3rd reactor in Onagawa nuclear power station goes on line

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



3rd reactor in Onagawa nuclear power station goes on line

Missing Los Alamos Disk Found

Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Design Pushes Renewed Interest Worldwide

FERC OK's Entergy buy of Vermont Yankee nuke plant

==============================================



3rd reactor in Onagawa nuclear power station goes on line

  

SENDAI, Jan. 30 (Kyodo) - The third nuclear reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s 

Onagawa nuclear power station in Miyagai Prefecture went into commercial 

operation Wednesday, adding 825,000 kilowatts of power to the Tohoku Electric grid. 



Tohoku Electric officials said the boiling-water reactor, which has been under test-

operation since April last year, was switched to commercial operation under authority 

from the Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency. 



With the third reactor on line, the Onagawa nuclear power station, which straddles 

between the towns of Onagawa and Oshika in northeastern Miyagi Prefecture, has a 

total output capacity of 2,174,000 kilowatts, raising the share of nuclear power at 

Tohoku Electric from 8.9% to 13.5%. 



The commercial operation of the No. 3 Onagawa reactor, the 52nd operating nuclear 

reactor in Japan, came four and a half years after the last newly built nuclear reactor 

-- the No. 4 at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga 

Prefecture -- went on line. 



Currently, there are only three other nuclear reactors in construction in Japan -- one 

each at Higashidori, Aomori Prefecture, Hamaoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Shiga, 

Ishikawa Prefecture. 



The Japanese government has said Japan needs another 10 to 13 nuclear reactors 

by 2010 under the nation's long-term electrical power plan, but nuclear industry 

experts suggest the goal is unlikely to be fulfilled. 



Analysts say the nation's power industry faces two major hurdles in building more 

nuclear plants -- objection by local residents to the presence of nuclear plants in their 

backyards and slumping demand for electricity. 



Tohoku Electric says it expects a fall in electric demand in the current business year, 

blaming the slump on the economic downturn as well as energy-saving initiatives 

among electric power consumers. 

------------------



Missing Los Alamos Disk Found

  

WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory searched 

several days for a missing computer disk used by an engineer working in the lab's 

nuclear materials technology division, lab officials said. 



It finally was found late Tuesday, being used by another scientist. It had never left the 

top-secret lab's secure areas, said John Gustafson, a spokesman for the weapons 

laboratory in New Mexico. 



The disk contains some classified material, but ``does not contain highly sensitive 

classified data involving weapons design,'' the laboratory said in a statement issued 

shortly before the disk was found. 



Less than a week before the latest incident at Los Alamos, federal authorities 

officially closed the investigation into the high-profile disappearance almost two years 

ago of two computer hard drives that contained top-secret nuclear-related material. 



No charges were filed in that case. The hard drives were recovered behind a copying 

machine, although it has never been learned how they got there. 



The latest incident involved a disk used by an individual for note taking, Los Alamos 

officials said. A periodic inventory review found Friday that the individual, who was 

not further identified, ``could not immediately locate'' the disk. A search of the secure 

area ensued. 



``There is no evidence, nor any expectation, that the disk ... left security areas at Los 

Alamos,'' Tuesday's statement said. 



Word of the missing disk surfaced Tuesday when a watchdog group in Washington - 

the Project on Government Oversight - said it received information that a search was 

under way for missing data at Los Alamos ``involving nuclear weapons design 

information.'' 



The laboratory categorically denied the missing disk contained weapons design data, 

although the part of the lab being searched includes areas involved in the 

manufacture of weapons components, said a government source, speaking on 

condition of anonymity. 



The search was ordered after an inventory at Nuclear Materials Technology Division 

``identified some minor discrepancies'' from previous inventories. An engineer ``could 

not immediately locate'' a disk the person had been using for note taking, the lab 

said. 



The Los Alamos lab, one of three federal laboratories involved in the nuclear 

weapons program, was at the center of an espionage controversy for much of 1999 

that involved the alleged theft of secrets by a computer scientist, Wen Ho Lee. 



Lee, an American born on Taiwan, subsequently was arrested and indicted on 59 

felony counts that alleged he transferred nuclear weapons information to unsecured 

computers and tape. The government's case crumbled, and Lee pleaded guilty to a 

felony count of improperly downloading sensitive material and was freed after nine 

months in jail. He has denied throughout the theft of any secrets. 



No sooner did the Lee controversy die down than it was learned in 2000 that two 

computer hard drives, belonging to a group of nuclear weapons scientists in the top-

secret X-Division, had disappeared from a vault as the lab was being evacuated 

amid threats from a raging wildfire. 



Despite months of investigation, no one was charged in the case. Last week, an 

assistant U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., announced the case officially closed. 



On the Net: Los Alamos lab: http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/ 

------------------



Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Design Pushes Renewed Interest in Worldwide Nuclear 

Power Generation, in an Advisory by Industrialinfo.com

  

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2002--The following is an advisory by 

Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Inc; Houston): The rehabilitation 

of nuclear power generation plants, which could represent part of the answer to 

world's power generation needs over the next 30 years, has taken a few steps 

forward in the consciousness of governments and industry in the past six months. 

