Nuke Info Tokyo No. 132 (September/October 2009)

KK-7 Stopped Due to Radioactive Leak, KK-6 Begins Start-up Tests
Local groups demand that start-up tests be suspended until investigations into KK-7’s leaking fuel rod problem have been concluded and that both KK-6 and KK-7 be immediately shut down.

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station Struck By Earthquake
The fact that an earthquake that arose so far away could cause so large a ground motion begs the question of whether the plant could withstand an earthquake immediately beneath the plant.

Nuclear Energy Policy Under a New Government
It might be hoped that a change of government would herald a change of nuclear energy policy, but we should not be too sanguine about the chances of a significant improvement.

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant: 14 Month Delay
The estimated date of completion of construction and testing of its Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant has been extended by fourteen months to October 2010. It is the seventeenth time that the schedule had been extended.

Public Finance and Export Insurance for Nuclear-Related Exports
NGOs demand rigorous safety assessment, information disclosure and stakeholder involvement.

An accident not to be forgotten: 10 Years have passed since the JCO Criticality Accident
It might not have been so when the plant was first constructed, but at the time of the accident the plant was surrounded by houses. Nuclear fuel should not be handled in such places.

Workers’ Radiation Exposure Data for FY2008
The total collective dose in FY 2008 for people working at nuclear power plants was 84.04 person sieverts, an increase of 5.86 person sieverts compared to the previous year.

Who’s Who: Hiromitsu Ino
There are many superb specialists in all sorts of academic fields, but there is one important difference between Ino and a large percentage of these “experts”. That is that Ino succeeded in bridging the gap between specialist research and social activism.

News Watch
—Japan and Mongolia sign Memorandum of Cooperation
—Advisory Committee on International Nuclear Relations established
—New framework for human resource development in Asia
—Negotiations begin for Japan-Korea Nuclear Cooperation Agreement
—First meeting of FNCA 3rd Phase
—Fusion R&D
—Monju restart this fiscal year?
—Report on FBR Cycle Demonstration Process
—Defective MOX fuel pellets