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Designated Waste Accepted for Interim Storage in Fukushima
On September 1, Governor Yuhei Sato of Fukushima Prefecture
told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he would accept the government’s
plans to build interim storage facilities in the towns of Okuma and
Futaba in his prefecture for storing wastes such as soils contaminated
with radioactivity as a result of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station and collected in decontamination efforts. One
condition is that permanent disposal facilities be built outside the
prefecture within 30 years, but there are no prospective sites
whatsoever for such facilities.
There is a large amount of contaminated waste within the prefecture,
and furthermore, there are no temporary storage sites, with no small
amount of it being kept locally at individual houses, offices, school
districts, children’s facilities, parks, etc. For the prefecture,
accepting storage facilities was a painful choice. Upon accepting them,
it received a total of 301 billion yen from the government designated
for regional development plans.
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Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corp. Launched
The Nuclear Damage Compensation Facilitation Corporation, which
was established after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Station and has taken over management of TEPCO’s compensation
fund, exceeding 5 trillion yen, has had another mechanism to support
TEPCO’s decommissioning measures added to it, and was relaunched on
August 18 as the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning
Facilitation Corporation (NDF). The first meeting of Decommissioning
Strategy Board, which plays a core role in the NDF’s decommissioning
section, was held on August 21, and Shunsuke Kondo, director of NUMO
and former chairperson of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, was elected
chairperson.
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Electric Power Companies Considering Decommissioning Old Reactors
On
September 5, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that the Kansai Electric
Power Co. has begun considering decommissioning Unit 1 (PWR, 340 MW)
and Unit 2 (PWR, 500 MW) at its Mihama Nuclear Power Plant. On the
same day, Kyodo News sent a release that the Kyushu Electric Power Co.
was also considering decommissioning Unit 1 (PWR, 550 MW) at its Genkai
Nuclear Power Station. More than 40 years have passed since the Mihama
NPP Units 1 and 2 passed their pre-operation inspections, and the
Genkai Unit 1 reaches the 40-year mark this year.
Petitions to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority for approval of extended
operation of nuclear reactors that have been in operation for more than
40 years and those that will exceed 40 years by July 2015 must be filed
between April and July of 2015. A total of seven reactors falls into
that category, including Tsuruga Unit 1 (BWR, 357 MW), Takahama Units 1
and 2 (both PWR, 826 MW) and Shimane Unit 1 (BWR, 460 MW), in addition
to Mihama Units 1 and 2 and Genkai Unit 1. It was announced on March 27
at a press conference with the president of the Chugoku Electric Power
Co. that decommissioning of the Shimane Unit 1 reactor was under
consideration.
One reactor after another is reaching the 40-year mark. Each of Japan’s
electric power companies is facing decisions on whether to decommission
or not.
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Application for Review of Compatibility of Shika Unit 2 with New Regulatory Requirements
On
August 12, the Hokuriku Electric Power Co. filed an application with
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for reviewing the compatibility of
Shika Unit 2 (ABWR, 1358 MW) with the new regulatory requirements as a
prerequisite for renewed operation. It has also proposed consultation
with Ishikawa Prefecture and the town of Shika to gain their consent to
changes to facilities based on safety conventions.
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Nuclear Disaster Prevention Drills in Fukui
On
August 31, Fukui Prefecture conducted nuclear disaster prevention
drills at Takahama Unit 3 (PWR, 870 MW), on the supposition that a
reactor core damage accident had occurred. There was a record high
participation of 2,083 prefectural residents in the drill, and for the
first time, evacuation of residents was tested in two stages, from the
zone within about five kilometers from the nuclear power plant,
followed by evacuation from the zone of five to 30 kilometers from the
plant. Participants expressed the view that in the event of a real
accident, if residents living outside the five-kilometer zone were
trying to evacuate at the same time that directions to evacuate the
five-kilometer zone were issued, evacuation of the five-kilometer zone
would not proceed smoothly.
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Japan and Kazakhstan Sign Nuclear Power Cooperation Memorandum
On
August 8, Toshimitsu Motegi, at that time Minister of Economy, Trade
and Industry, visited Kazakhstan, where he signed a memorandum on
cooperation in the nuclear power field with Minister of Energy
Shkolnik. At the same time, he also confirmed future cooperation in the
resources and energy field, including construction of a nuclear power
plant, with Prime Minister Massimov. |
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JAEA to Cooperate with Indonesian Agency to Develop High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor
On
August 4, JAEA announced that it had entered an agreement with
Indonesia’s National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN; Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional) for R&D
cooperation on a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. JAEA has also
concluded a similar cooperative agreement with the National Nuclear
Center RK (NNC) in Kazakhstan. |
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Hitachi to Conduct Joint Research with Three American Universities
On
August 28, Hitachi announced it had embarked on joint research with
three American universities on the use of transuranium elements (TRU)
as a fuel for resource-renewable boiling water reactors (RBWR). One
attribute said to distinguish RBWR from fast reactors is that they can
be developed on the basis of boiling water reactor technology, which
has proven successful in current commercial reactors.
Hitachi’s joint research partners are the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, University of Michigan and University of California,
Berkeley. The research began in July and will continue until March 2016.
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Judgment Recognizing Causality of Nuclear Accident in Suicide Binding
On
August 26, in a case brought by the family of a Fukushima woman (58 at
the time) who committed suicide after being compelled to evacuate due
to the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi, the Fukushima District
Court recognized the causality of the nuclear accident in the woman’s
suicide, and passed judgment ordering TEPCO to pay damages of 49
million yen. TEPCO made clear that it would not appeal the judgment,
apologizing directly to the woman’s family on September 8.
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