai Electric plans to surround its nuclear plants in the towns of Mihama and Takahama with costal levees of up to 11.5 meters by the end of fiscal 2015.
The new plan also includes an increase in staff members to be called in when a major accident occurs and an increase in satellite-based mobile phones to secure communications in times of emergency.
Also Monday, Japan Atomic Power Co. and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency also presented to the Fukui prefectural government new safety plans for their nuclear power facilities in the prefecture facing the Sea of Japan.
In October, the prefectural government called on the three entities to submit additional safety measures including those to address serious accidents, amid efforts at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant to contain the nuclear crisis triggered by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Kyodo Press, November 29, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/29/20111129p2g00m0dm009000c.html
Kyushu Electric to idle reactor at Genkai nuclear plant Thurs.
SAGA, Japan (Kyodo) — Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Monday it will idle the No. 1 reactor at its nuclear power plant in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, on Thursday for regular checks, leaving only one reactor in operation on the southwestern Japan island of Kyushu.
The only reactor to remain in operation — the No. 4 unit at the Genkai plant — is also scheduled to begin undergoing similar checks on Dec. 25. The utility will ask customers to reduce their maximum power usage by more than 5 percent between Dec. 26 and Feb. 3.
The four other reactors owned by the utility — the Nos. 2 and 3 reactors at the Genkai plant and the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture — are already offline for regular checks.
On Monday, the utility also began first-stage work to assess the safety of the No. 1 reactor at the Genkai plant, a prerequisite for its restart after the checks are complete.
The safety of the reactor has been called into question because it began operation more than 35 years ago. But Kyushu Electric maintains that it knows of “no safety problems” related to the reactor.
It is not yet clear when the reactor will be restarted for power generation, however, because it remains uncertain when the safety assessment report for the reactor will be submitted to the government.
According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, an arm of the industry ministry, 44 of the nation’s 54 commercial reactors had stopped operating as of Monday. Once idled, the Genkai No. 1 reactor will leave just nine reactors in operation nationwide.
Kyodo Press, November 29, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/29/20111129p2g00m0dm071000c.html
Shiga studies impact on Lake Biwa from possible Fukui nuke accident
The Shiga Prefectural Government plans to develop a computer system able to simulate the amount and dispersal of radioactive materials that would contaminate Lake Biwa in the event of an accident at one of the nuclear power plants in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.
The system, which the prefecture will start developing in the next fiscal year from April, is a modified version of the central government’s System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI), which predicts the volume and spread of radioactive materials in the environment by analyzing the terrain and wind direction.
Shiga Prefecture, the proud home of Lake Biwa, is eager to develop the system and start running simulations as the lake supplies drinking water for 14 million residents in the Keihanshin region, which includes the cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto.
The prefecture hopes to use the system to forecast how contamination would affect the lake’s water and ecosystems in a nuclear accident in Fukui Prefecture. It also plans to revise its disaster-prevention programs based on the data it would gather from computer simulations.
Various organizations have developed systems that predict radioactive contamination in seawater, but this would be the first time a system is developed to forecast how a lake would be affected.
Shiga already has a system that forecasts environmental contamination by radioactive substances. A simulation using the system has shown that radioactive iodine and xenon would spread across Lake Biwa if emitted in springtime or wintertime by Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. The plant is located about 30 km from the lake.
If Lake Biwa is tainted with radioactive materials from a nuclear accident at the Mihama plant, experts believe it would take more than 10 years before all the contaminated water is gone.
Some radioactive materials emitted during the Chernobyl disaster still remain in some of Japan’s lakes, 25 years after the world’s worst nuclear accident.
As many questions remain unanswered, the ability to simulate how much water in Biwa would be contaminated by a nuclear disaster in Fukui, as well as how radioactive materials would be dispersed under various meteorological scenarios, would be indispensable to Shiga’s government.
The prefecture plans to improve the accuracy of its data on how water flows in the lake using about 40 observation points.
Lake Biwa’s ecosystems also would be greatly affected by the spread of radioactive materials.
Radioactive cesium, which sinks faster in freshwater than in seawater, would likely fall to the bottom of the lake and contaminate the mud on its floor. The cesium could then enter the food chain through shrimp that live on the bottom, and as the shrimp are eaten by other fish it could keep moving up the food chain.
A system able to take such factors into account would thus be invaluable to the prefectural government.
“In the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant accident we actually saw widespread contamination because of radioactive materials (emitted by the crippled reactors). As we are a local government situated next to many nuclear reactors (in Fukui Prefecture), we need to clarify what the effects would be on drinking water and agricultural products” in the event of a nuclear accident, a prefectural official said.
