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Smoke spews from vicinity of Niigata nuclear power plant
Index:
Smoke spews from vicinity of Niigata nuclear power plant
Bulgarians fear price to pay for reactor closures
Water leak reported at shut-down nuclear reactor in Shizuoka
Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants Shows Aircraft Crash Would Not Breach
===========================================
Smoke spews from vicinity of Niigata nuclear power plant
NIIGATA, Japan, Dec. 31 (Kyodo) - Smoke spewed from the vicinity of a nuclear
reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kariwa nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki in
Niigata Prefecture Monday night, the police said.
Police officials said the smoke apparently came from chemical reaction of sulfuric
acid that presumably leaked on the third basement floor from a pipe neutralizing
waste liquids from the nuclear reactor.
The facility houses the No. 5 reactor, a boiling water-type light water reactor, in the
Kariwa nuclear power plant.
Police officials said there was no sign of radioactive leakage. The smoke was
detected at around 11:25 p.m.
-------------------
Bulgarians fear price to pay for reactor closures
FILIPOVTSI, Bulgaria, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Many Bulgarians fear electricity rationing
and higher power bills could be the bitter price to pay for EU membership when their
country shuts its oldest nuclear reactors on Tuesday to please Brussels.
Bulgaria bowed to European Union pressure and agreed to close the first two
reactors installed at its Soviet-era Kozloduy nuclear power plant in a bid to avoid
derailing accession talks with the EU.
The EU wanted the reactors shut before 2003 on safety grounds and officials in
Sofia said it was a necessary sacrifice, but some Bulgarians branded the closures a
national betrayal.
Kozloduy, Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant, has six 3,760 megawatt reactors that
produce more than half of the former communist country's power and help make it a
leading power exporter in the Balkan region. Sofia has agreed to close two other
Kozloduy reactors before 2007.
Many in the Balkan state of eight million, where people already struggle on average
monthly wages of only $130 and pensions of around $35, are worried Tuesday's
closures will lead to electricity rationing and increased power prices.
They remember power rationing before Kozloduy was fully operational, but officials
do not see a problem with domestic supplies. The country also has hydro power
stations.
SOME BULGARIANS ALREADY GO WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
Electricity supplies have been cut recently in most homes in the shanty town of
Filipovtsi on the outskirts of the capital because its some 4,000 gypsy residents have
no money to pay the bills.
Kostadin Ivanov puts sanitary pads into a bowl of melted suet to produce a makeshift
candle to light up his shack.
Other Filipovtsi residents, often crammed 10 to a room, burn tyres and clothes to
keep warm.
"We've heard that they will close Kozloduy and raise (power) prices but we don't
know why they're doing it," said Ivanov's wife Emilia.
"We only know that no one offers us jobs and comes to see that we are starving and
live in misery."
Kozloduy has generated Bulgaria's cheapest energy and enables it to provide around
half of the annual regional power shortfall in the Balkans.
Brussels says Kozloduy's two oldest reactors, launched in 1974-75, cannot be made
safe at a reasonable cost.
Last month, the government agreed to close down two other reactors at Kozloduy,
numbers three and four, by the end of 2006. The more modern five and six units will
remain operational.
The EU has rewarded Bulgaria by setting 2007 as a target date for entry to the bloc.
"The key to this success is the energy chapter, which was our biggest hurdle towards
membership," Foreign Minister Solomon Passy told Reuters.
"The pre-accession aid of some $1.5 billion, which we will get in the next four years,
exceeds considerably the profit we generate from Kozloduy's reactors," Passy said.
The government has said it will restart building a second nuclear plant next year but
has not explained how the cost of some $1 billion will be covered.
Officials at Bulgaria's power export monopoly NETC say they are confident
Tuesday's reactor shut downs will not hurt domestic power supplies next year.
"If Bulgaria wakes up without electricity on New Year, the closure will be the last to
blame," said Mityo Hristozov of the NETC.
----------------
Water leak reported at shut-down nuclear reactor in Shizuoka
NAGOYA, Dec. 30 (Kyodo) - A water leak has been found at a reactor that has been
shut down since May at a nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, but no
radiation has escaped, the plant's operator said Monday.
Chubu Electric Power Co. said water was found leaking Saturday from a pipe
connection at the No. 2 reactor at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in the town of
Hamaoka.
The company said it replaced the connection and some 35 liters of coolant water had
leaked during the replacement work, but no leak of radioactivity was detected.
Chubu Electric suspended operations of the No. 2 reactor and has kept it under
inspection since May when a separate water leak was found.
The company said there is no changes in its plan to resume operations of the reactor
in late January.
