Japan aims to restart nuclear reactor in June -sources via Reuters

* PM Abe has been pushing for nuclear restarts

* Would be boost for struggling utilities

* But controversial as most Japanese oppose nuclear power

By Aaron Sheldrick

TOKYO, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Japan’s government is aiming to restart a nuclear reactor by around June following a lengthy and politically-sensitive approval process in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, sources familiar with the plans said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has been pushing to bring some of the country’s reactors back online after all 48 closed following meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011, arguing they are key to economic growth.

A reboot in what was once the third-biggest user of nuclear power would boost its utilities, which have been hit by huge losses as they switch to fossil fuels and upgrade nuclear plants, with two turning to the government for bailouts.

But the move would be controversial in a nation where most oppose nuclear power, with memories still fresh of the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

“We urge the government to take into full consideration the tremendous suffering from the nuclear power plant accident and make sure that future policy ensures the safety and peace of mind of all citizens,” Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori said, when asked about restarts.

[…]

A June restart would also mean local elections scheduled for April would be out of the way, giving the government some leeway to take such a potentially unpopular step.

An industry ministry spokesman said no announcement had been made on Sendai’s restart date.

Read more at Japan aims to restart nuclear reactor in June -sources

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川内原発再稼働、夏にずれ込みも 書類再提出に遅れ via 日本経済新聞

九州電力は5日、川内原子力発電所(鹿児島県)の再稼働に向けた今後の手続きの見通しを明らかにした。安全対策の詳細設計を記した「工事計画」につ いて、1号機は2月末、2号機は3月末に原子力規制委員会に再提出する。従来の予定より大幅に遅れており、再稼働時期は夏にずれ込む可能性が出てきた。

工事計画は安全対策に用いる機器などを説明する書類だ。川内原発1、2号機は昨年9月に再稼働に向けた安全審査で規制委の合格を得たが、工事計画についても認可を受けないと再稼働はできない。

東京電力福島第1原発事故を踏まえ、九電は川内原発で津波や竜巻などの対策として新たな機器を数多く設置している。これらの機器について説明するために書類は数万ページに膨らんでいる。九電は昨秋にいったん提出したが、規制委から不備を指摘され、修正作業を続けている。

続きは川内原発再稼働、夏にずれ込みも 書類再提出に遅れ

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Nuclear Waste Dump Troubling Residents Of Armstrong Co. Town via CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — What may be the most dangerous nuclear waste dump in the nation sits just 40 miles north of Pittsburgh, in Armstrong County.

As the government plans to excavate that waste, people who live nearby are nervous.

[…]

Ameno grew up in Apollo, Pennsylvania, a stone’s throw from the NUMEC nuclear materials plant and the waste it stored in 55 gallons drums.

They left her with this:

“Two brain tumors,” she said. “I still have one, uterine cancer.”

Today, Ameno is a survivor and an activist — who like the residents who recently voiced their concerns at a meeting — continue to ask questions about the nuclear waste NUMEC and its successor buried down the road in shallow trenches at a 144-acre site in Parks Township.

“What’s in there?” asked one resident. “Do you guys really know what’s in there?”

[…]

A recent investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirms that NUMEC and its successors accepted un-inventoried waste from other parts of the country, and says NUMEC developed complex fuels for secret defense contracts known as “black projects.”

“Well, here’s a good example right here: Project Pluto,” said Ameno.

Project Pluto was a missile that would carry nuclear warheads and circle the earth continually. Ameno — who’s collected tens of thousands of documents on the site — says more than 700 barrels of special fuel was developed for Project Pluto, some was recycled and the rest was buried at Parks Township after the project was scrapped.

