France condemns Iran nuclear move

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on October 26.NEW: Tehran insists that its nuclear program is peacefulThe French Foreign Ministry says Tuesday's announcement by Iran flouts U.N. resolutionsParis is calling on Tehran to "suspend its sensitive activities"British official said last month Iran is secretly testing missiles

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The French Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday the Iranian government's announcement that it was installing a new generation of centrifuges in its nuclear facilities, describing it as "a new wave of provocation" that flouts United Nations resolutions.

"This is yet another violation of the six Security Council resolutions and the 10 IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors resolutions," the ministry said in a statement. "On top of the announcements that it plans to triple the production of uranium enriched to 20%, it clearly confirms the suspicions of the IAEA and the international community regarding the purpose of a program without any credible civilian objective."

The French Foreign Ministry called on Tehran to "suspend its sensitive activities."

The ministry was reacting to the announcement earlier in the day by a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, who said the country is installing a new generation of centrifuges in its nuclear facilities. The announcement was reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, "stressed the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities, saying that all Iran's nuclear activities were carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency," IRNA said.

Iran has been carrying out covert tests of missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload, in contravention of a U.N. resolution, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said last month.

It has also said it wants to enrich uranium to "levels far greater than is needed for peaceful nuclear energy," Hague said.

Iran's development of missile and nuclear fuel technology has led to U.N. sanctions and accusations from the United States that the clerical regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran says it has a right to peaceful nuclear technology, but the IAEA has said it cannot verify whether the intent of Tehran's nuclear program remains peaceful.

Enriched uranium can be used for civilian nuclear purposes, but also to make atomic weapons.

The IAEA raised concerns in February that Iran was not engaging with the agency on claims that it was developing a nuclear payload for its missiles.

The IAEA report discussed possible nuclear activities tied to Iran's military "including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile."

The United States imposed new sanctions on Iran last month, targeting the country's national airline, Iran Air, other companies and international business executives accused of illicitly building up Tehran's military.

Iran has condemned those sanctions in a letter to the United Nations, saying the international body had a responsibility to look out for "nations who are merely endeavoring to attain their legitimate and undeniable rights under international law."

The United Nations passed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in June 2010, aimed at pressuring it to suspend its nuclear program.

Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report.

CNN

Water recycling at Japan nuclear plant stops again (AP)

TOKYO – A water recycling system at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant was halted for repairs Monday after a brief run that had been hailed as major progress in restoring control and improving conditions at the crippled plant.

Tons of fresh water has been pumped to the plant to cool its reactors, a process that taints the water with radiation. About 110,000 tons of tainted water has accumulated and could overflow by early July if the recycling system fails or other storage options are not enough.

Workers have struggled for weeks to use a new system to clean the tainted water and reuse it in the cooling process. The water treatment components fully operated for five hours earlier this month, and test-runs were conducted before it went fully operational Monday. It also pumped treated water into the reactors — a long-awaited new phase that lasted only briefly.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the recycling system was halted about an hour and a half after it began operating. Workers spotted water leaking from a hose that was sending the processed water into the reactors, TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said.

The leak shut down the recycling segment of the system, while the cleaning segment is continuing to operate. Workers switched back to fresh water injection into the reactors, Matsumoto said.

No new leakage outside the plant has been reported. TEPCO plans to start repair work early Tuesday to restore the recycling segment as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of the day.

The multinational system has reprocessed 1,850 tons of contaminated water as coolant to be pumped back into the reactors. In full capacity, the system can treat up to 1,200 tons of contaminated water per day, more than twice as much as needed to cool the three reactors.

The March earthquake and tsunami destroyed power and cooling systems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, melting reactor cores and leaking massive amount of radiation. Some contaminated water seeped into the ocean in April and May, causing criticism and concerns in and outside of Japan.

Some of the tainted water is stored in temporary tanks, but the rest has still pooled inside reactor and turbine basements and utility pits, hampering workers and risking radiation exposure.

TEPCO has sealed cracks, set up oil fences around the coastal plant, and acquired more storage tanks in case of emergency. But as long as the cleaning segment of the recycling system is functioning, the volume of tainted water will not grow.

Announcing the launch of the recycling system earlier Monday, Goshi Hosono, newly appointed nuclear crisis minister, called the system "a major step forward" toward stable cooling of the reactors. But he said he was not fully confident about the system.

"It's a problem if the system continues to be unreliable," he said. "We must turn it into something that can feed water stably."

TEPCO and the government have said they hope to achieve a cold shutdown of the reactors by January by bringing the core temperatures to below 100 Celsius (212 Fahrenheit).

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Back-up generators put to use at Nebraska nuclear plant

(CNN) -- The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected Monday to visit a Nebraska power plant surrounded by Missouri River floodwater.

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, about 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska, is one of two in the state that has been getting increased attention from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission amid historic flooding along the Missouri River.

The Fort Calhoun plant, which has been shut down since April for refueling, has as much as two feet of water in places.

The plant's parking lot is among the areas flooded, requiring plant workers to navigate a catwalk to reach the plant.

The other plant, Cooper Nuclear Station, sits on higher ground and continues to operate.

NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko is scheduled to visit the Fort Calhoun plant on Monday morning.

Although an inflatable water-filled structure called an aqua berm surrounding the plant was punctured by machinery early Sunday morning, key areas of the facility are not in danger of being flooded, the NRC and the owner of the Fort Calhoun plant said.

"The plant is still protected. This was an additional, a secondary, level of protection that we had put up," said Mike Jones, a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District. "The plant remains protected to the level it would have been if the aqua berm had not been added."

Plant workers briefly switched to diesel backup generators to keep nuclear fuel at the site cool because water had gotten too close to electrical transformers, Jeff Hanson, a spokesman for the utility, said Monday. The plant was again drawing power from the electrical grid, he said.

In addition to the berm, authorities have put in place floodgates, sandbags and other barriers to help protect the facility. As precautions, workers have been given satellite phones and extra food is stockpiled at the plant according to the NRC.

Plant managers also have brought in additional diesel fuel should the site lose electricity, according to the NRC.

The aqua berm -- an 8-foot-tall, water-filled berm, 16 feet wide at its base -- surrounded the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, according to the NRC.

A representative of the manufacturer is at the plant helping assess whether the berm can be repaired, Hanson said.

With or without the berm, the chances of floodwater getting into the building where the core is kept are almost zero, said Dave Van Der Kamp, with the Nebraska Public Power District.

The plant is designed to withstand water up to 1,014 feet above mean sea level, according to the Omaha Public Power District. The river currently stands at 1,006.3 feet and is not expected to exceed 1,008 feet, the OPPD said.

"We built the plant up high enough based on history, based on the flooding in the past. If the flood would rise for some reason above that level we have taken precautions, again, per our procedures to sandbag the important equipment for the reactors," Van Der Kamp said.

