Page 3 - Nuclear Reactors

N Korea's Kim Jong Un leads rocket drills to simulate nuclear counterattack

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised salvo launches of the country's super-large multiple rocket launchers that simulated a nuclear counterattack against enemy targets, state media said Tuesday, adding to tests and threats that have raised tensions in the region. The report by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency came a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the North firing what they suspected were multiple short-range ballistic missiles from a region near its capital, Pyongyang, toward its eastern seas. Analysts say North Korea's large-sized artillery rockets blur the boundary between artillery systems and ballistic missiles because they can create their own thrust and are guided during delivery. The North has described some of these systems, including the 600mm multiple rocket launchers that were tested Monday, as capable of delivering tactical nuclear warheads. KCNA said Monday's launches represented the first demonstration of the country

$3 bn deal with UK gets Oz closer to having nuclear-powered submarines

Australia is set to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars (USD 3 billion) to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time, the two countries said Friday. The announcement came a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet challenges such as China's increased activity in the South China Sea and South Pacific. UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the submarine program was expensive but necessary. Nuclear-powered submarines are not cheap, but we live in a much more dangerous world where we are seeing a much more assertive region with China, a much more dangerous world all around with what's happening in the Middle East and Europe, Shapps told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Countries need to invest in making sure that adversaries see we are serious about our security, defending freedom of navigation, for example. The 10-year deal announced at an annual ministers' gather

13 yrs since massive tsunami, Fukushima nuclear plant still sparks fears

Japan on Monday marked 13 years since a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the country's northern coasts. Nearly 20,000 people died, whole towns were wiped out and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was destroyed, creating deep fears of radiation that linger today. As the nation observes the anniversary, AP explains what is happening now at the plant and in neighbouring areas. WHAT HAPPENED 13 YEARS AGO? A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, causing a tsunami that battered northern coastal towns in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The tsunami, which topped 15 meters (50 feet) in some areas, also slammed into the nuclear plant, destroying its power supply and fuel cooling systems, and causing meltdowns at reactors No. 1, 2 and 3. Hydrogen explosions caused massive radiation leaks and contamination in the area. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, says that the tsunami couldn't have been anticipated. Government and independent investigati

India's Nuclear Power Corporation to commission new reactor every year

NPCIL chairman and managing director BC Pathak expressed confidence in India's self-sufficiency in energy security

Japan to resume world's largest nuclear power plant Kashiwazaki-Kariwa

With a capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW), the plant has been offline since 2012 after the Fukushima disaster a year earlier led to the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan at the time

Only the operator of Fukushima plant liable to pay damages: Tokyo Court

A Tokyo court on Tuesday held only the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant responsible for paying damages to dozens of evacuees. The Tokyo High Court also slashed the amount to half of what the lower court had ordered and relieved the government of responsibility a decision that plaintiffs and their lawyers criticised as belittling their suffering and the severity of the disaster. The court ordered only the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, known as TEPCO, to pay a total of 23.5 million yen (USD 165,000) to 44 of the 47 plaintiffs, while not holding the government accountable. Tuesday's ruling apparently backpedaled from an earlier decision in March 2018, when the Tokyo District Court held both the government and TEPCO accountable for the disaster, which the ruling said could have been prevented if they both took better precautionary measures, ordering both to pay 59 million yen (USD 414,400) in damages. The decision comes at a time when Japan's ...

Japan's nuclear plant starts 2nd release of treated radioactive wastewater

Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said it began releasing a second batch of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea on Thursday after the first round of discharges ended smoothly. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said workers activated pumps to dilute the treated water with large amounts of seawater, slowly sending the mixture into the ocean through an undersea tunnel for an offshore release. The wastewater discharges, which are expected to continue for decades, have been strongly opposed by fishing groups and neighboring countries including South Korea, where hundreds of people staged protest rallies. China banned all imports of Japanese seafood, badly hurting Japanese seafood producers and exporters. The plant's first wastewater release began on August 24 and ended on September 11. During that release, TEPCO said it discharged 7,800 tons of treated water from 10 tanks. In the second discharge, TEPCO plans to release another 7,800 tons of treated

