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@M.I.A. Apostolakis?

@MaryW The fukushima task force?

@MaryW you said second panel of hearing starting now??

@M.I.A. Issa is an overdramatic twit. :-)

UPDATE1: Japan, IAEA discussing large amount of unaccounted-for nuke materials

TOKYO, Dec. 15, Kyodo

Japan has started backstage talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the discovery of unaccounted-for or unreported enriched uranium and plutonium in large quantities of nuclear waste disposed of by Japanese facilities, hoping to ward off international criticism with an early report to the IAEA, senior government officials said Wednesday.

In October last year, nuclear substances, unaccounted for at that time, were found in waste at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Oarai Research and Development Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, the officials said.

The waste was disposed of before the 1977 effectuation of a safeguard agreement between Japan and the IAEA.

In a follow-up investigation, the government found some 2.8 kilograms of highly enriched uranium solidified with cement and a total of 636 grams of plutonium at the JAEA's Nuclear Science Research Institute in Tokaimura, Ibaraki.

The uranium is thought to have been imported from the United States as an experimental sample.

The science ministry, which oversees the JAEA, expanded the scope of investigation in August to about 250 facilities subject to the IAEA's safeguard program, finding unaccounted-for nuclear materials in waste at 14 facilities. Some 4 tons of low-enriched uranium at a private nuclear fuel company were among them.

The ministry also found radioactive substances in waste disposed of after the effectuation of the safeguard deal while looking into their possible presence at three electric power companies -- Chubu, Hokuriku and Chugoku -- as well as nuclear energy-related firms.

Under the IAEA's safeguards system, the international organization, tasked with promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, verifies the correctness and completeness of the declarations made by nations about their nuclear materials and activities. Nations are required to maintain accounting records on nuclear materials and report them to the IAEA to prevent them from being used in weapons.

Japan presented informal reports on investigation findings to the IAEA and started talks on them with the agency, the officials said, adding that 2.8 kg of highly enriched uranium and 4 tons of low-enriched uranium are seen as especially serious matters within the Japanese government.

Though the discovered nuclear materials will not directly pose a threat to international security through use in weapons or by terrorists, Japan may be criticized at the IAEA or other places if it fails to be fully accountable to international society, the officials said.

While Japan will present a safeguard report to the IAEA next year, the agency may not verify its declaration about nuclear materials and activities as correct and complete, they added.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

Return to areas with 50 millisieverts radiation dose difficult

TOKYO, Dec. 14, Kyodo

The government is considering designating land with an annual radiation dose of 50 millisieverts or more around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant as an area to which evacuees will not be able to return for a long period of time, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

The designation will come when the government rezones the evacuation area into three categories after it decides, possibly Friday, that the Fukushima plant has achieved a stable state of a cold shutdown.

There are currently two types of evacuation zones -- namely the no-entry zone set in the 20-kilometer radius of the plant as well as areas outside the no-go zone where radiation exposure is feared to reach 20 millisieverts a year.

The government plans to rezone the two into three new categories depending on the amount of the radiation dose, including the ''area difficult to return for a long period.''

An area where radiation dose is 20 millisieverts or higher but below 50 millisierverts would be categorized as a zone where habitation is restricted. Areas with less than 20 millisieverts radiation dose would be a zone where evacuation orders are ''prepared to be released.''

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at the parliament in November the government may consider the possibility of buying land where evacuees would not easily be able to return.

His comments reflect the government's judgment that it would take quite a long time despite cleanup efforts to reduce radiation doses at such land to a level below 50 millisieverts.

Evacuation orders, meanwhile, may be released as early as next spring in areas with less than 20 millisieverts radiation dose after decontamination activities.

The government is also expected to consider lifting evacuation orders in zones where habitation is restricted by checking the effects of the decontamination efforts.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

Kyushu Electric submits test results of 3 reactors

Kyushu Electric Power Company submitted the results of primary safety assessments for 3 suspended nuclear reactors on Wednesday.

The reports to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency are one of the prerequisites for restarting reactors that have been idled for regular checkups. The other condition is approval of the local municipality.

Kyushu Electric submitted the results of the so-called "stress tests" for two reactors at Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture and one reactor at Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture.

The tests say the reactors can withstand seismic shaking of 945 to 1,020 gals and tsunami of 13 to 15 meters high.
Kyushu Electric plans to ask customers to reduce their power consumption by at least 5 percent starting December 26th. All of the utility's reactors will be out of operation when the Genkai plant's No.4 reactor is shut down for regular checkups on December 25th.

Company official Akira Nakamura says nuclear power generation accounts for about 40 percent of the utility's total output, and that restarting reactors is crucial.

He adds the company will make the utmost effort to win back public trust.

Meanwhile, Genkai mayor Hideo Kishimoto says resuming operations will not be easy. He wants Kyushu Electric to enact full disclosure practices in addition to making efforts to prevent accidents.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 19:15 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

good news !

@Edano I hope that means they will end work on the MOX plant at Savannah RIver...

the enriched uranium in tokaimura is discussed now .... let's not forget the rumors about secret projects in fukushima.

AREVA North America Projects - Bellefonte, Tennessee Valley in northern Alabama us.areva.com probably they mean this plant.

@smoss Hi!

TECH: still lots of talking about what old rules letters may be applied to new inspection processes