Spent-nuclear fuel issues plague restarts — The Japan Times

” Spent fuel at the Hamaoka nuclear power station in Shizuoka Prefecture could exceed the capacity of storage pools some two years after the plant is restarted — much sooner than the previously assumed eight years, according to sources.

The faster pace is because the storage pools for reactors 1 and 2 at the Chubu Electric Power Co. plant will be removed from the complex’s total storage capacity following the decommissioning of the two units.

Previously, Chubu Electric planned to continue using the two reactors’ storage pools. The operations of the two reactors ended in 2009.

Last month, four power suppliers, including Kansai Electric Power Co., decommissioned a combined five aging reactors, significantly reducing storage pool capacity.

As of the end of March, the Hamaoka plant’s storage capacity fell by 440 tons in the past six months to 1,300 tons, reflecting the exclusion of the reactor 1 and 2 pools, according to Chubu Electric’s semiannual report to the Federation of Electric Power Companies. Meanwhile, the amount of spent fuel stored at the plant stood at 1,130 tons.

If the remaining three reactors at the plant are brought back online, the amount of spent fuel would exceed the storage capacity in 2.3 years, compared with the eight years estimated before the company’s decision not to use the reactor 1 and 2 pools.

Of all 15 domestic nuclear plants that operators are seeking to restart, storage space capacity appears to be lowest at the Hamaoka plant.

Only four of the plants have more than 10 years before they run short of capacity, including Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s Tomari plant, which has the longest time, at 16.5 years. The three others are Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Higashidori plant, with 15.1 years, Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s Shika plant, with 14.4 years, and Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant, with 10.7 years.

All nuclear reactors in Japan are now offline.

Some nuclear plant operators are working to increase their spent-fuel storage capacities while pinning hopes on fuel recycling at Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.’s facilities in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.

Chubu Electric has applied to build a dry-cooling storage facility at the Hamaoka plant to boost its total capacity to store spent fuel. It hopes to put the facility into operation in fiscal 2018 if the plan is approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

A Chubu Electric official said storage capacity prospects remain unclear at the plant because it is uncertain if any reactors will be allowed to restart. ”

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Strong 6.8 earthquake detected off Japan’s east coast as tremors reached land — UPI

” TOKYO, May 12 (UPI) — A strong 6.8 earthquake was detected off Japan’s east coast, but no deaths or damage have been reported.

The quake reached the same region that was destroyed by a deadly earthquake in 2011, on the main Japanese island of Honshu, reported RT.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey and the Japan Meteorological Agency, the earthquake struck at 6:13 a.m. local time, at a depth of nearly 50 kilometers, or 31 miles.

The two government agencies differed on the magnitude of the quake.

The USGS reported 6.9, while the JMA gauged a 6.6-level earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also did not issue a tsunami warning, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a “destructive Pacific-wide tsunami” is not expected.

Tohoku Electric Co., which runs the Onagawa nuclear power plant, said there were no irregularities at the plant, NBC News reported.

Operators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said no issues have resulted in the aftermath of Wednesday’s earthquake.

Some bullet train services were disrupted as tracks were checked for damage, according to NHK.

Japanese agency officials said the earthquake was observed from northeastern Japan, all the way to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island.

According to NHK, no major damage has been reported but it was the strongest earthquake to hit Japan since 2011. ”

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4000 errors in inspection records at Onagawa plant — NHK World

” Tohoku Electric Power Company says it has found more than 4,000 improper entries in its inspection records about one of the reactors at its Onagawa nuclear power plant.

The initial inspection was held to check a wide range of facilities at the plant’s No. 2 reactor after the great earthquake that hit northeastern Japan. The operator is hoping to restart the reactor about 100 kilometers north of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

But Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority pointed out last year that Tohoku Electric’s inspection was lax and the firm was re-examining the inspection records on the No. 2 reactor.

Company officials said at a news conference on Wednesday that the utility has scrutinized all the inspection records for the reactor since August 2011.

They said in some cases workers entered “no problem” for parts that didn’t exist, citing the example of monitoring equipment for a valve which was not there.

In other cases, incorrect product types and serial numbers were left untouched. They say there were 4,188 errors in total.

Managing Director Takao Watanabe apologized to people in the region for causing concern, although he asserted the improper entries will not lead to any safety problems.

The company says it will also check the inspection records for the No.1 and No. 3 reactors. ”

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Solar’s $30 billion splurge proves too much for Japan — Bloomberg

” After spending almost $30 billion on solar energy in a single year and installing as many panels as exist in the whole of Spain, Japan is preparing to ratchet back its boom in photovoltaic power.

At least five of the nation’s utilities are restricting the access of new solar farms to their grids. Utilities say two years of rapid expansion has strained their capacity to absorb all the new electricity from sources that generate only when the sun shines.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government offered some of the highest incentives for solar in the world to build PV as an alternative to the nuclear reactors shut down after the meltdowns in Fukushima more than three years ago. That made Japan the second-biggest solar market, balancing a slowdown in sales in Germany and Spain, which once led the industry.

“Everyone was entering the solar market because it was lucrative, and that has strained the market,” said Yutaka Miki, who studies clean energy at the Japan Research Institute.

Japan’s trade ministry has approved plans for about 72 gigawatts of renewable energy projects since July 2012. The country installed almost 7.1 gigawatts of solar capacity last year, more than currently exists in all of Spain, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A gigawatt is about the size of a nuclear reactor.

Japan’s investment in the technology more than tripled to $29.6 billion in 2013 from 2010 levels, data from London-based BNEF show. ”

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Japan renewable energy curb could spark nuclear restart — The Financial Times

” Two Japanese utilities, responsible for about a fifth of the nation’s power, say they have had their fill of renewable energy, in a move that could add pressure on community leaders to allow idled nuclear reactors back on line.

Since the 2011 tsunami led to the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japan has invested heavily in renewables and in solar power in particular. If all the solar projects that Japan has licensed to date came to fruition, it would have total capacity of 68 gigawatts – almost twice that of Germany, the world’s biggest user of solar energy.

But Japan’s utilities have been pushing back, imposing restrictions in certain areas on the grounds that taking on too much solar – where output varies according to weather – could risk instability in the electricity supply. … ”

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