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Japanese Agency admits fault in past inspections of Hamaoka reactor
Note: There will be no news distributions between Feb. 21 and Mar. 3
Index:
Japanese Agency admits fault in past inspections of Hamaoka reactor
Report: Russians Finish Unloading Kursk
Radioactive Materials Missing in Georgia, Former Soviet Republic
========================================
Japanese Agency admits fault in past inspections of Hamaoka reactor
TOKYO, Feb. 18 (Kyodo) - The government admitted Tuesday it failed to
identify cracks in the core shroud of the Hamaoka No. 4 reactor of
Chubu Electric Power Co. although it detected signs of the cracks in
2001.
The failure came to light as the Industrial and Nuclear Safety Agency
issued a report that examined the details behind a series of crack
findings following revelations last August that Japan's leading power
utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), covered up similar reactor
defects.
After the scandal, cracks were found at a number of TEPCO reactors as
well as the No. 4 reactor in Chubu Electric's Hamaoka plant in
Shizuoka Prefecture and the No. 1 reactor in Tohoku Electric Power
Co.'s Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture.
According to the agency, it detected streaky patterns during
inspections conducted in 2001, but failed to determine that they were
cracks.
Referring to the Onagawa No. 1 reactor, it said it found no cracks
during inspections conducted between 1994 and 1996, and therefore
believes the cracks occurred recently.
It also reiterated that TEPCO failed to confirm that indications of
cracks had been found and falsified inspection records.
The agency also concluded that the Onagawa No. 1 reactor will not
pose a safety risk in the next five years even if the cracks continue
to develop on its shroud.
A subpanel of experts under the Advisory Committee for Natural
Resources and Energy, which advises the economy, trade and industry
minister, endorsed the agency's conclusion, paving the way for the
reactor's operations to be resumed without repairing the cracks.
It was the third time a decision was made based on the so-called
maintenance standards, introduced following the scandal to allow
power utilities to run nuclear reactors without repairing cracks if
there is no danger for the time being.
The go-ahead on the Onagawa No. 1 reactor follows those on the No. 3
reactor in TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture and
the Hamaoka No. 4 reactor.
The agency made its decision after studying if the shroud in question
could tolerate an earthquake by testing sections without cracks. It
will also require that the cracks be checked during the government's
regular inspections.
-------------------
Report: Russians Finish Unloading Kursk
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian workers finished unloading nuclear fuel from a
reactor in the ruined Kursk nuclear submarine, a news report said
Monday.
The operation began Jan. 29 and was carried out by workers at the
Nerpa shipyard in the Murmansk region, military specialists and other
experts, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency said.
Authorities said unloading the fuel is the most dangerous phase in
disposing of nuclear submarines. Adding to the danger, it was the
first time the work was done on such a heavily damaged submarine.
Alexander Gorbunov, acting director of the Nerpa shipyard, told ITAR-
Tass the shipyard will begin preparing the destroyed vessel for its
transportation to a temporary storage site in the Barents Sea.
The Kursk sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000 after a torpedo
exploded on board. All 118 men on the submarine were killed in the
disaster.
------------------
Radioactive Materials Missing in Georgia, Former Soviet Republic
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Three small containers containing radioactive
materials are missing from a Georgian military base, officials
confirmed Monday.
The containers of cesium-137 disappeared in December from the Vaziani
military base in this former Soviet republic, military prosecutor
Mamuk Tsaav said. Authorities don't know exactly when the materials
disappeared, so they have been unable to determine who was on guard
duty at the time.
Georgian officials did not say how much of the material was stolen or
whether it was high-grade. Cesium-137 has a number of industrial and
medical applications. It is often cited as one of the most likely
substances that could be used in a so-called ``dirty bomb,'' in which
a conventional explosive device spreads radioactive material.
Soso Kakushadze, head of the radiation security department of the
Georgian Environment Ministry, said his department learned of the
theft Monday and sent in experts but they were not allowed on the
base.
Kakushadze said the containers held calibrated instruments fueled by
cesium. The instruments are used to measure radiation levels.
Since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991, there
have been numerous thefts and attempts to smuggle out radioactive
materials.
-----------------
N.Korea plans four new nuclear power plants-paper
LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - North Korea plans to build four nuclear
power plants, each bigger than the Yongbyon plant at the centre of a
stand-off with the United States, Britain's Sunday Telegraph
reported.
Quoting the country's director of energy Kim Jae-rok, it said the
planned power plants could produce up to 200 megawatts of power -- 40
times the output of Yongbyon. "Desperate measures" were needed to
tackle the country's heat and lighting shortages, it quoted Kim as
saying in an interview. "This will enable us to meet the urgent need
for electricity supplies in our country," he told the newspaper.
The crisis over North Korea's nuclear programme has been simmering
since October, when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to
pursuing a programme to enrich uranium in violation of a 1994 accord,
under which it froze its nuclear programme in exchange for two atomic
power reactors and economic assistance.
Since then, North Korea has expelled IAEA inspectors, withdrawn from
the treaty which aims to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and said
it was ready to restart the mothballed Yongbyon reactor capable of
producing plutonium for bombs.
Last week the International Atomic Energy Agency declared North Korea
in breach of United Nations safeguards and sent the issue to the U.N.
Security Council.
The Sunday Telegraph said Kim insisted North Korea was not producing
nuclear weapons at its existing facilities and would not use the
planned new plants to do so.
-------------------------------------------------
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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