(Source) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/14/national/nra-wants-monju-to-remain-shut-down/#.UZQmBqJwpLt
Lapses seen in JAEA checks of key reactor components
Kyodo, Staff Report May 14, 2013
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency committed grave safety
errors in managing the troubled Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui
Prefecture, and top officials at the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Monday
they plan to make sure it stays closed.The closure order to the government-linked JAEA will effectively dash any hope of trying to restart the reactor by year’s end, dealing another setback to Japan’s long-stalled plan to set up a nuclear fuel recycling system.
In September, the now-defunct Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency carried out surprise inspections and determined that JAEA failed to regularly check key components of the experimental 280,000-kw reactor, as required by internal rules.
In November, the JAEA admitted that it failed to properly check nearly 10,000 pieces of equipment, including more than 50 critical “Class-1″ components, including backup diesel electric generators.
The NRA, which replaced NISA last September, will also order the JAEA to rethink all its safety inspection regimens and management systems, sources said.
The NRA in December gave JAEA written instructions to investigate the causes of the improper checks and compile remedial measures.
But JAEA President Atsuyuki Suzuki reportedly insisted that the checks that were improperly carried out were mere formalities and posed no safety problems, drawing further criticism from the NRA.
[…..]
Monju is designed to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel to theoretically create more fuel than it consumes through the reaction process. MOX is made with weapons-grade plutonium.
But the prototype has been effectively closed since it suffered a grave sodium coolant leak and fire in 1995 and an attempted coverup. JAEA tried to restart Monju in 2010, but it was soon halted after a heavy fuel-loading device fell into the reactor vessel.
Many experts have questioned whether Monju, which sits in the city of Tsuruga, can ever be stably run, given its serious technical problems. Nearly ¥1 trillion in taxpayer money has been spent on the project.
Outside experts also say that dangerous active faults may exist beneath the reactor’s key facilities. JAEA claims there is no evidence to support this allegation.
(Reference)
Japan
Could Reprocess Nuclear Fuel from Korea http://www.energytribune.com/69930/japan-could-reprocess-nuclear-fuel-from-korea-2#sthash.W9yZK374.dpbs
The Japanese government is considering reprocessing spent
nuclear fuel rods from Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries, the Tokyo
Shimbun reported Sunday. Japan is the only country in the world that has no
nuclear weapons but the facilities to reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods capable
of producing weapons-grade plutonium. - …..Japan spent more than W30 trillion
(US$1=W1,064) building the facility because the plutonium it extracts could be
used to power the Monju sodium-cooled fast reactor in southwestern Japan.
…..Japan spent more than W30 trillion (US$1=W1,064)
building the facility because the plutonium it extracts could be used to power
the Monju sodium-cooled fast reactor in southwestern Japan.But the continued operation of the Monju reactor is uncertain due to frequent malfunctions. The Japanese government has admitted that it may not be put into commercial use until 2050, prompting criticism that the Rokashomura facility was a colossal waste of money.
A bilateral nuclear energy pact between Washington and Tokyo allowing Japan to reprocess spent nuclear fuel rods expires in 2018. The U.S. could insist on revising the agreement so it prohibits further reprocessing.
The Tokyo Shimbun said talks between Seoul and Washington to revise their bilateral nuclear energy pact will serve as the bellwether for talks with Tokyo. The daily said the U.S. may ask Japan to reprocess spent fuel rods from Korea if it wants to continue, and that Tokyo would likely accept the offer.
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