Japan strains to fix a another reactor damaged before quake

Fast Breeder Reactor Monju in Japan - Wiki Image

Hiroko Tabuchi
The New York Times

TSURUGA, Japan — Three hundred miles southwest of Fukushima, at a nuclear reactor perched on the slopes of this rustic peninsula, engineers are engaged in another precarious struggle.

The Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor — a long-troubled national project — has been in a precarious state of shutdown since a 3.3-ton device crashed into the reactor’s inner vessel, cutting off access to the plutonium and uranium fuel rods at its core.

Engineers have tried in vain since the accident last August to recover the device, which appears to have gotten stuck. They will make another attempt as early as next week.

But critics warn that the recovery process is fraught with dangers because the plant uses large quantities of liquid sodium, a highly flammable substance, to cool the nuclear fuel.

The Monju reactor, which forms the cornerstone of a national project by resource-poor Japan to reuse and eventually produce nuclear fuel, shows the tensions between the scale of Japan’s nuclear ambitions and the risks.

Is Your Governor For Sale to the EPA?

Cassandra Anderson
Morph City

Congress failed 3 times to pass laws (HR 2421, S. 1879 and S. 787) for federal control over almost all water, so the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are declaring jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

Currently, waters with a 'significant nexus' to 'navigable waters' are covered under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA is now trying to assert that the CWA "protects" (controls) traditional navigable waters, interstate waters, adjacent wetlands, tributaries, and 'other waters' which account for just about all water except swimming pools (see page 5).

Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator

In this video from 2009, Lisa Jackson admits that she doesn't know what the EPA jurisdiction is for navigable waters or wetlands, and then she says that she does need legislation to clarify the matter! That legislation has already failed 3 times because it is an affront to individualism and property rights. Additionally, several Supreme Court rulings limit EPA power.

The Foolishness of Congress Forcing CFL Light Bulbs (Video)

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