http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-06/s_4282.asp
Prospect of summer blackouts in Tokyo stoke unease about nuclear power 06 May 2003 By Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press TOKYO - It would be a little bit like Venice without water, or Los Angeles without highways: Tokyo minus the neon. But with the city's main power company threatening unprecedented blackouts this summer, the garish neon signs and lots of other bright lights could blink off. In perhaps the biggest energy crisis Japan has faced since World War II, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has been forced to shut down all of its nuclear power plants pending safety inspections. TEPCO's stunning revelation last year that it had systematically concealed cracks at its nuclear reactors prompted the world's largest private electric utility to take all of its reactors off-line for tests to reassure neighbors and customers that its nuclear program is sound. But the effort has instead rekindled doubts whether TEPCO - or anyone - can be counted on to deliver nuclear power safely and reliably. "This problem has come about not because there are cracks but because there were cracks and TEPCO hid them: because TEPCO lied," said Satoshi Abe, a senior analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. "TEPCO has been making the daily rounds of resident's homes to try to regain confidence, but I can't say whether they will succeed." The power company has launched a major lobbying campaign, apologizing profusely in newspaper and TV ads and vowing to reform its ways. It hopes to restart by the summer at least some of the reactors that normally supply over 40 percent of the region's energy and avoid blackouts. "We're explaining the situation to residents in an easy-to-understand way," said Masaaki Kobayashi, a public relations official for TEPCO. "We are sincerely responding to the matter of repairs." Japan has long trumpeted nuclear power as the miracle solution to its poverty of natural resources. The government accelerated the nuclear push after the 1973 oil crisis sent shockwaves through an economy heavily dependent on imported oil. The arrangement has never been easy, with many experts and laymen alike doubting the wisdom of building nuclear plants - especially in a country as earthquake-prone as Japan. Some of the worst fears were realized in 1999, when two workers trying to save time at a reprocessing plant north of Tokyo set off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction while they were mixing uranium in buckets instead of in mechanized tanks. The radiation leak forced 161 people to evacuate their homes and another 310,000 to stay indoors for 18 hours as a precaution. A total of 439 people were exposed to radiation. The two workers died from extreme exposure. Then last year, TEPCO stunned Japan with its admission it manipulated safety checks on one of the reactors at one of its plants from 1991 to 1992. TEPCO said it duped inspectors by tinkering with pressure gauges just before government inspectors arrived, but these actions didn't result in any leakage of radioactive material. Three top executives, including the president, resigned. TEPCO fired one employee and disciplined eight others. Increasingly vocal and active neighbors of the country's nuclear plants - invariably located in rural areas amid rice paddies and small towns - have handed the program other setbacks. Earlier this year, a Japanese high court ruled in favor of residents seeking the permanent closure of the centerpiece of the government's plans to expand its nuclear facilities, the Monju faster breeder reactor. Monju, which used plutonium fuel, had been temporarily closed since a 1995 accident. In another major setback, the government last month permanently shut down its Fugen experimental nuclear reactor in western Japan due to high operating costs. The plant was designed to burn a mixture of uranium and plutonium as a transition to more advanced fast-breeder reactors, which use plutonium fuel instead of uranium and produce more plutonium that can be used as fuel. While a system glitch temporarily left 2.8 million clients without power in 1987, TEPCO has never had a power outage due to a supply shortfall. But if opposition keeps TEPCO from getting its reactors going again before electricity use peaks in the summer, the utility will have to scramble to come up with alternatives. So far it has fired up mothballed thermal power reactors, borrowed from utilities in neighboring areas, and asked consumers to conserve energy. TEPCO's biggest test would likely come in July and August, when Tokyoites turn up their air conditioning as the city's humid summers are at their stickiest. Even so, many Tokyo residents say they would prefer blackouts to the continued fear of accidents. "No matter how advanced your technology is, if things go wrong, then bang, you could have a radioactive leak," said Shin Yoshioka, a student at a Tokyo music college. "We should develop other power sources, like wind and solar energy." Source: Associated Press ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online - Over 14,500 titles. No Late Fees & Free Shipping. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/YoVfrB/XP.FAA/uetFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