But Katsumi Hirose, a visiting professor of environmental radiation at Sophia University in Tokyo, sounded a note of caution.
“It’s quite difficult to predict the movement of radioactive materials in water. In addition, cesium spreads in a different way in freshwater than in seawater, which requires alternative simulation calculations than those used to forecast the contamination of oceans,” Hirose said.
“It’s highly likely the contamination will remain for a long time in a closed environment such as a lake. So it is crucial that a simulation that can accurately estimate freshwater safety is developed,” he said.
Chunichi Shimbun, November 23, 2011
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111210cc.html
Stress tests on nuclear power facilities to be expanded
TOKYO (Kyodo) — The government will subject nuclear fuel reprocessing and storage facilities to its safety checks introduced in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, in addition to nuclear reactors now undergoing the so-called stress tests, industry minister Yukio Edano said Friday.
The government’s nuclear safety agency will instruct the operators of nuclear fuel cycle facilities to report their safety evaluation results for the facilities by the end of next April.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, under the wing of the industry ministry, said the nuclear fuel cycle facilities subject to the tests will be 14 facilities operated by six bodies, such as the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.
The facilities include Japan Nuclear Fuel’s plant for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, as well as a facility for intermediate storage of spent nuclear fuel now under construction in Mutsu in the same prefecture.
The facilities’ operators will evaluate the extent to which key installations might be able to withstand extreme natural events, and have the evaluation outcome checked by the new nuclear safety agency to be launched at the Environment Ministry in April.
Kyodo Press, November 25, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/25/20111125p2g00m0dm129000c.html
More than 80% of nuclear reactors in Japan to be idled
TOKYO (Kyodo) — More than 80 percent of nuclear reactors in Japan will be idled after Kansai Electric Power Co. suspends operation of the No. 2 reactor at its Takahama power plant in Fukui Prefecture for a regular inspection late Friday evening.
That will leave only 10 out of Japan’s 54 reactors in service.
While Kansai Electric expects the inspection to be completed in about four months, it remains uncertain when the utility will be able to start the reactor as the time needed for the government’s safety evaluation has yet to be determined.
In addition, the Fukui prefectural government does not intend to approve resumption of operation based only on that safety evaluation in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
In December, Kansai Electric will idle the No. 2 reactor at its Oi plant and the No. 2 reactor as its Mihama plant, both in Fukui, for regular checks. When the No. 3 reactor at the Takahama plant is shut down for inspection next February, all of the utility’s 11 reactors will be out of service.
Given the circumstances, the utility, which serves Osaka and some other areas in western Japan, will ask its clients to cut electricity consumption by more than 10 percent this winter.
Kyodo Press, November 26, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/26/20111126p2g00m0dm011000c.html
Power industry sees CO2 cut target as difficult due to nuclear crisis
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan’s electric power industry faces difficulty meeting its carbon dioxide emissions cut target aimed at fighting global warming in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, the industry leader said Friday.
At a news conference in Tokyo, Makoto Yagi, the chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan and chairman of Kansai Electric Power Co., pointed to the plunging utilization rate of nuclear reactors across Japan in the aftermath of the disaster.
On the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor, whose development program came under scrutiny earlier this week at a meeting of a government body tasked with screening administrative waste, Yagi opposed scrapping the program, saying it embodies technology important to stable power supply.
CO2 emissions linked to the power industry account for one-fourth of total emissions in Japan. In its voluntary action plan in line with the Kyoto Protocol, the federation set a target of reducing emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity used by 20 percent over a five-year period through fiscal 2012 from the level in fiscal 1990.
Kansai Electric and other utilities face uncertainty over when they may be able to restart reactors once idled for regular checkups amid heightened public concern about nuclear safety, and so have boosted thermal power output, emitting more CO2 than projected.
“At this point we will work on to achieve the target,” such as by taking advantage of an emissions trading program, Yagi said.
Japan is required to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent from 1990 levels under the current 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.
Kyodo Press, November 26, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/26/20111126p2g00m0dm008000c.html
Fukushima Pref. to decommission all 10 local nuke reactors
The Fukushima Prefectural Government has decided to decommission all 10 reactors in its jurisdiction, including those at the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant, in conjunction with its disaster recovery project, it has been learned.
Earlier, Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato stated that the No. 1 to 4 reactors at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex would be decommissioned, but when it came to the plant’s No. 5 and No. 6 reactors and those at the Fukushima No. 2 plant, he had simply stated, “It is inconceivable to restart them.”
In October the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly adopted a petition seeking decommissioning of all reactors in the prefecture.