However, nuclear power still has a way to go among environmental groups and those 

involved with post-Chernobyl public health concerns. 



The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) from Eskom in South Africa continues to 

claim the attention of both the large power hungry regions and the capital conscious 

development areas to which the modular and smaller output plant could be both 

affordable and appropriate. 



Stakeholders in the project include the U.S. company Exelon with 12.5%, Eskom with 

30%, British Nuclear Fuels with 22.5%, Industrial Development Corporation of SA 

with 25%, and Black empowerment at 10%. Currently, Exelon is negotiating for the 

possible purchase of 40 PBMRs at a price of around $6 billion (USD). Early in 2001 

the company requested the U.S. National Regulatory Commission to start laying the 

groundwork for PBMR licensing. 



Exelon would like to see the $300 million demonstration unit, which is planned by 

Eskom in South Africa as a proven model, to show that all technical matters have 

been resolved and that safety, efficiency and viability are proven enough for U.S. 

regulatory agencies to proceed forward with licensing. The plant is to be built 

alongside the existing nuclear power station at Koeberg in the Cape Province of 

South Africa with work commencing in 2003. If approved, Exelon may then start 

concurrent construction of U.S. sites to bring PBMR-generated power to market at 

the earliest possible date and at the best price. Specifications and claims by Eskom, 

who purchased the technology after a 21-year development and proving period in 

Germany, present the PBMR as small, safe, clean, cost efficient, inexpensive and 

adaptable. 



The PBMR uses multiple coated uranium particles encased in graphite to form a fuel 

sphere (60mm in diameter). The PBMR design makes use of helium as the coolant 

and energy transfer medium to a closed cycle gas turbine and generator. The design 

differences between the PBMR and Pressurized Water Reactors result in the PBMR 

being a safe and economical power plant. 



The annual world market for power generation is estimated at $70 billion. The PBMR, 

if it comes through its regulatory trials, would be in a position to capture a tasty slice 

of this power action. With 10% of the shareholding in the PBMR project reserved for 

new black empowerment shareholders, 10 plant export orders a year could 

contribute nearly $1 billion a year to South Africa's Gross Domestic Product and 

another $1 billion in export income. An estimated 57,000 direct and indirect jobs 

would be created. These figures would double and triple for 20 or 30 orders annually. 

If the demo plant achieves its targets, Eskom will place an order for 10 modules, with 

the Exelon order hopefully kicking in immediately for a possible date for the first U.S. 

plant in 2007. 



Eskom will sell PBMR's as a manufactured item with no rights given. Eighty percent 

of the costs will be made up of the manufactured reactor and 20% site construction 

related. The aim is for 40% of the sourcing to come from South Africa. Taxpayers 

money (approximately $50 million so far) is being spent by the South African 

authorities in giving all due diligence to the studies and to public feedback on the 

project before the "go" decision is given. With this right and proper concern and the 

considerable market presence of Eskom and Exelon the 130MW modules will no 

doubt play a crucial role in the future of nuclear power generation. 



The project managers are indicating growing confidence in their ability to bring the 

product to market and have recently made a significant move. A contract has been 

placed (in mid-January 2002) with the U.S. company Stone & Webster and South 

African construction company Murray & Roberts and black empowerment contractor 

Proman Management Services to provide consulting services to the PBMR project in 

engineering, procurement, construction management and project management. 

Following this development, the PBMR management at Eskom have gone on record 

to state that with the multi-national and multi-disciplinary support now providing 

leverage, the approval hurdles for the pilot project should be cleared by the end of 

2002 given the crucial general diligence and environmental clearance by the 

government. 

--------------------



FERC OK's Entergy buy of Vermont Yankee nuke plant

  

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

approved on Wednesday the $180 million sale of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power 

Corp.'s nuclear plant to Entergy Corp. <ETR.N>. 



The Vermont Yankee plant, built in 1972, is owned by eight New England-based 

utilities. 



FERC commissioners approved the sale in an order that said the transaction would 

"not adversely affect competition" in the region. 



Last August, Entergy agreed to buy the 506 megawatt plant for $145 million plus $35 

million for nuclear fuel. The plant will become Entergy's 10th nuclear power plant. 



The deal calls for Entergy to provide the current output level of the plant to Vermont 

Yankee's current customers at average annual prices ranging from $39-$45 per 

megawatt-hour through 2012, when the present operating license expires. 



The largest shareholders of the Vermont Yankee plant are Central Vermont Public 

Service Corp. with a 31 percent stake, New England Power Co. with 22.5 percent, 

Green Mountain Power Corp. with 17.9 percent and Connecticut Light and Power 

Co. with 9.5 percent. 



------------------------------------------------------------------------

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://sandy-travels.com

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com





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