Fukushima News 3 26 14  Japan's 44 Tons of Plutonium;Fuel Remo
Channel: Kathy Reed
Date: 27/03/2014

Trouble stops fuel removal at nuclear plant
Work has been suspended to remove spent nuclear fuel from a storage pool at a reactor building in the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said an accident occurred at around 9:30 AM on Wednesday when workers started removing fuel units at the No. 4 reactor building.
The utility explained a large crane used to hoist a cask containing 22 spent fuel units from the storage pool suddenly halted before lifting the cask. Workers were attaching a hook to the crane's wire at that time.
The company says no rise in radiation levels have been observed around the pool.
Workers are now trying to find out what caused the problem.
TEPCO began removing fuel units from the storage pool of the No.4 reactor in November of last year. The pool held 1,533 units of fuel, of which 1,331 are highly radioactive spent fuel.
As of Tuesday, 550 fuel units had been removed and transferred to another storage pool.

Japan faces challenges on nuclear material
Japan faces a number of challenges in reducing its stockpiles of nuclear material to prevent its exploitation by terrorists.
Japan agreed in a joint statement with the United States on Monday at the Nuclear Security Summit to return stocks of plutonium provided by other countries for research purposes in the 1960s.
The supply includes 331 kilograms of plutonium from the US used for fast critical assembly experiments.
The United States is collecting nuclear material to prevent terrorists from acquiring it.
Japan also maintains a stockpile of about 44 tons of plutonium recycled from spent nuclear fuel.
The amount would be enough to make about 5,500 bombs according to calculations by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The plutonium is meant to be used as fuel for nuclear power generation, but the accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has put all reactors in Japan offline.
Japan also lacks a law requiring background checks for workers at nuclear facilities. 

Leaders aim to minimize nuclear material stocks
World leaders have agreed to try to minimize stocks of weapons-grade uranium and other sensitive materials as a way to counter nuclear terrorism.
Leaders from more than 50 countries adopted a communique at the end of the 2-day Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on Tuesday.
The Hague communique also calls on nations to keep their stockpile of plutonium to the minimum level. It urges political and financial support for the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Japan announced at the summit that it will remove all highly enriched uranium and plutonium from a research facility and hand them over to the United States for disposal.
Japan has used the materials for research on a fast reactor with cooperation from the US.

Inside Source: Gov't officials are withholding Fukushima radiation data — Levels much higher than expected — Releasing numbers would "have a huge impact" — Over 2,000 millisieverts per year where residents are being encouraged to return
http://enenews.com/inside-source-govt-officials-are-withholding-fukushima-radiation-data-levels-much-higher-than-expected-releasing-numbers-would-have-a-huge-impact-over-2000-millisieverts-per-year-wher

Nearly a dozen Hanford employees sick from unknown fumes
http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/Portion-of-Hanford-evacuated-after-employees-get-sick-from-fumes-

N.Korea fires ballistic missiles
South Korea's defense ministry says North Korea fired 2 ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan early on Wednesday morning.
Ministry officials say the North launched the missiles from an area north of Pyongyang. 

Blockage cleared for Fukushima water bypass
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Blockage-cleared-for-water-Fukushima-water-bypass-2603141.html

NRC Events
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2014/20140325en.html

How safe is the DOE's WIPP nuclear dump when sinkholes open in New Mexico? 
http://www.examiner.com/article/how-safe-is-the-doe-s-wipp-nuclear-dump-when-sinkholes-open-new-mexico

Mexicans concerned, anxious about WIPP radiation release — City of 2.5 million nearly 200 miles away "within transnational evacuation zone in event of a nuclear disaster" — Local officials meeting with U.S. gov't — Whistleblower: If plutonium released "surrounding population should take precautions"
http://enenews.com/mexicans-concerned-anxious-about-wipp-radiation-release-city-of-2-5-million-nearly-200-miles-away-within-a-transnational-evacuation-zone-in-event-of-a-nuclear-disaster-local-officials-meeti

Federal oversight chair questions safety at Carlsbad's WIPP nuke dump
http://www.examiner.com/article/how-safe-is-the-doe-s-wipp-nuclear-dump-when-sinkholes-open-new-mexico

Nuclear reactor threatened by cuts
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Nuclear-reactor-threatened-by-cuts-5345741.php

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry
http://nuclear-news.net/