In a meeting on the morning of Nov. 30, prefectural officials discussed how the decommissioning of reactors would affect employment and the finances of local bodies. Yoichi Nozaki, a prefectural official in charge of the restoration project, stressed that the prefecture’s principles had not changed.
“The principle of moving away from nuclear power, which was put forward in our vision for restoration, has not changed,” he said. “In the future we will have a Fukushima Prefecture without nuclear power.”
Kyodo Press, November 30, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/30/20111130p2a00m0na016000c.html
Fukushima Pref. to ask TEPCO to shut N-reactors
FUKUSHIMA—The Fukushima prefectural government will ask Tokyo Electric Power Co. to decommission all 10 reactors of its nuclear power plants in the prefecture, prefectural officials have said.
The prefecture has borne the brunt of the nuclear crisis resulting from accidents at the utility’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11.
Nuclear safety agreements between TEPCO and prefectural and municipal governments hosting nuclear plants require TEPCO to seek prior consent from local governments before operations are resumed.
TEPCO has already decided to decommission the Nos. 1-4 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The prefecture’s decision is likely to force the utility firm to consider decommissioning the Nos. 5-6 reactors at the plant and Nos. 1-4 reactors of the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, observers said.
Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato’s decision to seek the shutdown of the reactors came after he studied the impact on the prefecture if they were decommissioned, such as the loss of nuclear-related local jobs and subsidies from the central government.
He expressed his intention at a meeting of heads of prefectural government departments concerning the nuclear crisis on Wednesday morning.
The prefectural government plans to include the policy in the prefecture’s reconstruction plan, in which key points toward rebuilding and restoration of the prefecture are presented.
Asked by the media at a press conference Wednesday morning on how the firm would respond if Fukushima Prefecture asks TEPCO to decommission the reactors, Junichi Matsumoto, acting head of TEPCO’s headquarters regarding nuclear plant locations, said the firm would hold consultations with local residents.
As of the end of September 2011, TEPCO had appropriated about 940 billion yen to control the nuclear crisis and decommission the Nos. 1-4 reactors of the No. 1 nuclear power plant.
If TEPCO decommissions all reactors of the No. 1 and No. 2 plants, the firm will incur additional costs, which will significantly aggravate the company’s financial position, observers said.
Yomiuri Shimbun, December 2, 2011
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111201005348.htm
Japan to Assess Reactor Aging Impact on Fukushima Accident
Tokyo, Nov. 29 (Jiji Press)—Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency started talks Tuesday to determine whether reactor aging had anything to do with the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Of the three heavily damaged reactors at the plant, the No. 1 reactor marked its 40th year in operation soon after the crisis began on March 11. The No. 2 and No. 3 reactors are over 30 years old.
The industry ministry’s nuclear regulatory arm held the first session of a conference on Tuesday with nuclear reactor experts and others. The outcome of the talks will be compiled into a report by early 2012.
The agency examines nuclear reactors that turn 30 and approves 10-year operation extensions if it finds no problems, including those posed by aging, with the reactors.
Conference members will evaluate the agency’s examination practices. A key issue will be how to reflect findings of reactor degradation caused by long-term neutron exposure.
Jiji Press, November 29, 2011
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011112900567
Decontamination work at homes in Fukushima not going well as radiation lingers
FUKUSHIMA — Work to decontaminate homes and yards in a district here is not proceeding as hoped, as radiation levels persist and decontamination workers worried about their health stay away.
The city began decontamination work in the Onami district on Oct. 18. Located in the mountains in the eastern part of the city, it has been heavily affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, with radiation in rice over the nation’s provisional limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram detected, leading to a ban on rice shipments.
Although monitoring of six homes where decontamination was carried out found an average drop of 70 percent in radiation in front of entrances and on gravel parking spots, there was only a 30 percent drop for roofs and a 25 percent drop for asphalt in the yard. Furthermore, there was only a 22 percent drop for second floor interiors.
The city has suggested that the low effect on the roofs may be due to radiation from the surrounding forests, where decontamination has not been carried out. As for the asphalt, radioactive material tends to stick to it and remain even after being washed, so the city has decided to try removing the top layer of the asphalt.
Originally, there was a plan to complete decontamination work on all 367 households in the district by the end of the year, but decontamination work is now expected to take much longer. Thirty-three companies were originally planned to take part, but due to fears about worker safety, most canceled and only two companies joined the work when it started in October. Since then contracts have been planned for 19 new companies, but the number is still 12 short of the original figure.
Mainichi Shimbun, November 24, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/11/24/20111124p2a00m0na014000c.html