another fire in another nuke plant, this time Japan - plus US elder plants

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=eng


Area: Japan, Niigata Prefecture, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Kashiwazaki

A fire that broke out Saturday at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant was probably caused by an overheating air conditioner, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials said Sunday. The fire at the power plant, which has been shut down since the Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake in July 2007, is likely to push back the planned reopening of the plant's No. 7 reactor, which was due to be decided at a full prefectural assembly meeting on April 21. The fire that broke out in a site storage area on Saturday night was probably the result of an overheating motor, company officials said. It's the ninth fire since repair work began following the earthquake. TEPCO received written orders to fully investigate the fire and prevent a recurrence from the Kashiwazaki fire department on Sunday. The department had already issued the plant with four warnings following the quake. "After repeated warnings, it's extremely unfortunate to have to issue this as an order," the department commented. TEPCO has been instructed to inspect all similar air conditioning units. "We are working to improve fire safety measures, and we'd like to apologize for the worry we've caused to all the residents in the area," said site superintendent Akio Takahashi.
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and

http://counterpunch.com/grossman04132009.html


A Radioactive Extension for Aging Nuclear Plants
Time to Abolish the NRC?


For 10 years now, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been busily extending the operating license of nuclear power plants—designed to run for 40 years—another 20 years.

Imagine driving down a highway in a 60-year-old car.

But safety concerns are minimized by the NRC, a lapdog of the nuclear industry. Just as the NRC has never denied a construction or operating license for a nuclear plant anywhere, anytime in the U.S., it has rubber-stamped every application for a 20-year extension for now 52 nuclear plants.

That’s half the 104 nuclear plants in the U.S. and, as the 40-year licenses of the rest get set to expire, watch the NRC extend their licenses to run for another 20 years, too.

And it may end up to be more than 20 years. The New York Times in a report April 2 on the NRC extending the operating license to 60 years of the oldest nuclear plant in the U.S., Oyster Creek in New Jersey, noted that “some commission officials have even discussed the possibility of a second round of extensions that would allow reactors to operate for up to 80 years.”
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all of this can't go on. good sense must take over.

[ensho]

1. aging plants are a problem - things nuclear keep eating away at

whatever incloses it. it never stops. never