{"id":2754,"date":"2013-01-26T18:54:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-26T09:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cnic.jp\/english\/wordpress\/?p=2754"},"modified":"2015-03-26T18:55:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T09:55:55","slug":"news-watch-152-jan-feb-2013-nuke-info-tokyo-no-152","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/?p=2754","title":{"rendered":"News Watch 152 Jan.\/Feb. 2013 Nuke Info Tokyo No. 152"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hitachi\u2019s General Headquarters for Overseas Nuclear Power Strategy<\/a>
\nRokkasho Reprocessing Plant Begins Glass Vitrification Tests<\/a>
\nFracture Zone Investigations Show Active Faults Highly Probable in Nuclear Plant Areas<\/a>
\nHamaoka Nuclear Power Plant\u2019s Embankment Barrier Raised to 22 Meters<\/a>
\nBritain \u201cCan Accept\u201d Japan\u2019s Plutonium<\/a>
\nJapan Atomic Energy Commission\u2019s Position on High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal<\/a>
\nLDP-New Komeito Return to Power<\/a>
\nThe Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety<\/a>
\nShipment of Vitrified Canisters from Britain in February<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Hitachi\u2019s General Headquarters for Overseas Nuclear Power Strategy<\/b><\/p>\n

On December 1, Hitachi established a new general headquarters for its in-house Hitachi Power Systems\u2019 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.
\n<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Begins Glass Vitrification Tests<\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Fracture Zone Investigations Show Active Faults Highly Probable in Nuclear Plant Areas<\/b><\/p>\n

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority conducted fracture zone investigations on November 2 at Kansai Electric\u2019s Ohi Nuclear Power Plant, on December 1 and 2 at the Japan Atomic Power Company\u2019s Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, and on the 13th at Tohoku Electric\u2019s 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\u2019s earthquake resistance has become necessary<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant\u2019s Embankment Barrier Raised to 22 Meters<\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Britain \u201cCan Accept\u201d Japan\u2019s Plutonium<\/b><\/p>\n

In an explanation of \u201cBritain\u2019s plutonium management\u201d 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\u2019s electric power companies. Two options are being proposed for plutonium owned by Britain\u2019s overseas clients:<\/p>\n

1) Accept and process the plutonium into MOX fuel at a new British plant targeted to begin operation in 2025, or
\n2) Britain\u2019s acquiring the ownership rights and managing the plutonium according to British policy.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Japan Atomic Energy Commission\u2019s Position on High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal<\/b><\/p>\n

On December 18, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission finalized its views in a document entitled \u201cFuture Efforts for the Geological Disposal of High-level Radioactive Waste.\u201d In September 2010, the Commission requested proposals from the Science Council of Japan, and the current document is based on the \u201cresponse\u201d received in September 2012. However, the Commission\u2019s position is to not consider the Science Council\u2019s proposal to create a limit on nuclear waste by introducing \u201ctotal volume management.\u201d In addition, they are not adopting another proposal, \u201ctemporary storage,\u201d as they have taken the aggressive attitude that geological disposal can secure both reversibility and recoverability, ultimately remaining sold on geological disposal.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>LDP-New Komeito Return to Power<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u2019s nuclear power policies.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>The Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety<\/b><\/p>\n

From December 15 to 17, the Japanese government held \u201cThe Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>Shipment of Vitrified Canisters from Britain in February<\/b><\/p>\n

It has been announced that 28 of the vitrified glass containers of high-level radioactive waste fabricated from reprocessed spent fuel from Japan\u2019s electric power companies at the British Sellafield Reprocessing Plant will be shipped soon to Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd\u2019s 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\u2019s Mutsu-Ogawara Port in second half of February.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hitachi\u2019s General Headquarters for Overseas Nuclear Power Strategy Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Begins Glass Vitrification Tests Fracture Zone Investigations Show Active Faults Highly Probable in Nuclear Plant Areas Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant\u2019s Embankment Barrier Raised...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2755,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754\/revisions\/2755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}