TEPCO says to reopen radiation-hit nuclear plant

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

TEPCO says to reopen radiation-hit nuclear plant
  
TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters) - A 1,100-megawatt nuclear reactor in Japan, 
closed last week after radiation was found in water that had leaked 
from cracked pipes, will soon be reopened by Tokyo Electric Power Co 
Inc (TEPCO), the firm said on Friday. 

The June 29 closure was the latest incident in a series to raise 
concern about the trouble-plagued industry in Japan. 

TEPCO, the world's largest publicly traded utility, shut the No. 2 
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant on the Japan Sea coast after it found 
a small amount of radiation in a pool of water below a network of 
pipes linked to a high-pressure turbine. 

A crack of about two cm (0.8 inch) was discovered where the pipes had 
been welded, TEPCO said in a statement. 

It added no radiation leaked into the environment from the incident, 
classified as level zero on the International Nuclear Event Scale. 

A TEPCO spokesman said it expected to fix the problem in the next few 
days and resume operation of the reactor soon after. 

Japan's 51 commercial reactors account for roughly a third of the 
nation's electricity supply and a series of accidents at nuclear 
facilities, most notably one last September at a uranium processing 
plant in which two workers died from radiation exposure, has led to 
mounting public mistrust of the industry. 

The government said in March it would review its nuclear policy and 
is expected to cut its target of building up to 20 more reactors by 
2010. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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