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Hitachi Buys British
Nuclear Power Company
On October 30, Hitachi announced the
purchase of British nuclear energy company Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd.
(HNP, capital stock £540 million) for £670 million pounds. HNP resulted
from an effort by E.ON and RWE in January 2009 to establish a company
to move into the UK nuclear power industry, but both companies
announced their withdrawal on March 29, 2012 due to the negative
financial effects from Germany's nuclear phase-out policy. E.ON also
announced complete withdrawal from Finland's nuclear industry. Both
companies will continue to invest in offshore wind power and LNG
thermal in Britain.
At first, the buyout of HNP attracted China's State
National Nuclear Power Technology Corp. with Westinghouse Electric
Corp., and then China Guangdong Nuclear Corporation with AREVA NP.
However, from Britain's perspective, there were concerns over safety
guarantees and unease over nuclear power technology leaks, and from the
industry side pessimistic fears developed about investment recovery,
leading to withdrawal of all bids by the end of September. Subsequently,
Hitachi participated in the bidding at the request of the British
government.
Hitachi bought up all of HNP’s stock, and is now
searching for companies to engage in a joint venture to spread the
risk. Hitachi’s investment has been reported to be from 50% down to the
vicinity of 10%, making the desired risk reduction understood. HNP has
construction plans for two to three reactors each for the existing
nuclear plant locations at Oldbury and Wylfa (though just one reactor
at Wylfa is operating, and that is planned to close in 2014), but, as
indicated above, the reason for the Chinese pullout resulted from
negative expectations about investment recovery, thus raising questions
about the plan’s feasibility. Further, Hitachi's ABWR construction
plans have not undergone a comprehensive design inspection by the
British government, and according to a statement at a press conference
by Managing Executive Officer Masaharu Hanyu on October 30, approval
“will take five years.” During this time, the situation may deteriorate
for Hitachi. Even if
Hitachi were able to build nuclear plants, they do not have the
operating know-how. This looks like it will end up being an expensive
shopping spree.
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JA’s Nuclear Phase-out
Policy
On October 11, the JA Group, the
Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives, held an all-Japan
conference and came up with a “future nuclear phase-out” policy. JA,
however, received a mixed response from the prefectures, especially
those hosting nuclear plants. Those prefectures that are suffering from
the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima
nuclear accident, Fukushima, Miyagi, and Ibaraki appealed for a nuclear
phase-out (effective immediately), while the Fukui, Aomori, and other
prefectural conferences decided not to endorse a “nuclear phase-out”
policy.
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Ohma Nuclear Plant
Construction Restarts
On October 1, J-Power informed Aomori Prefecture’s Ohma
Town and Hokkaido's Hakodate City, across the Tsugaru Strait from the
town of Ohma, of the resumption of construction work on the Ohma
Nuclear Plant (ABWR, 1,383 MW), which had been suspended following the
Fukushima nuclear accident. Construction recommenced on October 11.
Strong resistance was expressed by eleven cities and villages centering
on Hakodate City in the southern part of Hokkaido, and resulted in city
mayors, heads of town assemblies, and representatives of fishing and
agricultural cooperatives visiting Tokyo on the 15th with demands for
the government and J-Power to implement an indefinite construction
freeze. Hakodate City is preparing a lawsuit to stop the construction.
At the Hokkaido Assembly on October 5, the resumption of construction
was protested by a unanimous assembly resolution.
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Japan-India Joint Statement of
Cooperation in Nuclear Power Field
On October 10, the “Sixth Japan-India
Energy Dialogue,” was held at METI. The conference was attended by
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of India's Planning Commission,
and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano. They issued a
joint statement as a pillar of cooperation in the field of nuclear
power. Both governments were near to concluding negotiations on a
nuclear power agreement, which has been stalled due to the Fukushima
nuclear accident, but negotiations did not take place at this meeting.
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License Expires for Sea Landfill of
Planned Kaminoseki Nuclear Plant
On October 5, Chugoku Electric Power Company applied
for a license extension for a sea landfill at the planned location of
the Kaminoseki Nuclear Plant reactors 1 and 2 (both ABWR, 1,373MW) with
the governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture. Permission for the license was
granted in October 2008, and construction was to be finished by October
6, 2012. The license expired on October 6, but the company applied for
an extension on the preceding day. The new Governor Shigetaro Yamamoto
won the gubernatorial election at the end of July this year with a
promise not to allow the license extension. On October 23, however,
Yamaguchi Prefecture requested a supplementary explanation with regards
to the content of Chugoku Electric’s application for the landfill
license. The decision, planned by Yamaguchi Prefecture for November 6,
was therefore delayed.
The true intentions of Chugoku Electric and
Yamaguchi Prefecture are seen as a stalling tactic until the national
election to be held in December, when a change in ruling parties may
bring about a switch to a policy of nuclear promotion.
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Ordinance for Referendum by Citizens
of Shizuoka Prefecture on Restart of Hamaoka Nuclear Plant Fails to
Pass
An ordinance to hold a referendum by the citizens of
Shizuoka Prefecture on the restart of the Hamaoka Nuclear Plant,
submitted on September on 19, differed from previous examples in the
Tokyo Metropolis and Osaka City, where the Tokyo governor and Osaka
mayor both opposed the proposal in their respective assemblies. From
the start, Governor Heita Kawakatsu attached an opinion in favor of
approval, but the Shizuoka Prefecture assembly rejected the original
proposal at the General Affairs Standing Committee. The amended
nonpartisan version was also rejected by a vote of 48 to 17 in the full
prefectural assembly on October 11.
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Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant
Completion Plans Postponed
The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Rokkasho Village,
Aomori Prefecture, has failed in experiments to vitrify high-level
waste liquids into canisters, and facility completion plans continue to
be delayed. On September 19, just before the planned completion in
October, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited announced the postponement of
completion for a further year, altering the completion schedule to
October 2013. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was notified of this on
October 4. A widely held view is that the new schedule will be
postponed again.
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Regulatory Commission Decision on
Countermeasure Policy for Nuclear Damage
On October 31, in a policy decision on nuclear
disaster countermeasures, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended
the evacuation zone to a thirty-kilometer radius. A detailed policy
explanation is expected within the year. Extending the existing radius
from the current eight to ten kilometers for the evacuation preparation
zone greatly increases the number of municipalities affected.
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Formulation of Nuclear Energy Policy Outline Frozen
In a deliberative conference on October 2, the
Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) decided to abolish the
subcommittee that considers the nuclear fuel cycle, since the authority
to determine nuclear energy policies has been transferred to the
government's Energy and Environment Council. The reason for the
existence of JAEC has therefore come into question, and a conference of
experts was created in the National Policy Unit for a review of the
JAEC’s functions. On October 31, an opening conference was held, CNIC's
corepresentative Hideyuki Ban participating as one of the experts.
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