British government, BNFL split over Takahama fuel

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

British government, BNFL split over Takahama fuel

LONDON, April 8 (Kyodo) - By: Will Hollingworth The British 
government and British Nuclear Fuels PLC (BNFL) are split over 
what to do with a controversial consignment of plutonium fuel 
stored at a Japanese reactor in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, a 
BNFL official said Friday. 

Jeremy Rycroft, head of marketing and planning at BNFL's 
Sellafield plant in northwestern England, said that while the state-
owned company wants to return the fuel to Britain, London 
disagrees -- fearing a negative reaction from the British public 
should it do so. 

Since December, the two governments have been discussing what 
to do with the mixed uranium-plutonium (MOX) fuel at the 
Takahama plant's No. 4 reactor after it was discovered that workers 
at BNFL's Sellafield plant had faked quality assurance data on the 
consignment. 

The Japanese government and the Takahama plant's operator, 
Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO), want the fuel returned to 
Britain and say BNFL can do no more business in Japan, the 
company's most valuable overseas market, until the problem is 
resolved. 

A delegation of British government officials is to fly to Japan in May 
to discuss two basic options for the fuel -- either returning it to 
Britain in order to recover some of the material in the fuel so it can 
be used again, or storing it in Japan. 

In an interview at BNFL's Warrington headquarters in Cheshire, 
northwest England, Rycroft said, ''Yes, there's a difference in 
position between BNFL and the government. The British 
government's position is clear. It doesn't think it should take the 
fuel back.'' 

''I believe the government thinks that it (the return) would be seen 
negatively by the population -- people might ask, 'the U.K. is taking 
back some fuel, what's it going to do with it?''' 

''We would love to be able to help KEPCO resolve the problem, but 
we are a government-owned organization and we have to respect 
the government's policy as well as looking after our customer.'' 

''At the moment a delicate discussion is going on to look at these 
technical options for the fuel and to look at the political implications 
of them and try and find some common ground between the two 
governments and two companies.'' 

Last week, BNFL said it would be prepared to take back the fuel if 
that were necessary to restore customer confidence. Rycroft, 
however, said the government ''would have a major say'' and a 
number of options were being considered. 

He conceded that he ''couldn't see a precise way through'' the 
apparent impasse between the two governments but remained 
optimistic that a solution would be reached. 

Asked whether London might change its mind if BNFL could have 
the fuel's return to Britain coincide with another shipment of MOX 
fuel to Japan in order to save costs, he replied, ''Maybe, if there are 
future business prospects that will help ease the situation.'' 

Despite the setback to trade with Japan, Rycroft expressed 
confidence that once the issues of returning the fuel and 
compensation to KEPCO have been agreed, BNFL will be able to 
restore and increase business with Japan. 

He said, ''In November and December BNFL was having talks with 
other Japanese utility companies and now everything is on hold. 
Until we sort out the issue with KEPCO our view is that it's not fair 
to expect other utility companies to make commitments with us. 
But once we have satisfied KEPCO I'm quite sure that we will open 
discussions with at least three of the large Japanese utility 
companies on MOX.'' 

Since the discovery in September that data on fuel destined for the 
No. 3 reactor at Takahama had been falsified, the MOX production 
plant at Sellafield has been shut down and will be allowed to 
reopen only once it has satisfied Britain's Nuclear Installations 
Inspectorate (NII). 

Rycroft said all the staff had undergone retraining and the process 
of checking MOX pellets had been fully automated. 

Four workers have been sacked as a result of the falsification, and 
Rycroft said he could not rule out further dismissals. 

As for the Sellafield complex, Rycroft said, ''The new managing 
director, Norman Askew, has been personally involved in 
developing the new management structure. Some managers will 
move and certain people will lose their jobs.'' 

But Rycroft said he is unaware of any planned boardroom changes. 

A report by the NII in February showed ''systematic management 
failures'' at Sellafield. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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