http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ SHIP CARRYING NUCLEAR FUEL LEAVES FRANCE FOR JAPAN A ship loaded with nuclear fuel has left a French port for Japan, carrying the first delivery since the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The cargo ship left the port of Cherbourg in northwestern France on Wednesday, after the fuel was loaded onto the ship under tight security. Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company had ordered the MOX fuel from the French energy firm Areva. MOX fuel is a mixture of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel and uranium. The utility firm plans to use the fuel at its Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. The plant is currently offline. Dozens of French activists staged a protest at the port ahead of the ship's departure. They criticized the shipment at a time when most Japanese nuclear plants remain offline. It is not clear whether the nuclear recycling power generation project which uses the MOX fuel will be able to resume. Areva officials say the ship will arrive in Japan in about 2 months. Apr. 17, 2013 - Updated 20:17 UTC FRENCH ACTIVISTS PROTEST ON NUCLEAR FUEL TO JAPAN Dozens of French activists have staged a protest ahead of a nuclear fuel shipment to Japan. The shipping was halted after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident forced most of Japan's nuclear plants to shutdown. About 50 activists gathered at the northwestern port of Cherbourg on Monday. A French energy firm has been producing the MOX fuel, a mixture of plutonium and uranium. The Kansai Electric Power Company ordered it for use at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, Central Japan, which is currently off-line. A cargo ship loaded with the fuel is scheduled to leave the port as early as Wednesday. The activists wore headbands with the Japanese slogan saying "Stop MOX" and called for a halt to the delivery. A spokesperson for the activists said France is pressuring Japan by sending the fuel over when the country is trying to decide on new energy policies. The activists say the fuel would be brought from a facility about 20 kilometers away from the port and loaded onto 2 vessels. Apr. 16, 2013 - Updated 02:18 UTC 2,000 HOUSES IN WESTERN JAPAN DAMAGED BY QUAKE Officials of the 3 cities on Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, have confirmed that nearly 2,000 houses and buildings were damaged by a strong earthquake on Saturday. Sumoto, Awaji and Minami-awaji conducted the survey on Sunday. In Sumoto, about 300 city officials visited houses and stores to check for cracks and other effects of the quake. Overall, 1,966 structures in the 3 cities were found to have damage. People in hard-hit areas are covering roofs that have missing or broken tiles with plastic sheets provided by the city. A man in his 60s said that as the quake tilted his house and broke water pipes, he wants the city to subsidize its repair. Two people in Sumoto were added to the list of injured by the quake, raising the total to 25 in Hyogo and surrounding prefectures. Apr. 15, 2013 - Updated 01:09 UTC FAIR USE NOTICE: Any copyrighted (©) material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, which constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

• published: 18 Apr 2013
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