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France overturns ruling on Australian n-waste
Index:
France overturns ruling on Australian n-waste
Kashiwazaki mayor seeks Fukushima's explanation of MOX use
Japan's nuke accident operater settles lawsuits
Japan nuclear body says inflated budget request
Nuclear body defrauded gov't by padding workforce
Energy Department Reviews Uranium
=================================
France overturns ruling on Australian n-waste
PARIS, April 3 (Reuters) - France's state-owned nuclear reprocessing
company Cogema said it would start unloading a cargo of spent fuel
rods from Australia on Tuesday after winning an appeal against an
injunction.
A court of appeal in the Normandy town of Caen overturned the
injunction, which the environmental group Greenpeace had obtained
from a lower court on March 15, a Cogema statement said.
The injunction had prevented Cogema from unloading and reprocessing
360 spent nuclear fuel rods at the port of Cherbourg from the
container ship Le Bouguenais.
"Unloading of the Bouguenais...will be carried out today. The spent
fuel rods will be transferred to the Cogema plant in La Hague for
reprocessing," Cogema said in the statement.
The injunction had placed in doubt the future of Australia's High
Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) at Lucas Heights in Sydney, run by
nuclear reactor operator Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation (ANSTO)
In Canberra, Australian Science and Resources Minister Nick Minchin
welcomed the Caen court's ruling.
"This decision will allow ANTSO to proceed with its policy of
sensibly managing fuel rods from the HIFAR reactor through
reprocessing in France," Minchin said in a statement.
Greenpeace had argued that Cogema did not have proper authorisation
to take the waste.
Cogema said the Caen court had rejected that argument and ruled that
the lower court had not been competent to judge the matter.
Greenpeace said it planned to return to court to try again to block
the reprocessing operation.
---------------
Kashiwazaki mayor seeks Fukushima's explanation of MOX use
NIIGATA, Japan, April 3 (Kyodo) - The mayor of Kashiwazaki in Niigata
Prefecture, which hosts a nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo
Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), demanded Tuesday that Fukushima
Prefecture explain its plan to reject the use of plutonium-uranium
mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a TEPCO nuclear plant there.
Kashiwazaki Mayor Masazumi Saikawa said Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato
should provide a full explanation as soon as possible of his plan not
to allow the use of MOX fuel, as it could affect state nuclear
policy.
TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was scheduled to become
the first nuclear plant to use MOX fuel in Japan in April. However,
Sato said in February that the northeastern Japan prefecture will not
allow MOX use at the plant for the time being on the grounds that
residents are against it.
Sato's rejection is also believed to be connected with TEPCO's
announcement in early February to freeze its plan to build new
reactors at a thermal power plant in the town of Hirono in the
prefecture, which would result in loss of tax revenues for the local
municipality.
MOX fuel has already been shipped to TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant
on the Sea of Japan, but Niigata Prefecture is reluctant to host the
nation's first ''pluthermal'' process involving MOX fuel.
The process consists of using MOX fuel -- made by mixing uranium with
plutonium chemically extracted from spent nuclear fuel -- in a
thermal reactor.
''If Fukushima is calling for a major change (in nuclear policy)
without offering sufficient explanation, we will be in trouble,''
Saikawa said.
Saikawa also criticized Sato's plan of taking time to study a nuclear
fuel cycle policy.
The electric power industry plans to carry out the ''pluthermal''
project in 16 to 18 reactors by 2010. Originally, the project was
scheduled to be launched in 1999.
-------------
Japan's nuke accident operater settles lawsuits
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's worst nuclear
accident site said on Tuesday it had agreed to pay about 14.48
billion yen ($114.4 million) in compensation to settle around 7,000
lawsuits filed by residents, Kyodo News Agency said.
The world's second-worst accident since Chernobyl in 1986, occurred
in 1999 when three workers at a plant privately operated by JCO Co
Ltd set off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction which killed two of the
workers and seriously injured one.
At least 439 people in the Tokaimura area about 140 km (90 miles)
northeast of Tokyo were exposed to radiation.
The operator said it settled 98.9 percent of the cases filed against
them as of late last month and estimated that about 75 suits were
still unsettled, Kyodo said.
Last September, Tokaimura residents handed the government a petition
with 22,500 signatures seeking more compensation and support beyond
the initial 12.66 billion yen ($99.99 million) that JCO agreed to pay
to settle the cases from the accident.
---------------
Japan nuclear body says inflated budget request
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - A nuclear plant operator funded by the
Japanese government said on Tuesday it had falsified payroll details
in a budget request for fiscal 1999/2000 to hike older workers'
salaries by a combined 1.19 billion yen ($9.4 million).
A spokesman for Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) said
it had asked for funds to cover wages for a staff of 2,676 -- 139
more than were actually employed -- and had been allocated about 23
billion yen.
It should have received about 21.81 billion yen for wages.
The spokesman said the extra money was paid to JNC's older employees.
The institute will release a report on the matter after conducting an
internal investigation, he said.
Nobutaka Machimura, minister of education, culture, sports, science
and technology, told a news conference on Tuesday that he had asked
JNC to conduct an investigation as quickly as possible.
JNC's budget for the fiscal year ending in March 2000 totalled about
165.6 billion yen, of which about 125.7 billion yen was earmarked for
research and related expenses.
