Monju operator said it checked key equipment, but it hadn't By HIDEKI MUROYA/ Staff writer http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302080094
[Excerpted] In a startling admission, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency said a series of vital safety checks supposedly carried out at the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture never got done. The agency had submitted a report to the Nuclear Regulation Authority saying otherwise.
Work needed to be done on an emergency diesel generator and an electromagnetic flow meter for sodium, among other things....
Late last year, it emerged that the operator had put off checks on 9,847 pieces of equipment, as demanded by internal regulations.
Majia: Monju, a breeder reactor has had problem after problem. A good review can be found here http://wmdjunction.com/120309_fukushima_japan_nuclear.htm
SOME BACKGROUND ON MONJU
As of early 2012, Japan calculated that it had invested $12 billion in its experimental “Monju” sodium-cooled, fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture.[i] Designed to operate on plutonium from reprocessed, spent reactor fuel, Monju has been beset with problems since its construction began in 1986. The reactor began operation in 1994, but was soon shut down because of a major fire caused by a sodium leak in 1995.[ii] The operator attempted to hide the incident by having workers their report and through the creation of a strategically truncated video of the accident.[iii] Operations resumed in 2010, but another malfunction occurred.
Late last year, it emerged that the operator had put off checks on 9,847 pieces of equipment, as demanded by internal regulations.
Majia: Monju, a breeder reactor has had problem after problem. A good review can be found here http://wmdjunction.com/120309_fukushima_japan_nuclear.htm
SOME BACKGROUND ON MONJU
As of early 2012, Japan calculated that it had invested $12 billion in its experimental “Monju” sodium-cooled, fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture.[i] Designed to operate on plutonium from reprocessed, spent reactor fuel, Monju has been beset with problems since its construction began in 1986. The reactor began operation in 1994, but was soon shut down because of a major fire caused by a sodium leak in 1995.[ii] The operator attempted to hide the incident by having workers their report and through the creation of a strategically truncated video of the accident.[iii] Operations resumed in 2010, but another malfunction occurred.
[i] J.
Daly (27 February 2012) ‘Another Fukushima Causality: Japan’s Fast-Breeder
Reactor Program’, Oil Price.Com, http://oilprice.com/alternative-energy/nuclear-power/another-fukushima-casualty-japans-fast-breeder-reactor-program.html, date
accessed 8 June 2012.
[ii] Suzuki,
p. 54.
[iii] ‘Monju Costs Far Surpass Usual Nukes:
Trouble-Prone Reactor Has Rung Up Far Higher Tab than Initially Planned’ (4
July 2012), Japan Times, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120704f1.html,
date accessed 5 July 20 12.
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