It was catastrophic flooding from Japan's March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in three reactors melting down and producing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. This year's Midwestern flooding has also led to a spate of rumors about the Fort Calhoun plant that OPPD and the NRC have been trying to knock down.

The utility has set up a "flood rumor control" page to reassure the public that there has been no release of radioactivity from the plant. An electrical fire June 7 did knock out cooling to its spent fuel storage pool for about 90 minutes, but the coolant water did not reach a boiling point before backup pumps went into service, it has said.

Heavy rainfall in Montana and North Dakota, combined with melting snow from the Rocky Mountains, have sent the Missouri surging downstream this summer. The river washed over and punched through levees in northwestern Missouri, spurring authorities to urge about 250 nearby residents to leave their homes.

The 6 to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth, and runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140% of normal, according to forecasters.

The Missouri River is forecast to remain at record or near-record levels from south of Omaha all the way to Atchison, Kansas, into next week. The flooding is affecting communities in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann and Ed Payne contributed to this report.

CNN

Flood berm bursts at nuclear plant

The Fort Calhoun plant remains secure, its owner saysSome of the grounds are under waterThe plant has been shut since April

(CNN) -- A water-filled berm protecting a nuclear power plant in Nebraska from rising floodwaters collapsed Sunday, according to a spokesman, who said the plant remains secure.

Some sort of machinery came in contact with the berm, puncturing it and causing the berm to deflate, said Mike Jones, a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), which owns the Fort Calhoun plant.

The plant, located about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been shut since April for refueling.

"The plant is still protected. This was an additional, a secondary, level of protection that we had put up," Jones said. "The plant remains protected to the level it would have been if the aqua berm had not been added."

Parts of the grounds are already under water as the swollen Missouri River overflows its banks, including areas around some auxiliary buildings, Jones said.

In addition to the berm, authorities have put in place floodgates and other barriers to help protect the facility, like sandbags.

The 8-foot-tall, water-filled berm, 16 feet wide at its base, surrounded the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"We built the plant up high enough based on history, based on the flooding in the past. If the flood would rise for some reason above that level we have taken precautions, again, per our procedures to sandbag the important equipment for the reactors," said Dave Van Der Kamp, with the NRC.

He said the chances of floodwater getting into the building where the core is kept are almost zero.

The plant is designed to withstand waters up to 1,014 feet above mean sea level, according to the OPPD. The river currently stands at 1,006.3 feet and is not expected to exceed 1,008 feet, the Power District said.

Heavy rainfall in Montana and North Dakota, combined with melting snow from the Rocky Mountains, have sent the Missouri surging downstream this summer. The river washed over and punched through levees in nearby northwestern Missouri, spurring authorities to urge about 250 nearby residents to leave their homes.

The 6 to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth, and runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140% of normal, according to forecasters.

It was catastrophic flooding from Japan's March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in three reactors melting down and producing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. This year's Midwestern flooding has also led to a spate of rumors about the Fort Calhoun plant that OPPD and the NRC have been trying to knock down.

The utility has set up a "flood rumor control" page to reassure the public that there has been no release of radioactivity from the plant. An electrical fire June 7 did knock out cooling to its spent fuel storage pool for about 90 minutes, but the coolant water did not reach a boiling point before backup pumps went into service, it has said.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.

CNN

Flood berm bursts at U.S. nuclear plant

The Fort Calhoun plant remains secure, its owner saysSome of the grounds are under waterThe plant has been shut since April

(CNN) -- A water-filled berm protecting a nuclear power plant in Nebraska from rising floodwaters collapsed Sunday, according to a spokesman, who said the plant remains secure.

Some sort of machinery came in contact with the berm, puncturing it and causing the berm to deflate, said Mike Jones, a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), which owns the Fort Calhoun plant.

The plant, located about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been shut since April for refueling.

"The plant is still protected. This was an additional, a secondary, level of protection that we had put up," Jones said. "The plant remains protected to the level it would have been if the aqua berm had not been added."

Parts of the grounds are already under water as the swollen Missouri River overflows its banks, including areas around some auxiliary buildings, Jones said.

In addition to the berm, authorities have put in place floodgates and other barriers to help protect the facility, like sandbags.

The 8-foot-tall, water-filled berm, 16 feet wide at its base, surrounded the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"We built the plant up high enough based on history, based on the flooding in the past. If the flood would rise for some reason above that level we have taken precautions, again, per our procedures to sandbag the important equipment for the reactors," said Dave Van Der Kamp, with the NRC.

He said the chances of floodwater getting into the building where the core is kept are almost zero.

The plant is designed to withstand waters up to 1,014 feet above mean sea level, according to the OPPD. The river currently stands at 1,006.3 feet and is not expected to exceed 1,008 feet, the Power District said.

Heavy rainfall in Montana and North Dakota, combined with melting snow from the Rocky Mountains, have sent the Missouri surging downstream this summer. The river washed over and punched through levees in nearby northwestern Missouri, spurring authorities to urge about 250 nearby residents to leave their homes.

The 6 to 12 inches of rainfall in the upper Missouri basin in the past few weeks is nearly a normal year's worth, and runoff from the mountain snowpack is 140% of normal, according to forecasters.

It was catastrophic flooding from Japan's March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in three reactors melting down and producing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. This year's Midwestern flooding has also led to a spate of rumors about the Fort Calhoun plant that OPPD and the NRC have been trying to knock down.

The utility has set up a "flood rumor control" page to reassure the public that there has been no release of radioactivity from the plant. An electrical fire June 7 did knock out cooling to its spent fuel storage pool for about 90 minutes, but the coolant water did not reach a boiling point before backup pumps went into service, it has said.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.

CNN

Japan to open airlock at nuclear plant

Workers enter the No. 2 reactor at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclar power plant in Japan in May.Tokyo Electric has been cleared to open the No. 2 reactor airlock A robot probe recorded a sauna-like atmosphere in the reactor building in AprilThe U.N. nuclear watchdog agency hosts a safety conference this week

Tokyo (CNN) -- Workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been cleared to open the No. 2 reactor building's airlock to ease sauna-like conditions inside, the plant's owner said Sunday.

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it planned to open the heavy double doors slowly overnight, taking about eight hours to complete the process to avoid disturbing contaminated dust inside the containment building. The company has been trying to filter radioactive particles out of the air inside the building for several days, and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency approved Friday plans to open the airlock, Tokyo Electric announced.

The reactor is one of three at Fukushima Daiichi that suffered meltdowns after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan. The tsunami swamped the plant and knocked out cooling systems that kept the three operating reactors from overheating, leading to the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Japanese authorities used robot probes to peer into the reactor housings in April, finding temperatures up to 41 degrees Celsius (106 F) and humidity ranging from 94% to 99% inside unit 2. Engineers have long suspected that the reactor was leaking a large percentage of the hundreds of tons of water being poured into it every day to keep it cool following the accident.

New cleanup measure halted at plant

But radiation levels inside were far lower than those recorded at units 1 and 3, holding open the possibility that workers could get inside and try to repair some of the damage if the humidity and temperature could be controlled.

Japan's nuclear safety agency has estimated that tens of thousands of tons of contaminated water has leaked out of the three reactors since the disaster, collecting in the turbine plant and utility tunnels around the reactors since March 11. Decontaminating and storing that water is a key step in Tokyo Electric's plans to wind down the ongoing crisis by January -- but those plans suffered a setback over the weekend, when a newly installed treatment system registered higher-than-expected radiation levels.

The latest developments come as the International Atomic Energy Agency prepares to open a four-day conference on nuclear safety and the Fukushima accident in Vienna, Austria, on Monday. The conference is aimed at drawing lessons from the Fukushima disaster, the agency says.

Though no deaths have been attributed to the accident, the resulting contamination has forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people from towns surrounding the plant. In addition, restrictions on various agricultural and fisheries products have devastated Japanese farmers and fishers since the crisis began.

In a June 7 report to the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the Japanese government described a chaotic situation in the hours following the quake as the company and the government struggled to respond to the disaster.

CNN

Congress hears report on nuclear agency chairman

Report calls Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman manipulativeBut Congress argues over whether his behavior is illegalGregory Jaczko accused of withholding info on Yucca Mountain siteJaczko: "I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners"

Washington (CNN) -- In the days after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Gregory Jaczko appeared frequently on television as the calm, steady hand of the U.S. nuclear power industry.

But at a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, critics painted a different picture of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, saying he ruled by intimidation, yelled at his staff, was manipulative and -- in one key case -- withheld information from his fellow commissioners in order to achieve his goal.

And Congress members dickered over whether another word can be used to describe Jaczko's actions: illegal.

Jaczko is under fire for using administrative procedures to kill a controversial plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Fellow commissioners say Jaczko misled them about the consequences of his administrative actions or kept them in the dark entirely.

Last week, a report by the agency's inspector general appeared to clear Jaczko of any legal wrongdoing, saying his decision was supported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission attorney and was within his discretion as chairman.

But at Tuesday's hearing, members of the inspector general's staff were ambiguous and contradictory.

"Did you find that the chairman of the NRC acted illegally?" California Democrat Henry Waxman asked.

"No. No. No, we didn't, sir," Inspector General Hubert Bell said.

But asked by Pennsylvania Republican Tim Murphy whether Jaczko violated a statute requiring the chairmen to keep commissioners informed, Bell's assistant Joseph McMillan responded: "One could draw that conclusion."

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, drew that conclusion.

"He violated the law," Barton said. "He did not uphold his responsibility under the statute. That is clear layman common sense."

The dispute is only the latest in the 25-year history of Yucca Mountain. In 1987, after the Department of Energy conducted studies of nine potential nuclear waste sites, Congress selected Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the only site for further study for the first national repository.

But the plan faced stiff opposition in Nevada, with Sen. Harry Reid vowing that the site would never open there.

Jaczko, a former top aide to Reid, also opposed Yucca Mountain. After being appointed to the nuclear commission, Jaczko recused himself from matters involving Yucca Mountain for a year, saying at his confirmation hearing that he hoped he could establish his independence during that time.

Later, President Barack Obama appointed him as chairman of the five-member body.

In February 2010, the Obama administration said it would suspend licensing for Yucca Mountain, saying it was "not a workable option."

After that announcement, critics say, Jaczko took steps to stop the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's consideration of the Yucca Mountain application. According to the inspector general report, Jaczko directed agency staff to stop working on a Yucca Mountain review, saying his actions had been reviewed and agreed to by his fellow commissioners.

But, according to the report, "one commissioner was not informed of the language, two were provided some information but did not recognize the impact ... and one commissioner disagreed with the language because he recognized the impact it would have." Jaczko "was not forthcoming with the other commissioners about his intent" to have staff members stop work on Yucca Mountain, the report states.

"Clearly, the commissioners that we spoke to had no understanding" about the consequences of Jaczko's action and were "somewhat agitated" when they found out, McMillan said.

"It appears that Chairman Jaczko has let politics trump science here, that he's manipulated the process," said Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pennsylvania. "He's misled some of the fellow commissioners about the consequences of the actions that were taken, and I think the credibility of the NRC has been damaged; its reputation has been damaged. There's some real serious questions about the agency's independence and scientific integrity."

Jaczko on Tuesday denied misleading others.

"I believe I was forthcoming with my fellow commissioners," he said in a statement following the hearing. "This was my decision and that has been clear from the start. In leadership positions you have to be prepared to take the heat. I am fully comfortable with the decision because it was entirely within my authority as chairman."

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said complaints that politics had trumped science were "ironic" given the history of the search for a place to store the nation's nuclear waste. Past congressional leaders had blocked proposals for numerous other sites for political reasons, he said.

"This issue has been nothing but political since the very beginning," Markey said.

CNN

Defiant Iran plans big rise in nuclear enrichment (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran will shift its production of higher-grade uranium to an underground bunker and triple production capacity, it said on Wednesday in a defiant response to charges of trying to make atomic bombs.

"This year, under the supervision of the (International Atomic Energy) Agency, we will transfer 20 percent enrichment from the Natanz site to the Fordow site and we will increase the production capacity by three times," state broadcaster IRIB quoted the head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, as telling journalists after a cabinet meeting.

Iran only disclosed the existence of Fordow, a mountain bunker near the clerical city of Qom, in September 2009, after Western intelligence had detected it and said it was evidence of covert nuclear work.

The decision to move and boost production drew immediate censure from the West, which has imposed a series of sanctions on Iran to try to force it to halt enrichment -- a process that can make weapons material if done to a much higher level.

Holing up in Fordow could provide greater protection for Iran's sensitive, uranium-purifying centrifuges in the face of threatened U.S. and Israeli air strikes.

"This announcement is a provocation," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"It reinforces the international community's existing concerns over the intransigence of the Iranian authorities and their persistent violation of international law."

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says it is enriching uranium for electricity production and medical applications.

But its decision last year to raise the level of enrichment from the 3.5 percent purity needed for normal power plant fuel to 20 percent worried countries that saw it as a significant step toward the 90 percent needed for bombs.

The In1stitute for Science and International Security, a U.S.-based think-tank, said that the Fordow plan could, a year after its implementation, enable Iran "to more quickly break out and produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon, if it chose to do so."

RAISING THE STAKES

The Vienna-based IAEA, whose 35-nation board began a discussion on Iran's nuclear program on Wednesday, said it had only learned of the plan from media reports.

"Iran has not yet informed the agency of any such decision," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said.

The European Union said it noted the announcement with deep concern and said Iran was "further exacerbating its defiance" of the U.N. Security Council.

Iranian media portrayed the announcement as a defiant response to tightened sanctions and IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's assertion on Monday that he had received new evidence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear work.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Amano of taking orders from Washington.

After Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that no incentive from world powers could persuade Iran to give up enrichment, President Barack Obama said further sanctions were likely.

"Iran certainly is raising the stakes," said proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"There is absolutely no justification for producing any more 20 percent enriched uranium at all, since any reactors that would use it are far off into the future," he said. "Tripling the production rate would be highly provocative."

Iran says it needs 20 percent uranium to make fuel for a medical research reactor after talks on a swap -- under which other countries would have supplied the material -- broke down.

"After we increase the production capacity in Fordow by three times, then we will stop the 20 percent section of the Natanz site and will transfer it completely to Fordow," Abbasi-Davani said, adding the transfer would start this year.

In its latest report on Iran, in late May, the agency said Iran had told it in February of plans to begin feeding nuclear material into enrichment cascades at Fordow "by this summer."

But the IAEA added that as of May 21 no centrifuges had been introduced into the facility.

Abbasi-Davani said Iran had completed technical development of a new generation of centrifuges and they would be installed at both sites.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Sylvia Westall in Vienna and Vicky Buffery in Paris; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by Dan Williams)

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Germany: Hidden Fallout from Sudden Nuclear Shutdown (Time.com)

By THOMAS SCHMID / DIE WELT / WORLDCRUNCH Thomas Schmid / Die Welt / Worldcrunch – Thu Jun 2, 3:25 pm ET

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Die Welt.

BERLIN - The biggest advantage of democracy is the possibility of getting rid of governments you don't like in a peaceful way. That doesn't sound like much. Yet it sums up all the wisdom and beauty at the core of a democratic system. In a democracy, you can say A, but you can also say B, just as you can rely on the assumption that nothing has to last forever. Everything can be changed, amended, courses reversed. In short, the very life and soul of democracy is that there are always other options.

Germany's federal government is now abusing that basic rule in a scandalous way. There can be no doubt that the country needs to be looking at a smart mix of different energy sources for the future, and that developing viable alternatives to atomic power is an urgent necessity. Yet the manner in which the federal government has rushed to its decision to put a definitive stop to the use of nuclear energy by 2022 runs counter to all rules of democratic procedure. It began when, for politically motivated and tactical reasons alone, the government went back on the agreement made last fall - just seven months ago - to extend the life span of nuclear power plants. After the Japanese plant Fukushima began leaking radiation, it felt compelled to cede to public pressure by making a rapid move away from atomic power. Backtracking in the blink of an eye, the government moved so quickly partly out of fear of the Greens, and entirely without discussion or reflection. (See why the Japan nuclear crisis triggered protests in Germany.)

The Swiss Energy and Environment Minister Doris Leuthard - who had the determining vote in her government's decision not to build any more atomic power plants and to stop the use of nuclear energy by 2034 - stated: "The change needs time, but we also have time." That deliberate tone is sorely missed in Germany. From the Christian Social Union to the greenest of the republic's Greens, over the past few weeks it's as if everyone is trying to outdo everyone else in signing the death warrant on nuclear power. It's a climate that only engenders more excitability, not good sense.

Why the rush?
It is rather astonishing to see how radically the federal government has avoided examining alternative solutions on this issue. Indeed, such an evasion of a debate on the so-called Fukushima Package, which comes up for parliamentary vote on July 8, could be said to skirt legality. Hans-JUrgen Papier, a former president of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, not known for making unconsidered remarks, called the moratorium an "illegal measure" and something that "[German Chancellor] Angela Merkel, the magician, pulled out of her hat like a rabbit a couple of days after Fukushima." There was no reaction from Berlin.

The Federal Network Agency, also not known for rash pronouncements, stated that consequences of the moratorium would be "questionable in terms of the energy industry, economically inefficient and ecologically damaging" - again, no reaction from antinuclear Berlin, which steamrolled right over it. (See why Germany is abandoning nuclear power by 2022.)

And nobody really seems to be perturbed that the body created by Merkel to wind down the use of nuclear power has impertinently been assigned the name of Ethics Commission - as if the issue at stake were an ethical one, and not one of practical and technical common sense. Supporters of atomic energy comprise a tiny minority of the 17-person commission, and within the government only the most faint voices can still be heard raising a timid "But? ..." What a wonderful victory for the robust give-and-take that nurtures democracy!

And then there's Europe. When a founding E.U. member as powerful as the Federal Republic of Germany wants the continent and the rest of the world to head down a new energy path, then it would be vital not only for that member to take the matter up at the European level, but to give it time - we need time, and we have it. Germany has shown no respect for the energy policies of other E.U. countries, and particularly no trace of consideration for the East-West split that exists in Europe over nuclear power. Instead, Germany has chosen to go it alone on this issue, assuming a kind of avant-garde, "moral high ground" role that is not always going to play well elsewhere. (See pictures of nuclear reactors.)

Sustainability also means not getting caught up in the fluster of every passing pressure. It means taking time, in the clear knowledge that a "no" to nuclear power does not constitute an answer to the complex question of how to find viable future sources of energy.

Weighing the pros and cons, hearing out the opposition, putting things in longer-term perspective: we're not seeing any of this. Instead, there is an unholy alliance between those who want to "govern without hindrance" and those who would usurp the will of both Parliament and the people in favor of morally charged environmental pressure. In a rational Germany, haste on such weighty issues should not be tolerated.

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U.N. urges Japan nuclear safety overhaul after Fukushima (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – U.N. atomic safety experts said Japan underestimated the threat from a killer wave to its crippled Fukushima power plant and urged sweeping changes to prevent a repeat of the crisis that triggered the word's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

In a report presented to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday, an 18-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for a rethink of the way nuclear facilities are built, run and regulated.

Officials have been criticized for failing to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-meter (19 ft) wall at the plant in the northeast of the country, despite forecasts from the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co's scientists that such a risk was looming.

The wave that crashed into the plant after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake of March 11 has been estimated at around 14 meters (46 ft), nearly two-and-a-half times the height of the wall.

The IAEA report represented the first outside review of the crisis at Fukushima, which has still not been brought under control, and suggested that power companies in quake-prone countries may face higher hurdles in coming years to meet new international standards.

The report could also mark a new phase in a growing debate within Japan about how -- and whether -- the country's 49 remaining nuclear plants can return to operation.

"What we are trying to do is reflect on this and push for the highest safety standards worldwide," said Michael Weightman, Britain's top nuclear safety regulator and the leader of the IAEA inspection team.

The three-page IAEA report urged Japan to overhaul its system of nuclear regulation in order to make officials overseeing safety independent of the ministry that promotes nuclear power.

In 2007, the IAEA was ignored when it called on Japan to create a more powerful and independent nuclear regulator and clarify the responsibilities of the four government agencies with some responsibility for plant safety.

Goshi Hosono, a Kan aide who received the IAEA report, said a set of post-disaster reforms due to be announced as soon as next week would take up the question of how to make its nuclear regulatory agency independent.

"I think that the way nuclear plants are regulated will be taken up as one of the problem areas," Hosono told reporters.

Workers and officials have described a scene of near chaos when the quake and tsunami hit Fukushima on March 11. Key safety systems, including gauges and vents, were disabled and it was not clear in the crucial first hours who was responsible for decision making, according to accounts.

The IAEA said workers at Fukushima had been "dedicated" and "determined" but urged Japan to build "hardened" command centers to allow for a better response in future emergencies.

FOCUS ON CONSEQUENCES

The Fukushima crisis has prompted a rethink of energy policy in Japan and around the world. Germany's government has vowed to abandon nuclear power.

Japan has pulled back from a commitment to build new reactors, but it remains uncertain how quickly existing plants will be allowed to restart.

Currently Japan is operating only 19 of its pre-Fukushima tally of 54 reactors. Unless local officials can be convinced that Tokyo has a plan to make the others resistant to the kind of blackout that plunged Fukushima into meltdown, more plants will drop off-line for maintenance.

In the worst case, all of Japan's reactors could be shut down by the middle of 2012. That would take out 30 percent of the nation's electricity generation and raise the risk of deeper, near-permanent power rationing, officials say.

Weightman said nuclear plants could be made safe in Japan, but said it would take a line of new defenses against tsunamis and a commitment to rethink safety standards over time.

"You can't predict when a natural disaster will occur, but you can say, 'let me predict the consequences'," he said.

The IAEA report said Japanese officials would need to show a longer-term plan for cleaning radiation from around Fukushima so that the more than 80,000 residents evacuated from the area could return. It urged stepped-up and long-term health monitoring for residents and workers.

Opposition parties seeking to topple Kan's government with a no-confidence vote say the government bungled the early response to Fukushima. Environmental critics, including Greenpeace, charge Japan with ignoring a growing risk to radiation spilling into sea and groundwater.

The crisis has also diverted resources from rebuilding after the quake and tsunami that killed about 24,000 people in northern coastal Japan.

Experts say the IAEA report represents a starting point in the debate over what needs to be done to make nuclear plants safe in a country where the risks of earthquakes are still imperfectly understood.

"There are aspects of the planning for the safety of the Fukushima plant which are, in retrospect, very stupid, and show a lack of imagination," said Kim Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear safety expert who toured Japan on her own this week. "The nuclear industry can do better than this."

(Editing by John Chalmers)

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Germany turns back on nuclear power (The Christian Science Monitor)

Frankfurt – In a move officials called "irreversible," German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition agreed Monday to phase out nuclear power by 2022, setting Europe’s biggest economy the formidable challenge of finding a replacement for 20 percent of its current energy supply.

The government's decision comes after a 17-member ethics panel appointed after the Fukushima nuclear accident recommended giving Germany a "10-year exit corridor" to change its ways and go nuclear free. The panel, which included a Roman Catholic bishop and industrial and scientific leaders, called for keeping the seven oldest nuclear plants shut down after the Japan disaster off the grid and gradually switching off the other 10. But their report, released today, said weening Germany off nuclear power won't be successful "without efforts of all segments of the political, business and societal world."

"It has to happen sooner or later," says Miranda Schreurs, chair of the Brussels-based European Environmental Sustainable Development Advisor Council, a network of advisors appointed by 16 European countries.

"If Germany does it first, it will become the technological leader globally, it will be the country that others turn to for advice, for equipment, it can set the standards for others.This decision gives Germany planning certainty and stability: If you know that you have a 10 year window to replace 20 percent of your electricity supply, it gives society a chance to come to terms with the decision, to start thinking about it."

Last fall, Merkel had called for Germany to get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050. Today's announcement increases the pressure to make that happen faster than planned.

RECOMMENDED: Is nuclear energy a safe idea? Seven reasons to abandon nuclear power and five reasons why it's safe and reliable.

To rely more on sun and wind power, Germany must expand its energy grid to bring green energy from its windy northern coast to its sunny south. That will entail building what experts say could be an estimated 3,000 kilometers of 260-feet-high power-lines through some of Germany's most picturesque landscapes with a pricetag of billions of Euros in the coming decades.

"We have to have a new approach to the supply network, energy efficiency, renewable energy and also long-term monitoring of the process," Merkel told reporters today. She stressed the importance of lifestyle changes to consume less energy.

Some are skeptical that Germany will achieve its goal, and point out that it remains heavily reliant on coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. They predict that Germany's abandonment of nuclear power will lead to greater reliance on fossil fuels. Last year, about 25 percent of Germany's power was produced with coal.

Germany's "electricity will be more expensive and polluting,” French Industry Minister Eric Besson predicted in a statement. France is a major proponent of nuclear power. So far, Germany has been compensating for its closure of domestic nuclear plants in part by importing nuclear power, most from France.

A big test of whether Germany can go the green route will happen in the southern state of Baden Wurttemberg, which has just sworn in the country's first Green state governor, says Marcel Vietor, climate and energy specialist at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin says. There, most residents are anti-nuclear, but many are also opposed to an "Energie Autobahn" that could disfigure their rolling hills. Car-maker Daimler Benz fears the new decision could hurt German industry.

"There is a long way to go but it’s doable," says Claudia Kemfert, an energy economist at the German Economist Institute in Berlin, who called the green sector "a growth machine for the German economy for the next decades."

Encouraging, she said, is that all parties in Germany now agree on the need to get out of nuclear. From "a historical perspective, that’s a completely new situation," says Kemfert.

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Germany wants nuclear exit by 2022 at latest (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition declared on Monday it would shut all nuclear reactors by 2022, in a policy u-turn drawn up in a rush after the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

The coalition, sensitive to accusations it may increase dependence on highly polluting brown coal, said it planned to cut power use by 10 percent by 2020. But Merkel may be hard pressed to present the plan as anything but a political defeat at the hands of Social Democrat and resurgent Green rivals.

The proposal may be even more ambitious than the nuclear exit planned when the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens were in power in 2000. It takes eight of 17 nuclear plants offline now and six by 2021.

But it could still face opposition from utilities.

Only nine months ago Merkel announced an extension of the lifespan of unpopular nuclear plants by an average 12 years. In March, after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, she reversed that and put Germany's entire energy strategy under urgent review.

"Our energy system has to be fundamentally changed and can be fundamentally changed. We want the electricity of the future to be safer and, at the same time, reliable and economical," Merkel told reporters on Monday.

To accompany the nuclear exit, Germany plans to cut electricity usage by 10 percent by 2020 and double the share of renewable energy sources to 35 percent over the same period, according to a government paper seen by Reuters.

Merkel did not outline further details of the plan but the government paper said Germany's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 remained in place.

Most voters in Germany oppose atomic energy, which provided 23 percent of overall power before the seven oldest stations were shut down in March.

A disputed 2.3 billion euro a year tax on spent fuel rods will not be scrapped even as the coalition plans to go ahead with the shutdown, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said early on Monday after late-night talks in the chancellor's office between leaders of the center-right coalition.

"(It's) definite: the latest end for the last three nuclear power plants is 2022," Roettgen said after the meeting and before leaving on his bicycle.

Merkel's about-turn has done little to gain her support, but has drawn scorn from the opposition and within her own party ranks. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against nuclear energy at the weekend all across Germany.

Nuclear policy is heavily disputed in Germany and the issue has helped boost the Greens, which won control of one of the CDU's stronghold states, Baden-Wuerttemberg, in a March vote.

Merkel's majority in the Bundesrat upper house, where the states are represented, vanished last year after the CDU failed to hold onto the populous North Rhine-Westphalia state. Losing Baden-Wuerttemberg, a vote held in the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, dealt another blow to Merkel's authority.

Germany's largest power provider RWE, which had suggested ending nuclear power in 2025, signaled its opposition to the deal. A spokesman for the company said the firm would keep "all legal options open."

"The end (of nuclear power in Germany) by 2022 is not the date we had hoped for," the spokesman said, declining to comment on the effect of the decision on the company's earnings.

The decision could still face opposition from RWE's peers E.ON, Vattenfall and EnBW, the other three utility companies that run the 17 plants.

German baseload power in the wholesale market on Monday rose 70 cents from Friday to 60.20 euros a megawatt hour.

"Prices must go up to account for permanently lower capacity. Neighboring Europe will have to price in the potential absence of German power in case of unfavorable supply situations," one trader said.

Shares in utilities E.ON and RWE fell 2.2 and 2.4 percent respectively at the open.

NO WAY BACK

Some politicians had wanted a clause allowing for revision of the agreement in future. The Free Democrats, junior partners in Merkel's center-right coalition, wanted no firm date but a flexible window for exit, plus the option of bringing back at least one of the seven oldest nuclear reactors in an emergency.

"There will be no clause for revision," Roettgen said.

The coalition agreed to keep one of the older reactors as a "cold reserve" for 2013, if the transition to renewable energies cannot meet winter demand and if fossil fuels do not suffice to make up for a potential shortfall.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in March crippled Japan's Fukushima plant, causing releases of radioactivity, sparking calls for tougher global safety measures and prompting some governments to reconsider their nuclear energy strategy.

The German decision still needs to go through parliament and leaders of the opposition Social Democrats and the Greens were present at parts of the meeting to enable a broad consensus.

The coalition wants to keep a nuclear tax, which was expected to raise 2.3 billion euros ($3.29 billion) a year from this year, but so far has not been levied. With the immediate exit of eight plants it will raise less than envisaged.

It had mulled dropping the tax in return for the utilities supporting and not suing the government over an early exit.

(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt, Andreas Rinke and Hans-Edzard Busemann; additional reporting by Vera Eckert, Peter Dinkloh, Josie Cox and Jonathan Gould in Frankfurt, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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Holes feared in Japan nuclear reactors

An aerial view of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.The holes may be as big as 7 to 10 centimetersA hole in the reactor's containment vessel means there is a high probability of leakageThe nuclear plant has suffered cooling problems and radiation leaks since March

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Two of the damaged reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan may be riddled with holes, according to the facility's owner.

The holes may be as big as 7 to 10 centimeters ( 2.8- 3.9 inches), Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a 225-page document submitted to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

In the report, Tokyo Electric says the containment vessel of reactor No. 1 may have developed a hole as big as 3 centimeters in diameter 18 hours after the quake.

Fifty hours after the quake, the hole may have widened to 7 centimeters, the report said.

In reactor No. 2, the containment vessel may have developed a hole as wide as 10 centimeters 21 hours after the quake.

The nuclear plant has suffered cooling problems and radiation leaks since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The hydrogen explosion four days after the crisis began may have led to the formation of a second hole in reactor No. 2, as wide as 10 centimeters in diameter.

"This report is not conclusive. No one has entered these areas and we cannot confirm this as fact," TEPCO said, adding that the report is making preliminary assumptions about what happened inside the reactors.

A hole in the reactor's containment vessel means there is a high probability of the leakage of radioactive material into the reactor building.

The amount of radioactive material in all three of the reactor buildings has hampered TEPCO's ability to build an effective cooling system. TEPCO says a cooling system is a critical step to leading to a cold shutdown, still estimated to be five to eight months away.

Nuclear experts and scientists have long suspected this sort of damage to the containers of the reactors at the crippled plant, as well as a full meltdown of the fuel rods in reactors 1, 2 and 3.

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Japan PM: must review oversight of nuclear power (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Wednesday that Japan needs to fundamentally rethink how nuclear power is regulated but sidestepped the question of how big a role atomic energy would play in the country's future.

Japan is trying to contain a crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 knocked out the plant's cooling systems, leading to radiation leaks.

"We need to fully consider what needs to be done to enhance the safety of nuclear power," Kan told a news conference.

Kan, under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis, also said he would allow nuclear plants that are currently shut down for inspection to restart once they meet emergency safety standards.

(Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa, Shinichi Saoshiro, and Linda Sieg; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Joseph Radford)

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Worker at Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear plant dies

TOKYO (AP) — A man died on his second day of work at Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Saturday, and the plant operator said harmful levels of radiation were not detected in his body.

A barge pulls a storage container toward Fukushima, Japan, on Sunday. It will be used to store a large volume of radioactive-contaminated water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The contract worker in his 60s was the first person to die at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan since March 11, when an earthquake and tsunami damaged the facility and caused fires, explosions and radiation leaks in the world's second-worst nuclear accident.

The worker was carrying equipment when he collapsed and died later in a hospital, said Naoyuki Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The company does not know the cause of his death, Matsumoto said.

The man had been wearing a radiation protection suit, mask and gloves while working at the plant's waste disposal building, which stores radioactive-contaminated water that has leaked from the tsunami-crippled reactors.

Kyodo News agency reported the man had no apparent injuries and a second worker nearby had no ill health effects.

Two Fukushima workers had died from the tsunami itself, when waves swept into the plant and heavily damaged buildings and equipment. TEPCO said those workers, both in their early 20s, were found in the basement of a turbine building.

The quake and tsunami are believed to have killed more than 24,500 people. Police said Friday that 15,019 were dead and 9,506 were still listed as missing.

Radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile radius of the nuclear facility to leave their homes for an indefinite time.

The nuclear crisis prompted the government to evaluate all of Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked that one plant in central Japan halt operations while its defenses were improved.

Chubu Electric said its Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka was completely shut down Saturday on the premier's request. The company will build a large seawall and other safety structures — work expected to take a few years.

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Nuclear task force: No immediate changes needed in U.S.

A federal task force says U.S. reactors don't have significant safety issues. Shown in Virginia's North Anna Power Station.Task force does not recommend immediate changesBut changes are expected when its study is completedWatchdog group does not see that "the picture is quite as rosy"

Washington (CNN) -- A federal task force set up following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan says no immediate changes are needed to improve the safety of nuclear reactors in the United States. But it said it expects to recommend changes when it completes its study in 60 days.

"As we stand today, the task force has not identified any issues that we think would undermine our confidence in the continued safety and emergency planning for nuclear plants in this country," task force leader Charles Miller told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday. "That said, we do expect that we're likely to have findings and recommendations that will further enhance the safety of the nuclear plants in this country."

But an industry watchdog group said the NRC task force is "pulling its punches" by failing to take immediate actions to address shortcomings.

"I think if you're listening carefully, they're telling two different stories," said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "On the one hand, they say we don't need to take any immediate action. On the other hand, their inspections have turned up problems with compliance on the measures that are supposed to be in place to deal with severe accidents. It doesn't sound like the picture is quite as rosy."

The NRC set up the internal task force shortly following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan to provide a quick review of the incident and report on lessons that could be applied domestically. The task force will also brief the NRC in June and July, and its recommendations will set the stage for more in-depth studies.

An NRC official, meanwhile, told the commission that post-Fukushima safety inspections of U.S. nuclear plants found some lapses.

"None of the observations poses a significant safety issue," Martin Virgilio testified. "But there were observations that equipment that was relied on would not start, that it had not been maintained. There were some places where the capability to deal with large fires and explosions ... there were discrepancies in terms of the procedures, the equipment and the training."

The problems have been addressed, he said.

At Thursday's briefing, the task force listed a number of areas it is exploring and gave hints where it believes change may be necessary. Among them:

• Scenarios involving multiple reactors or spent fuel pools: Disaster plans in the U.S. typically envision problems at one reactor or storage facility. But the Fukushima disaster showed the complications of dealing with multiple, simultaneous disasters, the task force said. "If you're dealing with a multi-unit event at the same time, you have considerations with regard to adequate staffing, how to triage, who makes decisions on how to triage and how you go about proceeding with what you need to do first," Miller said.

• Examining lengthy blackouts: The Fukushima event is challenging notions that power blackouts can quickly be resolved. And the NRC needs to look at contingencies where infrastructure damage prevents quick repairs to damaged nuclear sites.

• Severe accident management guidelines: The industry implemented the guidelines, known as SAMGs, as a voluntary initiative in the 1990s. "Consequently, we do not evaluate them as part of the agency's routine reactor oversight process," Miller said. He said the task force noticed during its examination that the guidelines apply to the reactor core and containment buildings but do not cover spent fuel pools.

• Radioactive contamination: Miller said the task force is exploring the industry's ability to have real-time radiation measurements during accidents, both on site and off site.

• Potassium iodide: "If you look at the days following Fukushima, even in the United States, there were various levels of information being given out about the prophylactic used of KI (potassium iodide's formula), not all of which was prudent. And I think we need to take a look at whether further education in that regard is necessary."

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Japan won't abandon nuclear power

(AP) TOKYO (AP) —Japan will maintain atomic power as a major part of its energy policy despite the country's ongoing nuclear crisis at tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, a top official said Sunday.

Residents watch Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers take part in clean-up operations in the devastated town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture on Sunday.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku also said the government has no plans to shut down any more functioning nuclear reactors other than three at the Hamaoka power plant in central Japan. The plant was asked Friday to halt the units until a seawall is built and backup systems are improved at Hamaoka.

"Our energy policy is to stick to nuclear power," Sengoku said on a weekly talk show on public broadcaster NHK.

He said Hamaoka was an exception and that the government's closure request Friday did not mean a departure from its nuclear-reliant policy.

Chubu Electric Power Co., which runs the three Hamaoka reactors, postponed its decision Saturday on the government's shutdown request.

The main concern is that shutting down the reactors would likely worsen power shortages expected this summer.

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan's electricity. Since the March 11 disasters, buildings have reduced lighting, stores have trimmed service hours and subway operators have shut air conditioning to join a nationwide conservation effort.

The government has been reviewing the safety of the country's 54 atomic reactors since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in the north. The disaster left more than 25,000 people dead or missing on the northeast coast and triggered the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

The Hamaoka plant, which is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Tokyo, in an area where a major quake is expected within decades, has been a major concern for years.

However, Sengoku said there is "no need to worry" about other plants in the country. "Scientifically, that's our conclusion at the moment," he said.

Chubu Electric executives failed to reach a decision Saturday over the shutdown request and will meet again after the weekend, company official Mikio Inomata said.

At issue is how to make up for the power shortages that would result from the shutdown of the three reactors. Inomata said they account for more than 10 percent of the company's power supply.

Chubu Electric has estimated maximum output of about 30 million kilowatts this summer with the three Hamaoka reactors running, with estimated demand of about 26 million kilowatts.

"It would be tight," Inomata said, adding that officials are discussing the possibility of boosting output from gas, oil and coal-fueled power plants and purchasing power from other utility companies.

The Hamaoka plant is a key power provider in central Japan, including nearby Aichi, home of Toyota Motor Corp.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Friday that the closure request was for the "people's safety."

He noted that experts estimate there is a 90 percent chance that a quake with a magnitude of 8.0 or higher will strike the region within 30 years.

"That makes Hamaoka an exceptional case," Kan told reporters Sunday, saying the plant is the only one subject to closure for a tsunami resistance upgrade. Kan also urged Chubu executives "to understand."

Residents of Shizuoka prefecture, where Hamaoka is located, have long demanded a shutdown of the plant's reactors. About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of the complex.

Since the March 11 disasters, Chubu Electric has drawn up safety measures that include building a 40-foot-high (12-meter-high) seawall nearly a mile (1.5 kilometers) long over the next two to three years, company officials said. Chubu also promised to install additional emergency backup generators and other equipment and improve the water tightness of the reactor buildings.

The Hamaoka plant lacks a concrete sea barrier now. Sand hills between the ocean and the plant are about 32 to 50 feet (10 to 15 meters) high, deemed enough to defend against a tsunami around 26 feet (8 meters) high, officials said. The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has said the tsunami that wrecked critical power and cooling systems there was at least 46 feet (14 meters) high.

On Sunday, the government approved TEPCO's plan to allow workers return to Fukushima Dai-ichi's No. 1 reactor building to install a new cooling system after leaving its main door open overnight for ventilation, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the Nuclear Industry and Safety Agency.

Radioactivity inside the building has fallen to levels deemed safe for people wearing protective suits to enter, Nishiyama said. Workers rapidly installed air filtering equipment in there Thursday — their first entry since shortly after the tsunami.

"We judge the environment has improved to one that allows people to enter and work," Nishiyama said.

TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said some air may escape through the entrance but that radioactivity is low enough to cause no danger to health.

Workers will remove air-filtering ducts and machines, leaving holes on the wall unplugged and the main door open for eight hours until early Monday, when air monitoring staff are sent in for a final check.

———

Mari Yamaguchi can be reached at http://twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

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Japan seeks to halt 3 nuclear reactors

TOKYO (AP) — Japan urged a power company Friday to suspend all three reactors at a coastal nuclear plant while safety measures are taken to ensure damage from a major earthquake or tsunami does not cause a second nuclear accident.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu Electric Power on Friday to suspend nuclear reactors for earthquake safety measures.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference Friday evening the shutdown was requested for safety reasons, citing experts' forecast of a 90 percent probability of a quake with magnitude of 8.0 or higher striking central Japan within 30 years.

"It was a decision made after thoroughly considering people's safety," Kan told a news conference.

The government asked operator Chubu Electric Power Co. to suspend two running reactors and a third already shut for a regular inspection at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka, 155 mileswest of Tokyo.

"If an accident occurs at Hamaoka, it could create serious consequences," Kan said.

A safety review of all Japan's 54 nuclear plants was prompted by the radiation crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that also left more than 25,000 people dead and missing on the northeast coast.

The Hamaoka plant is the only one so far where the government has asked that operations be halted until the utility can implement safety measures. Officials estimate the shutdown could last two years.

Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said Chubu Electric has yet to say whether it would accede the government's request. But Kyodo news agency, quoting sources at the plant, said Chubu Electric had agreed to halt operations at the three reactors.

Since the March 11 disasters, Chubu Electric has drawn up safety measures that include building a 1.5-kilometer-long seawall along the nuclear plant over the next two to three years. The Hamaoka plant is just 100 meters off the Pacific coast.

"The height of the seawall is at least 12 meters. We have come up with this safety measure after the March quake and tsunami," said Takanobu Yamada, an official at Chubu Electric.

Kaieda said the utility company should halt operating its nuclear reactors while implementing such safety measures.

"Until the company completes safety steps, it is inevitable that it should stop operating nuclear reactors," Kaieda said.

Shizuoka governor Heita Kawakatsu called the move "a wise decision."

"I pay my respect for the decision. We must do our utmost to secure alternative sources of energy," the governor said in a statement.

The plant serves around 16 million people in central Japan. Faced with a possible power crunch due to the shutdown, the prime minister sought public understanding.

"We will experience some power crunch for sure. But we can overcome this with public support and understanding," Kan said.

The region powered by the plant includes Aichi, where Toyota Motor Corp.'s headquarters and an auto plant are located.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which lost its power and cooling systems, triggering fires, explosions and radiation leaks in the world's second-worst nuclear accident.

Radiation leaks from the Fukushima plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius to leave their homes. Many are staying in gymnasiums and community centers.

Residents in Shizuoka have long demanded suspension of the Hamaoka reactors.

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Japan PM orders nuclear plant closure

View of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant's No.3 reactor taken in May, 2009.NEW: Chubu Electric Company declines to comment, a representative saysJapan's prime minister asks power company to shut down Hamaoka nuclear plantThe plant is vulnerable to an earthquake or tsunami, the prime minister saysThe prime minister says the government can't force the plant to shut down

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's prime minister said Friday he has asked the operator to shut down the nuclear reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear plant until earthquake and tsunami protections can be built.

The plant -- located on the Pacific coast in Omaezaki, southwest of Tokyo -- is vulnerable and could produce "grave damage to Japan" similar to the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged in the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said.

"The primary reason for this request is in the interest of the safety and security of the people of Japan," Kan said. "We came to this conclusion because of the grave impact on Japan's people that could be incurred as a result of a serious accident at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant."

The prime minister stressed that he could only ask the plant's owner, Chubu Electric Company, to shut down the plant. The Japanese government can not order the company to close the plant, he said.

A representative for the company said it had no immediate comment.

Environmental group Greenpeace applauded the decision.

"Greenpeace welcomes Prime Minister Kan's request to close Hamaoka, one of the most dangerous nuclear reactors in Japan," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director. "This is the first time a prime minister has directly requested a nuclear plant in Japan be closed, however, it cannot be the last."

Nuclear plant safety has been in the spotlight worldwide since the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that forced the automatic shutdown of reactors at four Japanese power plants, including Fukushima Daiichi.

The loss of cooling at that plant caused a series of problems, including explosions that damaged the buildings housing nuclear reactors and caused the release of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. Radiation eventually spread into the ocean after plant workers began releasing contaminated water into the sea near the plant.

The disaster ranked at the top of the seven-step International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, equalling the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion. Crews are still working to restore cooling and contain the damage.

The United States was among the nations that ordered a review of nuclear plant safety in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. That review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues.

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Workers enter Japan nuclear reactor building

TOKYO (AP) — Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said workers are connecting ventilation equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. The work is expected to take about four or five days.

The utility must lower radiation levels inside the reactor before it can proceed with the key step of installing a cooling system that was knocked out by the March 11 quake and subsequent tsunami that left more than 25,000 people dead or missing along Japan's northeastern coast.

Workers have not been able to enter the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, since the first days after the tsunami. Hydrogen explosions at four of the buildings at the six-reactor complex in the first few days destroyed some of their roofs and walls and scattered radioactive debris.

In mid-April, a robot recorded radioactivity readings of about 50 millisieverts per hour inside Unit 1's reactor building ? a level too high for workers to realistically enter.

The decision to send the workers in was made after robots last Friday collected fresh data that showed radiation levels were safe enough for workers to enter some areas, said Taisuke Tomikawa, a spokesman for TEPCO.

Two workers entered the reactor building around 11:30 am for about 25 minutes. They were exposed to 2 millisieverts during that time, Tomikawa said.

A dozen workers split up into teams were expected to go into the building on a rotation for short periods to limit radiation exposure.

"This is an effort to improve the environment inside the reactor building," he said.

The workers were equipped with protective gear and a mask and air tank set similar to those used by scuba divers, according to an official at the Nuclear Safety and Industrial Agency.

Outside the reactor building, the utility erected a temporary tent designed to prevent radioactive air from escaping.

TEPCO has laid out a blueprint for bringing the bringing the plant into a cold shutdown within six to nine months.

Japanese authorities more than doubled the legal limit of radiation exposure for nuclear workers since the crisis began to 250 millisieverts a year. Workers in the U.S. nuclear industry are allowed an upper limit of 50 millisieverts per year. Doctors say radiation sickness sets in at 1,000 millisieverts and includes nausea and vomiting.

Radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant has forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile radius to leave their homes. Many are living in gymnasiums and community centers.

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