-------------
Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants Shows Aircraft Crash Would Not Breach
Structures Housing Reactor Fuel
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, /PRNewswire/ -- Structures that house reactor fuel at U.S.
nuclear power plants would protect against a release of radiation even if struck by a
large commercial jetliner, according to analyses conducted over the past several
months by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
The independent analyses were conducted at the request of the Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI) and paid for by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
State-of-the-art computer modeling techniques determined that typical nuclear plant
containment structures, used fuel storage pools, fuel storage containers, and used
fuel transportation containers at U.S. nuclear power plants would withstand these
impact forces despite some concrete crushing and bent steel.
The computer analyses, which cost more than $1 million, are summarized in a report
entitled, "Deterring Terrorism: Aircraft Crash Impact Analyses Demonstrate Nuclear
Power Plant's Structural Strength." A summary of the study's findings is accessible
on NEI's web site at http://www.nei.org.
"The results of this study validate the industry's confidence that nuclear power plants
are robust and protect the fuel from impacts of a large commercial aircraft," said Joe
F. Colvin, NEI's president and chief executive officer. "Clearly an impact of this
magnitude would do great damage to a plant's ability to generate electricity. But the
findings show, far more importantly, that public health and safety would be
protected."
The study was performed for EPRI by ABS Consulting's Irvine, Calif., office and by
San Diego-based ANATECH. It was peer reviewed and critiqued as the computer
modeling was being done by internationally recognized experts with decades of
experience in structural analysis.
The analysis used several criteria that increased the severity of the crash scenario.
Most notable was the assumption that a large aircraft traveling low to the ground at
speeds similar to the estimated speed of the jetliner that struck the Pentagon on
Sept. 11, 2001, precisely executes a hit that transfers the full impact of the crash to
the structure being struck. Separate analyses assumed direct hits by both the
aircraft's fuselage and a 9,500-pound engine. This size engine is typical of the
majority of aircraft currently in service; it would envelop engines on 767-400s, 757-
300s, 747- 400s, 737-800s, DC 10-30s, MD11s, A320-200s, A330-200s and L1011-
500s.
The analysis also increased severity by assuming that a Boeing 767-400 would strike
at its maximum takeoff weight (450,000 pounds) even though fuel would be
consumed both in takeoff and en route to any power plant site.
The nuclear energy industry is confident in the robustness of nuclear plant structures
that house reactor fuel to withstand aircraft impacts, even though they were not
specifically designed for such impacts.
"This confidence is predicated on the fact that nuclear plant structures have thick
concrete walls with heavy reinforcing steel and are designed to withstand large
earthquakes, extreme overpressures and hurricane force winds," the report states.
EPRI served as the technical lead on the study to test the bases for industry
confidence in power plant structural strength against aircraft crash impacts. EPRI
was founded in 1973 as a non-profit energy research consortium. Its mission is to
provide science and technology-based solutions to global energy customers through
scientific research, technology development, and product implementation.
The Boeing 767-400 was used for the analysis for several reasons. For example,
Boeing aircraft account for almost two-thirds of the commercial aircraft registered in
the United States. The Boeing 767 series is the most widely used "wide body" aircraft
in the U.S. commercial fleet -- with more planes than the 747 and 777 combined --
and the 767-400 envelops 88 percent of all commercial flights in the United States
employing Boeing aircraft.
Nuclear plant structures are considerably smaller than the World Trade Center
towers and the Pentagon, making it physically impossible for both engines and the
fuselage of the plane to transfer the full force of impact to the containment building or
other facilities analyzed.
The assumed speed of the aircraft used in the study is 350 miles per hour --
approximately the speed at which the aircraft struck the Pentagon, based on
reported flight recorder data and analysis of security camera video that captured the
impact. Experienced pilots say this is a realistic speed to apply in a scenario where
the pilot of a large jetliner wishes to maintain flight maneuverability close to the
ground and execute a precise hit.
Although full analytical details will not be released to the public for security reasons,
NEI announced the following general results:
* For the models representing all types of U.S. containment buildings, no
parts of the engine, the fuselage, the wings or the jet fuel entered the
containment buildings. The containment structure was not breached,
despite some crushing and spalling (chipping of material at the impact
point) of the concrete.
* Evaluation of the models representing both types of used fuel pools
determined that the stainless steel pool liner ensures there would be no
loss of pool cooling water even though some crushing and cracking of the
concrete occurred at the point of impact. Because the used fuel pools
were not breached, there would be no release of radioactivity to the
environment.
* For the analyzed dry fuel storage facilities, the steel canister
containing the used fuel assemblies was not breached. Because the dry
storage structure was not breached, there would be no release of
radioactivity to the environment.
* For the analyzed used fuel transportation container, the container was
not breached, so there would be no release of radioactivity to the
environment.
Representative structures were analyzed because U.S. nuclear power plant
construction varies from site to site.
The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry's Washington- based
policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear
energy are available on NEI's Internet site at http://www.nei.org
***************************************************************
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: sperle@icnpharm.com
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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