JNC was launched in 1998 after its predecessor -- the Power Reactor
and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp (PNC) -- came under fire for
mismanagement of its various nuclear facilities.
JNC has taken over many of PNC's nuclear research and development
projects, including the operation of a prototypical fast-breeder
reactor, Monju.
Located in Fukui prefecture, west of Tokyo, Monju has been closed
since December 1995, when it leaked a massive amount of sodium
coolant.
The local government is currently studying a request submitted by JNC
last December to be allowed to reopen the plant, the spokesman said.
Monju must also clear central government safety checks before it can
be reopened.
--------------
Nuclear body defrauded gov't by padding workforce
MITO, Japan, April 3 (Kyodo) -
The governmental Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute claimed an
excessive amount of personnel expenses by padding the number of its
employees in a report to the government, foundation officials said
Tuesday.
The institute, a foundation of the Education, Sports, Science and
Technology Ministry, reported in fiscal 1999 that it had a workforce
of 2,676, 139 more than actual number of 2,537, and used the excess
money to increase the salary of each employee, the officials said,
confirming a report in the Asahi Shimbun the same day.
Based on the reported number of officials, the institute was
allocated 23 billion yen for personnel expenses in fiscal 1999, and
on average about 500,000 yen extra was paid to each of its employees,
the officials said, adding that the institute is doing the same this
year.
The press office of the institute, based in the village of Tokaimura,
Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, said the foundation's salary
fund would run short if it reported the actual number of employees to
the government.
It said the government calculation of salary allotments for
foundations is based solely on the number of employees, and the
institute, which has many older officials, would not have enough
financial resources to pay their salaries.
The press office said the institute will investigate the details of
the case.
Commenting on the scandal, Education, Sports, Science and Technology
Minister Nobutaka Machimura told a press conference that budgetary
management and the quota of employees are within the discretion of
the institute.
''I have ordered ministry officials to carry out an inspection and
report the results within two weeks,'' he said.
The Asahi Shimbun said the institute has kept dual account books and
pooled illicitly obtained funds for the past 20 years.
The newspaper said the foundation pooled at least 25.4 billion yen
under the heading ''adjustment expenses'' in the past five years.
Part of the money was paid to the foundation's officials, effectively
padding their salaries, the daily said.
According to the Asahi, the foundation's budget covers an operating
division, which deals with the development of the prototype fast-
breeder reactor Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, and a clerical
division.
In the institute's fiscal 2000 budget, 125.7 billion yen was
allocated to the operating division and 39.9 billion yen to the
clerical division, the newspaper said. The government finances the
institute's budget and any flow of money between the two divisions is
prohibited.
But the institute saved 5% of each of several classified expenditures
in the operating division's budget as ''in-house adjustment
expenses,'' the Asahi said, quoting sources close to the case.
The daily said the institute made a secret budget-implementation
document in addition to the official budgetary document submitted to
the government.
Of the institute's fiscal 1999 budget, 850 million yen went to
personnel costs, the daily said. The institute received from the
government 23 billion yen for personnel costs for the falsely claimed
2,676 employees in the clerical division.
But the 23 billion yen was in fact shared among the 2,537 actual
employees, thereby boosting each worker's salary. The institute then
diverted money from the operating division to pay the salaries of
some officials not covered by the personnel funds of the clerical
division, the Asahi said.
The institute began the manipulations more than 20 years ago,
according to the daily.
--------------
Energy Department Reviews Uranium
WASHINGTON (AP) Mar 30 - The Energy Department says it could take two
more years to determine how much recycled uranium - which contains
traces of plutonium and other radioactive materials - passed through
its nuclear facilities.
The agency released a preliminary review Thursday analyzing the flow
of recycled uranium throughout the DOE sites between 1952 and 1999.
The agency was unable to complete a final analysis due to
``significant inconsistency and inherent uncertainty'' in the data it
gathered from 12 facilities at nine sites.
The investigation began in 1999, prompted by concerns that workers
were unknowingly exposed to high levels of radiation at uranium
enrichment plants in Paducah, Ky.; Piketon, Ohio; and Oak Ridge,
Tenn.
The Energy Department used uranium in nuclear weapons and as fuel for
reactors. The agency began recycling it in the early 1950s to reduce
U.S. dependence on foreign uranium. The report said most Energy
Department facilities stopped using recycled uranium in the late
1960s.
Recycled uranium is more harmful than mined uranium because it has
been processed in a reactor, where it becomes contaminated with
plutonium and neptunium.
Pete Dessaules, a team leader in DOE's Office of Plutonium, Uranium
and Special Materials Inventory, said an overall assessment of the 12
facilities will help determine exactly how much recycled uranium was
used over the years and how much may still be stored around the
country.
However, the task is proving more difficult than expected, Dessaules
said.
``The biggest challenge in completing the report is standardizing the
definitions that were used in the site reports for recycled
uranium,'' he said. ``That may involve looking at millions of
records.''
According to DOE, recycled uranium was present at the following
locations: Hanford, Wash.; Savannah River, S.C.; Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Lab, Idaho; Fernald, Ohio; West Valley,
N.Y.; Weldon Springs, Mo.; RMI Inc., Ohio; the gaseous diffusion
plants in Paducah, Piketon and Oak Ridge; the Y-12 Plant in Oak
Ridge; and Rocky Flats, Colo.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
Director, Technical Extension 2306
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service Fax:(714) 668-3149
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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