Read more at Nuclear Waste Dump Troubling Residents Of Armstrong Co. Town

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吉永小百合、福島支援で脱原発の詩を読む via nikkansports.com

女優吉永小百合(69)が、東日本大震災と福島第1原発事故の復興支援のため、9年ぶり4枚目の朗読CD「第二楽章 福島への思い」を3月11日にリリースする。1986年(昭61)から広島、長崎原爆詩の朗読CDを出し続け、今作は、福島県民の「脱原発」への思いなどを読み上げている。取材では、経済優先の安倍政権に疑問を呈した。

東日本大震災発生から約4年。福島を思い、吉永が「第二楽章」を作った。「『忘れないで』とメッセージを(世の中に)送り、(被災地に)寄り添って支えたい」という思いからだ。

(略)

終戦間近45年3月生まれの吉永にとって「-福島への思い」は、同じ時代の体験を基に作る初めての朗読CDだ。「(過去3作より)つらい。つらいだけじゃなく福島に戻れるといいという願いもある中、希望が見える詩を選びました」。

吉永は「これだけ地震が多い国で原発はやめてほしい」と脱原発を訴える。昨年末には福島第1原発に近い帰還困難地域にマスクを着けて踏み込んだ。 「4年で何も変わっていない。除染された土もシートをかけられ、あらゆるところに放置され…想像以上のショック」。その上で、安倍政権に厳しい言葉を並べ た。「予算も経済最優先。政治家は福島の復興に対して、どう思っていらっしゃるのか。お金だけ避難している人にあげればいいのか。福島を住めるふるさとに 戻すつもりがあるのか…私には見えない。世界でも大変なことが起こり、目を向けてしまえば忘れてしまう」。

発売前日3月10日には東京・千駄ケ谷の津田ホールで完成記念朗読会を開く。「(朗読は)生きがい。でも、もう『第二楽章』を出すようなことは起きないでほしい。これで終わりにしたい」。印税は全て被災者のために寄付する。【村上幸将】

◆「第二楽章」 吉永が86年から被爆者の体験から生まれた詩の朗読を始め、「(悲劇を)忘れないためにも語り部としておだやかに語り、残す」ス タンスから作った朗読CD。97年「第二楽章」(広島編)99年「-長崎から」を発売。06年には、沖縄戦を描いた野坂昭如氏の小説「ウミガメと少年」を 朗読した「-沖縄から」をリリース。

全文は吉永小百合、福島支援で脱原発の詩を読む

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Supporters Say Imprisoned Nun Is Being Held In ‘Unfair’ Conditions via NPR

Megan Rice celebrated her 85th birthday last week — in a high-rise detention center in Brooklyn.

The Catholic nun is serving nearly three years in prison for evading security and painting peace slogans on the walls of a nuclear facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Rice is far from the only religious figure to run into legal trouble. There’s a long tradition of Catholic clergy protesting nuclear weapons, from the Berrigan brothers in the 1980s to the fictional nun Jane Ingalls, featured in the series Orange is the New Black.

Rice, a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, spent decades working and teaching in Africa. She too has a long history of protest, even before she allegedly joined two men to throw human blood and write slogans on a building that houses enriched uranium in 2012.

[…]

Things are even more complicated when it comes to women’s health care behind bars. That’s because advocates say every facet of the Bureau of Prisons system was designed for men, even though women are very different.

“The majority, the vast majority of women in federal prisons are not violent offenders,” says retired federal appeals court judge Pat Wald.

Wald says research demonstrates that incarcerated women need time with family members and friends, and special programs to help them get ready to leave prison. She says those are programs that seem to be unavailable for Sister Rice and others locked up in the Brooklyn facility.

Yale Law School Professor Judith Resnik has been studying prisons for more than 30 years. She says the best solution is for authorities to look, case by case, at the inmates holed up in Brooklyn.

“A national review of those incarcerated with the end state of asking who need not be here or who could be in a less secure facility would be the desired end state,” Resnik says.

