Plutonium Fast Breeder Reactor, Monju, Sits On EIGHT Faults!
Channel: rumorecurioso
Date: 2013-07-24

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

NUCLEAR EXPERTS IN 2ND DAY OF MONJU FAULT SURVEY

Japan's nuclear regulators on Thursday continued their geological survey at the site of a fast-breeder reactor on the Sea of Japan coast. They are trying to find out if there are any active faults that pose safety risks.

 Nuclear Regulation Authority Commissioner Kunihiko Shimazaki and 3 other experts began their 2-day survey at the prototype Monju reactor in Fukui on Wednesday.

 Thursday's survey focused on a linear fissure found in an off-site area southeast of the reactor. Some experts suspect the fissure to be part of an active fault.

 Researchers also inspected the coastal area north of the reactor to see if any similar fissures exist, which would suggest an extension of the fissure in question.

 After Wednesday's survey, the experts asked the reactor's operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, to survey a wider area for possible faults.

 The operator agreed and decided to carry out additional surveys to find out whether the fissure extends into the sea.

Jul. 18, 2013 - Updated 05:14 UTC

REGULATORS INSPECT FAULT UNDER MONJU REACTOR
 
Japan's nuclear regulator has asked the operator of a fast-breeder reactor on the Japan Sea coast to widen a fault survey site.

 The Nuclear Regulation Authority is checking the country's six nuclear power plants built over faults.

 Authority Commissioner Kunihiko Shimazaki and three other experts on Wednesday launched a two-day examination of faults at the prototype Monju reactor in Fukui Prefecture.

 The facility's compound is over eight faults, some of which are under the reactor. Experts say shifts could occur if an active fault about 500 meters west of the site moves in an earthquake.

 The team was first briefed on locations of the faults by officials of the reactor's operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. They examined part of the active fault to determine whether the ground there had shifted.

 The team then visited a point where an extended section of the fault running beneath the reactor can be observed, and made detailed observations of a layer recently dug out of the ground.

 Shimazaki later said the surface of the faults in the compound must be removed to determine whether they are active. He said his team told the operator that a survey of the site's sea and mountain sides is needed.

 If the survey concludes that the fault under the reactor is active, the plant may never be restarted. Government guidelines prohibit building of key nuclear plant facilities over active faults.

 The authority has ordered the agency to suspend preparations for restarting the reactor until measures for proper safety management are in place.

Jul. 17, 2013 - Updated 11:59 UTC

PANEL REVISES CHANCE OF QUAKES AT YAMASAKI FAULT

Seismologists say a fault zone in western Japan has what they term a "slightly high" chance of causing a magnitude-7 earthquake.

 The government's Earthquake Research Committee released on Friday its latest assessment of the Yamasaki fault zone that straddles Okayama and Hyogo prefectures. They revised estimates made 10 years ago.

 The committee says the main, northwestern part of the fault zone has a maximum one percent chance of causing a magnitude 7.7 earthquake within 30 years.

 Further northeast, in Okayama Prefecture, the committee says there's no more than a 0.1 percent chance of a magnitude 7.3 quake in the next 30 years.

 The committee defines percentages of between 0.1 and 3 as "slightly high."

 The probability of a magnitude 7.3 quake in a southeastern section of the fault zone in Hyogo Prefecture was revised from 5 percent to 0.01 percent.

 The committee says the figure was slashed because members learned the area was hit by a quake more recently than previously thought.

 The Yamasaki fault is one of 31 seismic zones in Japan that are subject to the committee's assessments. The panel also studies the probability of offshore quakes that could cause a tsunami.

 The 2011 earthquake that hit northeastern Japan was a record magnitude 9. The 1995 quake that hit the Hyogo area was magnitude 7.3.

Jul. 19, 2013 - Updated 09:35 UTC



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