Monju Nuclear Plant Operator Ordered To Stop Restart Preparation 72
AmiMoJo writes "Japan's nuclear regulator has ordered the operator of the Monju fast-breeder reactor to suspend preparation for its restart until measures are put in place for its proper maintenance and management. The regulators acted after finding the operator had missed checkups on about 10,000 pieces of equipment. They ordered that sufficient manpower and funds be allocated for maintenance and management. The reactor in Tsuruga City, central Japan, is at the center of the nation's nuclear-fuel recycling policy. But its operator has been hampered by a series of problems."
Re:Ownership != Operatership (Score:5, Interesting)
I used to (keyword: used to) work in the nuclear industry. Rumors I have heard was that Japan plants were very quick to fix equipment that broke. When something broke(Safety Related* or not) they had technicians out looking at it in very short order(within a week). At the plants I've been at and heard about here in the USA when stuff breaks if its not deemed "important" or Safety Related* it may be put off for months or years due to strict schedules, not enough work hours and insufficient technicians on staff, etc. It's not uncommon to see equipment that has been broken for more than 3 years, and INPO doesn't start hounding you until it's been more than 4 years. The NRC doesn't really care about anything that isn't classified as Safety Related* so they don't care how long it takes to fix it. Of course, the rumors of how Japan does business could be wrong as I've never actually toured or met someone that worked at one.
And the best part is you can easily get that clock restarted. If you think a switch is broken and then later find out its something else, you simply close that work order and open a new work order on the correct part. New work order = new date for when the job was created. So now that thing that's been broken for 4 years could be 8 years. And guess what.. what if it isn't that either? *Poof*... 12 years to fix something. And I guarantee you if its a job that needs parts that are VERY expensive, require alot of man-hours to perform, or requires alot of dose for the technicians doing the job, it'll be put off as long as someone can come up with an excuse to push the work date back.
Don't get me wrong, I consider nuclear power plants in the USA to be very safe, but when you stop and think "gee.. this has been broken since 2010 and we STILL haven't fixed it or even solidly troubleshot the issue to a particular piece of equipment?" you start questioning where the priorities are and what could be going on process-wise behind the scenes that nobody has noticed. I know that if something starts having problems with my car I preemptively fix it, even if its not something related to my own safety(like my brakes). Some parts in the nuclear industry are quite expensive(think 5, 6 figures or more) but are pennies on the dollar when you look at the amount of money the stations make per day. If they have an expected lifespan of only 5 years you can effectively get "something for nothing" just by not fixing it for a while. Those 3 parts that should have lasted you 15 years combined now can last over 20 if you wait 2 years between each fix. Suddenly you saved yourself big money in the long run. There's some hidden cost savings for the shareholders and its not like the company is going to come out and admit to how much money they saved just by not fixing stuff for a while. The general public would probably have a big cow if they knew the truth.
* - Safety Related is a classification for equipment that is deemed necessary for a safe shutdown, sufficient cooling and control of the reactor during accident conditions.
Posting for obvious reasons...I might want to work in the industry again someday. It is good money, a very reliable job and I know I'll be working with some of the smartest people I'll ever meet. Hopefully it won't get drowned out with all the other BS AC comments.
Not a restart, Not a safety decision, lets not let (Score:5, Interesting)
Firstly its an experimental facility that has not been run up yet, even for testing, and they are currently considering not testing it soon..
Secondly the decision is based on a re-evaluation of Japans actual need for a fast breeder immediately, and due to overspends by its
contractors.
It is quite amazing how hard the anti-nuclear lobby will work to smokescreen any news as a near disaster and try and scare
us all away with the nuclear apocalypse bogeyman..
Japans economy is in recession, their energy needs are falling, they are cutting back on spending that is currently not required.
Any real news here?
Re:Kinda sad... (Score:2, Interesting)
I really don't understand this belief that fusion will be a panacea.
Yes, I'm excited about the prospect of commercial energy positive fusion plants, but that's as much because I love the idea of fusion drives for spaceships with easy refueling as anything else.
Fusion still produces radiation, it still contaminates the primary containment vessel, and it will probably contaminate the primary heat transfer loop's working fluid as well. The big thing is that when you hit the scram button, it should stop almost instantly. On the other hand, fusion plants will have hydrogen storage out the wazoo. If I'm remembering right, a hydrogen explosion was a big part of Fukushima. So, no Uranium or Plutonium, but you still have explosive gas, and radioactive steam. Also don't forget that when the plant closes from age it's still radioactive. So it'll cost just as much to dismantle as a regular fission plant.