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Special safety probe at TEPCO gets under way
Index:
Special safety probe at TEPCO gets under way
EU says UK nuclear firm rescue illegal-paper
Study: No Cancer Jump Near Pa. Plant
U.S. Aides Sued Over Weapons Tests
Neb. Appeals Ruling in Nuke Lawsuit
MDS Nordion's MAPLE 1 Reactor Authorized for Low-power Commissioning
Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant starts tests
===================================
Special safety probe at TEPCO gets under way
TOKYO, Nov. 5 (Kyodo) - The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
launched special safety inspections on Tuesday at Tokyo Electric
Power Co.'s three nuclear plants as part of punitive administrative
steps following a recent cover-up scandal.
The agency plans to carefully scrutinize the firm's safety measures,
paying particular attention to its decision-making processes,
internal-reporting practices and documentation methods, they said.
The inspections of the nation's largest utility could take as long as
seven weeks, much longer than the quarterly inspections of about
three weeks. The agency will also employ a larger number of
inspectors than usual.
In late August, TEPCO was found to have covered up several reactor
faults at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear plants in Fukushima
Prefecture and the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma, who oversees the
agency, issued a five-point administrative measure on Oct. 1 designed
to penalize the firm, along with a written warning to prevent a
recurrence.
-------------------
EU says UK nuclear firm rescue illegal-paper
LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - European Competition Commissioner Mario
Monti has said in a letter that UK government aid to the privatised
nuclear electricity firm British Energy Plc <BGY.L> is illegal, the
Observer Sunday newspaper reported.
In the letter to a Green European legislator, the MEP Dr Caroline
Lucas, Monti said the 650 million pound ($1.02 billion) rescue
package that runs until November 29 "does constitute illegal aid
since it was granted without proper authorisation", the newspaper
reported.
British Energy, producer of more than one fifth of the UK's power,
won the bailout from the government in September when it said it
would otherwise become insolvent.
Electricity market liberalisation reforms in the UK that exposed
industry overcapacity have sent electricity prices down below British
Energy's cost of production
-------------------
Study: No Cancer Jump Near Pa. Plant
WASHINGTON Nov 2 (AP) - People who live near the Three Mile Island
nuclear plant show no significant increase in cancer deaths more than
20 years after an accident at the plant released low amounts of
radiation.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh studied deaths between
1979 and 1998 among people who reside within five miles of the
Pennsylvania plant. Their findings are reported on the Web site of
the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
``This survey of data, which covers the normal latency period for
most cancers, confirms our earlier analysis that radioactivity
released ... does not appear to have caused an overall increase in
cancer deaths among residents of that area,'' principal investigator
Evelyn Talbott said in a statement.
The researchers did note that overall deaths among the residents near
the plant were higher than would have been expected, but most of the
increase was the result of heart disease, not cancer.
The researchers looked at 32,135 people who lived near the plant at
the time of the accident in 1979 and who were interviewed by the
Pennsylvania Department of Health at the time.
The new findings are similar to those reported earlier in an analysis
of the same population covering 13 years, except that an apparent
increase in breast cancer at that time was no longer evident in the
20-year study.
After adjusting for smoking, educational level and other factors, the
researchers say there was no significant difference in the number of
deaths in the plant area population compared with the expected number
of deaths in the general population.
The researchers studied causes of death that included heart disease
and cancers, in particular cancers known to be sensitive to
radioactivity such as bronchial, throat and lung, breast, lymph
system, blood-forming organs and the central nervous system.
The only elevated risk of cancer, they said, was a slight increase in
the risk of lymphatic and blood cancers among men, which the
researchers said was related to radiation exposure from the accident,
and an increased risk of death from lymphatic and blood cancers in
women, which they said was related to everyday background radiation
exposure.
``While these findings overall convey good news for TMI residents,
the slight increased risk of death from lymphatic and hematopoietic
(blood) cancers may warrant further investigation,'' the team said in
a statement.
On the Net:
Environmental Health Perspectives: http://www.ehponline.org
------------------
U.S. Aides Sued Over Weapons Tests
WASHINGTON Oct 30 (AP) - Two groups of military veterans charge in
federal court that they cannot get proper medical treatment because
the government will not release records of their exposure to tests of
atomic, chemical or biological weapons.
The suits say federal officials, dating to former Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara, have refused to produce the records of weapons
testing and details of whether the veterans were exposed to unsafe
levels of radiation or toxic chemicals during experiments about which
they were not told.
A spokesman for the Veterans Administration had no immediate comment
Wednesday.
The suits, filed in U.S. District Court and announced Wednesday,
cover 425,000 veterans.
``I wasn't asked if I wanted to be a human guinea pig,'' said one
plaintiff, Robert Bates, a Navy veteran. ``And now, I can't get my
complete medical records form the government so that I can get needed
benefits.''
Lawyers for the veterans say government officials are failing to live
up to their responsibilities.
Veterans Affairs spokesman Jim Benson said he could not comment on
the lawsuits, but said the department had programs to treat veterans
exposed to radiation and chemicals, and was studying long-term health
effects.
--------------------
Neb. Appeals Ruling in Nuke Lawsuit
LINCOLN, Neb. Oct 31 (AP) - The state on Wednesday appealed a
federal judge's order that it pay $151 million for blocking
construction of a dump for low-level radioactive waste.
The motion before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals also asks for a
chance to present the case to a jury.
In a Sept. 30 ruling, Judge Richard Kopf denied Nebraska's request
for a jury trial, and said that former Gov. Ben Nelson, a Democrat
who is now a U.S. senator, engaged in a politically motivated plot to
keep the dump from being built in Nebraska.
Nebraska officials argued that they refused to license the dump
because of concerns over possible pollution and a high water table at
the proposed site near the South Dakota border.
The dump was to hold waste from Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska
and Oklahoma - which formed the Central Interstate Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Compact in 1983.
On the Net:
Central Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission:
http://www.cillrwcc.org/
U.S. District Court for Nebraska: http://www.ned.uscourts.gov
-----------------
MDS Nordion's MAPLE 1 Reactor Authorized for Low-power Commissioning
This step advances process towards full commercial production of
medical isotopes
OTTAWA, CANADA, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - MDS Nordion, the
world's largest supplier of medical isotopes, announced today that a
restart of low- power commissioning of its MAPLE 1 reactor in Chalk
River, near Ottawa, has been authorized by the Canadian Nuclear
Safety Commission (CNSC). The reactor is one of a pair that, along
with an adjacent New Processing Facility, will, when fully
operational, be capable of supplying more than 100% of the world's
demand for the key isotopes used in a broad range of diagnostic and
therapeutic medical applications.
"We have been looking forward to this restart of low-power
commissioning because it represents the next concrete step in the
process towards full commercial operation of MAPLE 1 and, eventually,
its twin, MAPLE 2," said Iain Trevena, Senior Vice
President, Nuclear Medicine at MDS Nordion. "These reactors will be
the only ones in the world to be dedicated exclusively to the
production of medical isotopes, and when they go fully online, they
will help ensure the security of the global supply of these critical
products that doctors rely on to help diagnose and treat cancers,
brain disorders, heart disease and other illnesses for thousands of
patients every day."
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), which built and will operate the
MAPLE facility on behalf of MDS Nordion, received CNSC
authorization late last week to restart low-power commissioning of
MAPLE 1, a process that had been interrupted in July 2000 when
problems were encountered during testing of the reactor's shut-off
rods. AECL has subsequently met a series of conditions set out
by the CNSC as prerequisites to the restart of the process. Further
authorizations to load fuel in the MAPLE 2 reactor and to start
active commissioning of the New Processing Facility are expected to
follow. Once all phases of commissioning are completed to the
satisfaction of the CNSC, commercial production of medical isotopes
in the MAPLE reactors and New Processing Facility will begin.
In the meantime, AECL will continue to supply MDS Nordion with
isotopes produced in its NRU reactor, also located at AECL's
Chalk River Laboratories.
When fully operational, either of the two 10-megawatt MAPLE reactors
will be able to supply in excess of 100% of the world's
current demand for molybdenum-99, iodine-131 and xenon-133. Since the
reactors that currently are being used for isotope
production worldwide are all at least 35 years old, this back-up
capability that has been established at Chalk River will ensure
security of supply for the foreseeable future.
MAPLE is a pool-type reactor with a compact core of low-enriched
uranium fuel surrounded by a heavy-water reflector vessel. The
reactor is at the bottom of a light-water-filled pool that
simultaneously provides shielding and cooling of the core. Novel
processing
facility technology complements the new reactors by providing a
solidification process for the management of waste. The new
process will generate only solid waste forms, and eliminate the need
for long-term tank storage of liquid fissile waste.
"The MAPLE facility is a concrete example of MDS Nordion's commitment
to nuclear medicine and our willingness to invest
considerable resources in security of supply," said Dr. Trevena.
"This latest advance in its progress is the result of the hard work
and
commitment to high quality and safety by our partners at AECL."
-------------------
Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant starts tests
ROKKASHO, Japan, Nov. 1 (Kyodo) - A nuclear fuel reprocessing plant
under construction in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, began
testing operations Friday, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. (JNFL) officials
said.
The JNFL, a consortium of nine electric power companies, the Japan
Atomic Power Co. and 87 other companies, aims to start
operating the plant in July 2005.
The facility will become Japan's first commercial plant to reprocess
spent nuclear fuel for uranium and plutonium. The state and
power companies, which have been promoting the technology, see
facility as vital to their plans.
In the test, the JNFL used chemicals including nitric acid to confirm
whether plant equipment functions as designed. Such
chemicals will be used when the plant is under operation, JNFL
officials said.
The JNFL planned to start the test around Sept. 18, but the schedule
was delayed as it failed to reach an agreement with the village
and the prefectural governments on protecting the area from
radioactive contamination by that time.
The JFNL will start a test involving uranium around June 2003 and
launch a so-called an ''active test'' involving spent nuclear fuel
around July 2004.
The construction began in April 1993 and 90% of the work was
completed by the end of September. The JNFL has conducted tests to
check water and air flows at the plant since April 2001.
When the plant goes on line, it will reprocess about 800 tons of
spent nuclear fuel per year, which will cover spent fuel from 30
regular-sized reactors in the country.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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