Monju reactor project faces the ax

Monju reactor project faces the ax
Kyodo

The government may suspend development of the troubled Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in consideration of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, science minister Yoshiaki Takaki indicated Friday.

Whether to halt the advanced power reactor is "one issue" to be determined when nuclear energy policy comes under review, Takaki said.

"The accident (at the Fukushima No. 1 plant) is serious. It's only natural to discuss" such matters as the suspension of Monju, which is located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, he added.

Unlike regular light-water reactors fueled by uranium, Monju, operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, runs on an oxide mix of plutonium and uranium, or MOX, made from spent nuclear fuel from existing plants.

The reactor first achieved...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110716a3.html

Monju Nuclear Power Plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Monju Nuclear Power Plant

Monju Nuclear Power Plant

Location of the Monju Nuclear Power Plant within Japan
Country Japan
Locale Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture
Coordinates 35°44′25″N 135°59′17″E
Status Operational
Construction began May 10, 1986
Commission date August 29, 1995
May 6, 2010 (reactivated)
Decommission date December 8, 1995 (suspended for 15 years)
Operator(s) Japan Atomic Energy Agency

Reactor information
Reactors operational 1 x 280 MW
Reactor type(s) FBR

Power generation information
Installed capacity 280 MW
As of 14 March 2011


Monju (もんじゅ?) is a Japanese sodium-cooled fast reactor, located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. Construction started in 1986 and the reactor achieved criticality for the first time in April 1994. Its name is a reference to Manjusri.

Monju is a sodium cooled, MOX-fueled, loop-type reactor with three primary coolant loops, producing 280 MWe from 714 MWt.

An accident in December 1995, in which a sodium leak caused a major fire, forced a shutdown. A subsequent scandal involving a cover-up of the scope of the accident delayed its restart until May 6, 2010, with renewed criticality reached on May 8, 2010. In August 2010 another accident, involving dropped machinery, shut down the reactor again. As of June 2011, the reactor has only generated electricity for one hour since its first testing two decades prior.<1>

The plant is located on a site that spans 1.08 km2 (267 acres), the buildings occupy 28,678 m2 (7 acres), and it has 104,680 m2 of floor space. It employs 368 workers.<2>...

More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant

both the 'toon and you for your support of going in a new direction away from nuclear fueled power plants. :hi:

My opinion doesn't make any difference to anyone except me and the people it pisses off. It turns out I'm not that heavily invested for or against either side, but I appear to be operating under some form of psychological democracy, and my inner vote of 50% +1 has carried the day for an anti-nuclear position.

Now I wait with bated breath to see what the people who matter out there at the political controls decide to do. The next 20 years are going to be very interesting.

I've always felt you were a mentally healthy person.
I wish I could look at things in a 20 more years type lifespan

My current mental health is a hard-won state. I went through four or five years of massive depression because I couldn't accept the enormous social changes I saw coming as we approach the limits to growth. I clung desperately to my need for the world to stay as it is, and my recognition that it wouldn't and couldn't caused me enormous suffering. I lucked out - my despair became the fuel for a Dark Night of the Soul, and happily the transformation that ended it a few years ago wasn't suicide but a rebirth of sorts. Now I tend to accept that things are as they are, that change will always happen, that I am not responsible for others' happiness or misery, and no one else is responsible for mine.

The Serenity Prayer used in twelve-step programs has it exactly right: grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. It works just as well for civilization-aholics as for alcoholics.
:hi:

After all we are a product of our environment and DU is part of that environment.