Fukushima residents cautious as wrecked nuclear plant releases wastewater

Fish auction prices at a port south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were mixed Friday amid uncertainty over how seafood consumers will respond to the release of treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the ocean. The plant, which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, began sending the treated water into the Pacific on Thursday despite protests at home and in nearby countries that are adding political and diplomatic pressures to the economic worries. Hideaki Igari, a middleman at the Numanouchi fishing port, said the price of larger flounder, Fukushima's signature fish known as Joban-mono, was more than 10% lower at the Friday morning auction, the first since the water release began. Prices of some average-size flounder rose, but presumably due to a limited catch, says Igari. Others fell. It was a relatively calm market reaction to the water release. But, Igari said, "we still have to see how it goes next week. The decadeslong release has been strongly

Fatehabad nuclear plant's 1st unit likely to commence operations in Jun '28

The first unit of the nuclear power plant in Fatehabad district's Gorakhpur village is likely to commence operations in June 2028, according to an official statement issued here on Monday. The information was shared by officials at a meeting presided by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal held here on the coordination between the Haryana government and the Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP), it said. During the meeting, Kaushal directed the power utility officers to expedite the relocation of high-tension power lines and provide a 33 KV power connection for the plant site from an alternative source in order to ensure uninterrupted supply to the project. He also directed the public works department and the Fatehabad district administration to conduct a joint feasibility study of a road from the national highway to the project sites. Providing an update on the project's progress, GHAVP project director Niranjan Kumar Mittal said, "Seventy-four per cent of the ground improvem

How net zero renews nuclear power push with small modular reactors

Small modular reactors are being seen as a cheaper and relatively safer way forward

Pakistan, India exchange list of nuclear installations, facilities

Pakistan and India on Sunday exchanged a list of their nuclear installations that cannot be attacked in case of an escalation in hostilities, a Foreign Office statement said here, as part of an annual ritual that has been in practice between the two neighbours for more than three decades. The lists of nuclear installation and facilities were exchanged as per the provisions of the Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, signed on December 31, 1988 and ratified on 27 January 1991. According to this agreement, both countries have to inform each other of the nuclear facilities. This practice of exchanging lists has continued since January 1, 1992. Pursuant to the agreement, the list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday," the Foreign Office said in the statement. Simultaneously,

Why is nuclear fusion in the news?

Scientists in the US on Tuesday claimed to have found the key to tame the unruly power of nuclear fusion - which fuels the sun. But what is nuclear fusion? Can it help us fight climate change?

Centre to include private sector in boosting nuclear power capacity: Report

The NITI Aayog will come up with guidelines and regulations for new small modular nuclear reactors keeping in mind the safety standards and the impact on local communities

TMS Ep317: Industry trends, Cyberattacks, Markets, Modular nuclear reactor

What do industry trends reveal about the economy? How can India fend off cyberattacks? Will RBI play spoilsport or cheer the bull party? What is a modular nuclear reactor? Answers here

How small modular nuclear reactors may help India to meet energy goals

The adoption of the SMR route could also end the difficult route of developing nuclear technology India has been attempting since the 1950s

US nuclear industry hopes to double electricity output with new reactors

The US nuclear industry is generating less electricity as reactors retire, but now plant operators are hoping to nearly double their output over the next three decades

Small nuclear reactors won't avoid the problem of radioactive waste

Compared with existing reactors, small modular reactors would generate up to 5.5 times more spent nuclear fuel per unit of power

EDF hopes to seal EPR nuclear reactor deal in India in coming months

The French state-controlled power group last year had made a binding offer to help build six third-generation EPR nuclear reactors at the Jaitapur site in India's Maharashtra region

Explained: Why Japan's power sector depends so much on LNG

Resource-poor Japan depends overwhelmingly on fossil-fuel imports to meet its energy needs, complicating calls for the nation to boycott Russia's oil and LNG after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine

Nuclear plant restarts may be Japan's best option for energy need: Lawmaker

Speeding up restart of nuclear reactors halted in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident may be Japan's best option for riding out any oil and gas shortages that result from sanctions on Russia