Monju reactor unlikely to resume operations by next March: JAEA
* May 17, 2013
Kyodo
The Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor will unlikely be
able to resume operations by the end of the current fiscal year, the
research institute that owns the facility said Thursday.
The remarks were made a day after the Nuclear Regulation Authority
decided not to allow the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to engage in
preparatory work for resuming operations at Monju because it sees
problems in its safety management.
The NRA summoned JAEA President Atsuyuki Suzuki on Thursday to convey the
decision and to notify him that the agency will be given an
opportunity to explain its views by May 23. Following such a procedure,
the NRA is expected to issue, possibly later in the month, an order that will
effectively prohibit the reactor’s resumption.
Suzuki told NRA Secretary General Katsuhiko Ikeda that he took the situation
“seriously.”
As for the operation of Monju, Suzuki told reporters, “It takes
nearly one year for preparation and it is physically quite difficult (to
restart it within the current fiscal year through March).”
The NRA’s decision is another blow to the Monju reactor, which has
remained largely offline since first achieving criticality in 1994, due
to a leakage of sodium coolant and other subsequent problems.
The JAEA has been found to have failed to conduct inspections on
appropriate intervals on nearly 10,000 devices, including those that are
categorized as important for safety.
The NRA looked into the case in detail and determined that the
agency’s “safety culture is deteriorating,” given that the agency could
not address the problems even though people had been aware of the
delayed inspections.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/17/national/monju-reactor-unlikely-to-resume-operations-by-next-march-jaea/#.UZurikpZSVp
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