Read more at Supporters Say Imprisoned Nun Is Being Held In ‘Unfair’ Conditions

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女川原発 点検不備4000件余 via NHK News Web

東北電力は、運転再開を目指している女川原子力発電所2号機で、実際には存在しない機器を点検し問題がないと記録するなど、点検の不備が4000件余りに上ることを明らかにしました。
東北電力は「安全上問題ない」としていますが、地域の人たちに心配をかけたとして陳謝しました。

女川原子力発電所2号機を巡っては、去年、国の原子力規制委員会が検査で点検の不備を指摘し、これを受けて東北電力が点検記録を改めて確認していました。

東 北電力は4日午後3時から仙台市の本店で記者会見し、2号機に関する平成23年8月以降のすべての記録を改めて調べた結果、配管の弁の状態を示す機器が実 際は存在しないのに点検したとして「問題がない」と記録していたり、記録で機器の型式や製造番号を間違ったまま放置していたりした点検の不備が合わせて 4188件に上ることが分かったということです。
記者会見で、東北電力の渡部孝男常務は「安全上問題ない」と説明したうえで、「地域の皆様にご心配やご迷惑をおかけし、大変申し訳なく思っています。深くおわび申し上げます」と述べて陳謝しました。

続きは女川原発 点検不備4000件余 

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China to Merge Power Firms as Nuclear Ambition Grows via Wall Street Journal

By BRIAN SPEGELE
Feb. 3, 2015 11:51 p.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
BEIJING—China’s government will merge a leading nuclear-technology company with one of the nation’s biggest power producers, as the government looks to consolidate its burgeoning nuclear sector.

China Power Investment Corp., one of China’s top electricity producers, is moving ahead with restructuring plans to merge with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., according to a filing late Tuesday by publicly traded CPI subsidiary Shanghai Electric Power Corp.

Shanghai Electric said it made the statement in response to a request for clarification from the stock exchange following volatility in its stock. Its shares were up more than 8% at 12.69 yuan ($2.03) in late-morning trading on Wednesday.
[…]
SNPTC has emerged as one of the most influential players in China’s nuclear industry in recent years. The company is building four AP1000 reactor units in China, following a 2007 deal with Westinghouse Electric Co. to bring the company’s latest reactor to China. As part of that deal, Westinghouse agreed to transfer key AP1000 technologies to SNPTC, which is now working to design and build its own reactors, called CAP 1400, based on the Westinghouse model.

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Spain shuts down nuclear reactor after blackout via RT

A Spanish nuclear power plant was shut down following an electricity failure, local media reported late on Tuesday. Strong winds reportedly caused the blackout in the northeast of the country.

Operations at the Vandellos II 1,000-megawatt nuclear power station, located in Catalonia, Spain, were brought to a halt on Tuesday afternoon, Europapress.es reported, citing Nuclear Association Asco-Vandellos II and the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN).

READ MORE: Fukushima radiation detected 100 miles off California coast

Strong winds in the area were reportedly behind the electricity shortage. The shutdown was automatic following the power outage. According to the plant: “All the safety systems worked as planned” and the there is currently no danger.

Read more at Spain shuts down nuclear reactor after blackout 

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「核のごみ」処理:将来世代が判断…基本方針改定へ via 毎日新聞

原発から出る高レベル放射性廃棄物(核のごみ)の最終処分場の選定手順などを検討する経済産業省の作業部会(委員長・増田寛也元総務相)が4日開かれ、国 の処分方法の骨格を定めた「基本方針」を7年ぶりに改定することを決めた。

(略)

「基本方針」と「処分計画」は、特定放射性廃棄物最終処分法に基づき定めることになっている。改定される新方針には、ごみの「回収可能性」や計画の「可逆 性」といった文言を盛り込み、ごみを地中深く処分しても将来世代が取り出し、処理方法を意思決定できることなどが明記される見通し。【中西拓司】

全文は「核のごみ」処理:将来世代が判断…基本方針改定へ

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復興担う人材来たれ…福島第1原発30キロ圏内、ふたば未来学園高の初入試 via 産経ニュース

福島県が東京電力福島第1原発から20~30キロの福島県広野町に4月に新設する「ふたば未来学園高校」の入学試験が3日、福島県いわき市で行われた。

ふたば未来学園は中高一貫校だが、高校が先行して4月に開校する。復興を担う人材育成のため、大学や企業と連携した授業や、海外留学をカリキュラムに組み 込む。一方、広野町がある同県双葉郡の県立高5校は現在、避難先のサテライト校で授業を続けているが、平成29年度から休校となる見通し。

続きは復興担う人材来たれ…福島第1原発30キロ圏内、ふたば未来学園高の初入試

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