March 26, 2012 - Reuters -
EDF's 900-MW Fessenheim 2 nuclear reactor restarts - EDF's 900-MW Fessenheim 2 nuclear reactor restarted on March 23 after a three-day unplanned outage, EDF said on Monday. A glitch with the transformer forced the stoppage of the reactor, EDF said last week.
March 26, 2012 - Associated Press - Another Japan reactor shuts down; only one left - Another Japanese nuclear reactor was taken off line for maintenance on Monday, leaving the country with only one of its 54 reactors operational following last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. The last reactor is expected to be shut down by early May, raising the possibility of power shortages across the nation as demand increases in the hot summer months. The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex was taken off line early Monday by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. The utility also runs the plant in Fukushima, northeast of Tokyo, that suffered meltdowns, explosions and radiation leaks after the March 11 quake and tsunami. Japanese reactors are taken off line every 13 months for regular checks. With concerns over nuclear safety high following the Fukushima crisis, none of the reactors that have been shut down for checks, and none that were already off line at the time of the disaster, have been allowed to restart. The last reactor, on the northern island of Hokkaido, will be shut down in May. The timing for when any reactors will be restarted remains unclear.
March 26, 2012 - Washington Post - Time to better secure radioactive materials - The International Atomic Energy Agency is aware of more than 2,000 confirmed cases of illicit trafficking and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and other radioactive material in the past 18 years. In a sting operation in Moldova last year, police seized a quantity of highly enriched uranium — material that can be used in a nuclear weapon — from an individual who was trying to sell it. Most cases of attempted trafficking do not involve nuclear materials but, rather, radioactive materials of the sort held in hospitals, factories and many other locations worldwide that are generally not as well protected as nuclear facilities. To help avoid the deaths, injuries, mass panic, widespread contamination and major economic and social disruption that would result if terrorists sabotage a nuclear reactor or detonate a “dirty bomb,” it is vital that world leaders attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul this week agree to strengthen measures to prevent nuclear and other radioactive material from falling into the wrong hands
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