Nuke Info Tokyo No. 103 (Nov./Dec. 2004)

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Map of places mentioned in NIT 103

Earthquake Zone: Earthquakes and Nuclear Safety in Japan
It might seem obvious to the average man or woman in the street, or the average child in the playground for that matter, that you don’t build nuclear reactors in an earthquake zone. But the average man or woman in the street, not to speak of the average child in the playground, would be naive… (Continued…)

Ibaraki Anti-Nuclear Collective Opposes Removal and Dismantling of Tokai Reactor
Other than Tokai, there are 37 gas-cooled reactors (GCR) worldwide. … Of these, none has yet been dismantled, not even those which have been closed for more than twenty years. Tokai is the only one which is being dismantled, so it might be looked upon as a test case for other GCRs.

Long-Term Nuclear Program Planning Committee Publishes Costs of Nuclear Fuel Cycle
…a comparison was made of the costs of the nuclear fuel cycle, considering two basic methods of dealing with spent fuel: reprocessing and direct disposal (deep burial). This article discusses this cost comparison. (Click here to read article)

Workers’ Radiation Exposure at Japanese Nuclear Facilities for 2003
…It was pointed out at the April 2002 Meeting of Contracting Parties under the Convention on Nuclear Safety that radiation doses in Japan were the highest in the world. Nothing in the latest figures would suggest that Japan will be able to report an improvement at the next meeting… (Click here to read article)NISA’s Interim Report into Mihama-3 Accident
The inescapable conclusion that must be drawn from the Mihama-3 accident is that the full length of the piping in nuclear power plants must be checked at regular intervals. This, however, is a conclusion that the nuclear regulators and the government want to avoid at all costs. (Continued…)

Anti-Nuke Who’s Who: Shoji Takagi (CNIC’s cartoonist)
Shoji Takagi always does things in his own time. (Click here to read article…)

Japan’s Separated Plutonium Inventory for 2003 – update on figures included in NIT 102

News Watch
—Hitachi Joins in the Development of ESBWR in the U.S.
—Mitsubishi to Tender for New Reactors in China
—Government/Industry Panel Formed to Discuss Reactor Export
—METI Launches a Study Group for Developing Energy Businesses in Asia
—FNCA Holds First Study Panel Meeting
—Saga Town Rejects High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility