Tag - reactors

 
 

REACTORS

JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 12, 2014
In Fukui, economy, reactors inseparable in election debate
For most of Japan, the issues of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies and nuclear reactor restarts are generally separate debates. But not in LDP-leaning Fukui.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2014
Vast majority of ruling bloc candidates favor rebooting reactors
Most of the ruling coalition candidates running in the general election are in favor of restarting the nation's idled nuclear reactors, a poll says.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2014
Suit against Fukui reactor restarts fails
The Otsu District Court rejects a demand by Shiga residents to halt reactor restarts at the Takahama and Oi plants, clashing with another district court.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 23, 2014
Kepco weighs new lease of life for geriatric reactors
In a decision that will set a precedent for Japan's rapidly aging nuclear reactors, Kansai Electric Power Co. must soon choose whether to restart reactors 1 and 2 at its Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture and operate them beyond the 40-year threshold, the first time a Japanese utility has faced such a dilemma.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2014
LDP incumbents look to have electoral lock on nation's nuclear heartland
The political fate of Fukui's aging reactors has long been in the hands of powerful pro-nuclear Diet members, and the upcoming election is not expected to change that.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2014
Kepco mulls operating two reactors beyond 40-year limit
The utility may seek permission to keep the oldest reactors at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture operating beyond the 40-year limit.
WORLD
Nov 12, 2014
Russia inks deal to build eight more reactors in Iran as nuclear talks stall
Russia signed a deal Tuesday to build new nuclear reactors in Iran as another round of talks that aim to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining atomic weapons ended without a breakthrough.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2014
Utilities pressed to make quick decision on scrapping aged reactors
The government called on Friday for utilities to swiftly decide whether to scrap aging reactors that would be particularly vulnerable in the event of a natural disaster.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2014
NRA loses sole quake expert in mandatory reshuffle
The seismologist credited with ensuring the Nuclear Regulation Authority got off to a rigorous start by adhering to new safety checks after 3/11 leaves its decision-making panel.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2014
Economic realities of old reactors
Reports that power companies are considering decommissioning older nuclear power reactors indicate that they are selectively weighing the costs of their meeting safety criteria that has been tightened in the wake of the 2011 disaster at Fukushima.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2014
Fukui to review mudslide dangers in wake of Hiroshima disaster
After the deadly mudslides in Hiroshima, Fukui announces it will conduct a survey on the dangers that such disasters pose to the reactor-packed Tsuruga Peninsula.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2014
Approaching reactor restarts encourage utilities to sell bonds
The Nuclear Regulation Authority is moving toward the first reactor restart under its new safety requirements since the Fukushima disaster started, giving impetus to bond sales by utilities as borrowing costs plunge.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2014
Nuclear utilities faulted for scant data
The government has released an annual energy report that urges a return to nuclear power, arguing it would cut energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2014
Fukui, neighbors agree on disaster cooperation
Fukui Prefecture, which hosts 13 of Japan's 48 nuclear reactors, agrees to participate in disaster drills and planning with neighbors Ishikawa and Nara.
JAPAN
May 14, 2014
NRA blames plant operators for prolonged reactor safety checks
The head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday that nuclear power plant operators, rather than regulators, are the ones to blame for the prolonged safety review of reactors that started last July.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2014
Costs keep mounting for idled reactors
Since March 2011, the government has focused on the cost of cleaning up after Fukushima, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Now, the bill is coming due for another unbudgeted consequence of that calamity — shutting down the nation's 48 remaining nuclear reactors for costly safety reviews that could see many of them mothballed.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2014
Ukraine's Chernobyl factor
Twenty-eight years after its Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, Ukraine confronts a nuclear specter of a different kind: the possibility that the country's reactors could become military targets in the event of a Russian invasion.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2014
NRA to name reactors sailing through review
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday it will judge in the next two or three weeks whether any reactor undergoing a safety review could enter the final stage of the process toward resuming operations.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2014
No reactor safety reviews to be completed by end of March: NRA chief
The head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority says regulators are unlikely to complete safety checks on any of Japan's reactors by the end of March, a key process toward reactivating the facilities.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2014
Problematic nuclear accord
Japan should start considering right now how and whether it will assume liability for damages and casualties if a severe accident occurs at one of the four nuclear reactors that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is building with a French company in northern Turkey.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores