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Hitachi’s General
Headquarters for Overseas Nuclear Power Strategy
On December 1, Hitachi established a
new general headquarters for its in-house Hitachi Power Systems’
overseas nuclear power strategy. General Manager Masaharu Hanyu serves
concurrently as CEO of the Nuclear Systems Division. The headquarters
will bear the function of facilitating the smooth operation of the
British and Lithuanian nuclear plant industrial machinery business.
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Rokkasho Reprocessing
Plant Begins Glass Vitrification Tests
On December 7, Japan Nuclear Fuel
Ltd. began performance tests to confirm the stable operation of
vitrification furnace B at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Rokkasho
Village, Aomori Prefecture. The performance test was finished on
January 3, 2013. After that, vitrification furnace A is to be tested
from the spring, and by August receive pre-operational inspections from
the government, hoping to achieve plant completion in October.
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Fracture Zone
Investigations Show Active Faults Highly Probable in Nuclear Plant Areas
The Nuclear Regulatory Authority conducted fracture zone
investigations on November 2 at Kansai Electric’s Ohi Nuclear Power
Plant, on December 1 and 2 at the Japan Atomic Power Company’s Tsuruga
Nuclear Power Plant, and on the 13th at Tohoku Electric’s Higashidoori
Nuclear Power Plant. Tsuruga and Higashidoori are thought to lie on
active faults, as each investigation team has concurred. For Ohi,
consensus has not been reached, and the reinvestigation on December 28
and 29 failed to reach a conclusion. The decommissioning of Tsuruga
became highly probable as important equipment sits above the fault, and
a revision of Higashidoori’s earthquake resistance has become necessary
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Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant’s
Embankment Barrier Raised to 22 Meters
On December 20, Chubu Electric announced a revision of its
tsunami countermeasures by raising the height of the embankment barrier
from 18 meters to 22 meters on the seaward side of the suspended
Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant (2 BWRs 2,237 MW, 1 ABWR 1,380 MW). The
huge steel barrier will be built with a total length of 1.6 km. After
work commenced on the 18 meter embankment barrier, a Cabinet
investigative commission of experts forecast the highest tsunami at 19
meters, and results of an analysis predicts the tsunami rising to a
maximum of 21.4 meters on embankment impact.
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Britain “Can Accept” Japan’s
Plutonium
In an explanation of “Britain’s plutonium
management” given at the Japan Atomic Energy Commission on December 21,
first secretary of the British Embassy in Japan Richard Oppenheim
(Energy and Environment Section Head) indicated a perception that the
UK could accept plutonium that is being stored in Britain for Japan’s
electric power companies. Two options are being proposed for plutonium
owned by Britain’s overseas clients:
1) Accept and process the plutonium into MOX fuel at a new British
plant targeted to begin operation in 2025, or
2) Britain’s acquiring the ownership rights and managing the plutonium
according to British policy.
However, in the latter case, as seen from the
comprehensive viewpoint of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA),
it would be necessary to demonstrate to the British government that the
benefits for Britain would actually be forthcoming, thus indicating
that there were still high hurdles to be overcome before the UK would
consider taking possession of the plutonium.
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Japan Atomic Energy Commission’s
Position on High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal
On December 18, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission
finalized its views in a document entitled “Future Efforts for the
Geological Disposal of High-level Radioactive Waste.” In September
2010, the Commission requested proposals from the Science Council of
Japan, and the current document is based on the “response” received in
September 2012. However, the Commission’s position is to not consider
the Science Council’s proposal to create a limit on nuclear waste by
introducing “total volume management.” In addition, they are not
adopting another proposal, “temporary storage,” as they have taken the
aggressive attitude that geological disposal can secure both
reversibility and recoverability, ultimately remaining sold on
geological disposal.
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LDP-New Komeito Return to Power
On December 16, the Liberal Democratic Party won a
convincing victory in the Lower House election, and on the 26th, the
Shinzo Abe Cabinet was inaugurated as the LDP formed a coalition with
the New Komeito Party. On the 29th, Prime Minister Abe inspected the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and then told a group of
reporters he would not follow the previous administration’s nuclear
power policies.
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The Fukushima Ministerial Conference
on Nuclear Safety
From December 15 to 17, the Japanese government held “The
Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety” in Koriyama City,
Fukushima Prefecture, in which 117 countries and 13 international
organizations participated. A ministerial level meeting was held on the
15th, and a meeting of experts took place on the 16th and 17th. On the
15th, Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Belarus Minister of Emergency
Situations Vashchenko signed a cooperation agreement for the promotion
of post nuclear accident responses. In addition, Fukushima Governor
Yuhei Sato and Director General of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, signed a
memorandum of cooperation on decontamination and related issues.
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Shipment of Vitrified Canisters from
Britain in February
It has been announced that 28 of the vitrified glass containers
of high-level radioactive waste fabricated from reprocessed spent fuel
from Japan’s electric power companies at the British Sellafield
Reprocessing Plant will be shipped soon to Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd’s
storage facilities in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture. The shipment
departed the port of Barrow-in-Furness on January 9 bound for Japan via
the Panama Canal. It is estimated that it will arrive at Rokkasho
Village’s Mutsu-Ogawara Port in second half of February.
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