N.Korea To Refurbish & Restart Nuclear Reactor
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 2013-04-02

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

N.Korea threatens to restart nuclear reactor

North Korea says it will refurbish and restart its disabled nuclear reactor at Nyongbyon, apparently to suggest that it plans to extract toxic plutonium from its spent nuclear fuel.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday quoted the General Bureau of Atomic Energy as saying the country will adjust use of all nuclear facilities at the Nyongbyon complex.

The bureau said this includes restarting the 5-megawatt graphite-moderated reactor. It was disabled under a 2007 six-party agreement.

The bureau added that the move would help ease power shortages, and that it corresponds with leader Kim Jong Un's pledge to rebuild the country's economy while expanding its nuclear program.

North Korea could become able to produce weapons-grade plutonium if the reactor is restarted. But experts say this won't be easy, citing demolishing of its cooling tower in 2008.

North Korea's parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, on Monday adopted legislation to expand the country's nuclear arsenal both in quality and quantity.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Cho Tai-young called the North's announcement highly regrettable.

Cho said at a news conference on Tuesday that North Korea must live up to its promises and achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He said South Korea's government is closely watching developments in the North.

Apr. 2, 2013 - Updated 09:10 UTC

Govt, TEPCO to accelerate decommission timetable

Japan's government has launched a panel to accelerate the decommissioning of reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Company.

The panel is led by industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi and includes TEPCO president, Naomi Hirose, and presidents from major electrical equipment manufacturers. The panel is designed to speed up the decommission work and necessary research for the work.

At the panel's first meeting on Thursday, Motegi told the members to review a decommission timetable drawn up by the former Democrat-led government and set out a new one by the end of June.

Motegi said decommission work should be put on a faster track for the rebuilding of areas affected by the March 11th disaster in 2011.

He added that the levels of damage are different at four troubled reactors at the plant and the panel will review a mid-and long-term roadmap according to each.

The previous timetable includes a plan to start removing melted nuclear fuel within 10 years.

The industry minister also ordered a facility to be made available for developing a remote-controlled robot for the removal of melted nuclear fuel.

The panel plans to draw up a new roadmap while hearing from Fukushima prefectural officials and academics.

The acting head of TEPCO's nuclear power and facilities section, Masayuki Ono, said the company wants to review a decommission plan based on accumulated data and research and development.

Ono noted that operations and inspections at the plant are difficult due to high radiation levels and his company only has fragmented information about the inside of the containment vessels at No. 1 and 2 reactors.

He added that his company will try to speed up the decommission work while closely watching the situation at the site and making arrangements for a new timetable.

Mar. 7, 2013 - Updated 16:36 UTC (01:36 JST)

 SUGA: GOVT. TO MOVE AHEAD WITH RELOCATION PLAN

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary says the government will move ahead the relocation of a US Marine facility in Okinawa while fulfilling its accountability over the matter.

Yoshihide Suga made the remark in a speech in Tokyo on Saturday.

On Friday, the government submitted a request to Okinawa Prefecture for permission to reclaim a coastal area in Nago, Okinawa. The step is needed before a replacement for the US Futenma Air Station is built in the area in line with a Japan-US agreement. The air facility is located in Ginowan City in Okinawa.

Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima will decide within the next 8 months whether to approve the landfill project after inspections and hearings are held.

The government hopes to gain approval from the governor by the end of the year. But Nakaima is calling for relocating the Futenma base outside the prefecture. He says it is effectively impossible to relocate it to the coastal area of Henoko in Nago City.

All the mayors in the prefecture, including Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine, oppose the relocation plan.

Mar. 23, 2013 - Updated 15:39 UTC (00:39 JST)

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