Reactor robot faces postponement Nuclear & Energy Jan. 25, 2016 - Updated 19:59 UTC-5 The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is facing another obstacle as the firm tries to remove melted fuel from the crippled reactors. It's decided to postpone sending a robotic probe into one of the reactors after assessing the conditions as too severe. Takahama reactor achieves criticality Nuclear & Energy Jan. 29, 2016 - Updated 17:08 UTC-5 Kansai Electric Power Company says a reactor that's been restarted in central Japan achieved criticality, a self-sustained nuclear reaction on Saturday morning, which should allow it to start generating power. The Takahama plant's No.3 reactor in Fukui Prefecture is the third to restart under tougher government regulations introduced after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. On Friday, the plant's engineers removed some of the control rods from the reactor, and then restarted the facility. After extracting 3 fourths of the control rods they cautiously adjusted nuclear fission reaction by controlling the density of materials in cooling water. The utility plans to have the reactor generate power on Monday, if no problems are found with the performance of the control rods and other equipment. The resumption of commercial operation is planned for late February. The operator says it will closely monitor whether the reactor's equipment is functioning properly after being offline for almost 4 years. Part of the fuel used is a MOX type, a mixture of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel and uranium. It forms part of Japan's nuclear fuel recycling system. The reactor would be the first to use MOX fuel under the new regulations. Two reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima resumed operations last year. Fukushima ice wall near completion Nuclear & Energy Jan. 28, 2016 - Updated 15:20 UTC-5 An underground ice wall designed to curb the buildup of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will see near completion on Friday. But it's not yet clear when it can be put into service as the nuclear regulator has not yet given a green light to its use. The barrier will almost be finished Friday. Only the last procedure, which involves filling underground pipes with coolant, remains. The wall made of frozen soil stretches about 1.5 kilometers around 4 reactor buildings. Tokyo Electric Power Company aims to cut the amount of groundwater that seeps into the buildings and then becomes contaminated. The utility expects the barrier to reduce the inflow to 10 tons a day. That's less than one tenth the current level. The project to build the wall began in June 2014 at a cost of about 290 million dollars from the national coffers. The plan is to start operation by the end of March. But the Nuclear Regulation Authority has not given its approval. It fears radioactive water could leak from the reactor buildings if the wall makes the level of groundwater lower than that of contaminated water. TEPCO says it will closely monitor groundwater levels and inject water if the levels fall too far. But the regulator insists changes in groundwater levels could cause unintended consequences. 'Below seabed' nuclear waste disposal study begins Nuclear & Energy Jan. 26, 2016 - Updated 03:13 UTC-5 Japan's industry ministry has launched an expert team to study disposal of highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The study includes as potential candidate sites areas beneath the coastal seabed. State Accountability Scarce Four Years After San Onofre Leak http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/jan/19/state-accountability-scarce-four-years-after-san-o/ Nuclear site would have ‘less radiation than bananas’ http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/site-would-have-less-radiation-than-bananas/2907879/

• published: 30 Jan 2016
• views: 468