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Chronology of events surrounding crippled Fukushima nuclear plant A school building, which was submerged as a result of a tsunami on March 11, stands in an area of Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture. (Mainichi) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The following is a chronology of events regarding the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Fukushima Prefecture, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern and eastern Japan. March 11 -- Magnitude 9.0 earthquake forces power plant's Nos. 1-3 reactors to suspend operations automatically (Nos. 4-6 reactors were shut down, undergoing regular checks). Prime Minister Kan declares nuclear emergency, directing local residents in 3-kilometer radius of plant to evacuate. March 12 -- Kan inspects stricken plant. Radioactive steam is vented from No. 1 reactor's containment vessel. Hydrogen explosion rips No. 1 reactor building. Government expands evacuation zone to 20 km radius of plant. March 14 -- Hydrogen explosion rocks No. 3 reactor building. No. 2 reactor's fuel rods are exposed as water recedes inside reactor vessel. March 15 -- Kan scolds Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) officials at company head office. Explosion is heard near suppression chamber of No. 2 reactor's containment vessel. Explosion is also heard at No. 4 reactor. Government directs residents in 20-30-km ring of plant to stay indoors. A tsunami crests the embankment of the Heikawa River in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, before sweeping into the city on March 11. (Mainichi) March 16 -- Damage is feared to have been done to No. 3 reactor's containment vessel, forcing workers to retreat. March 17 -- Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters drop water on No. 3 reactor building. Fire engines spray water from ground. March 18 -- Nuclear safety agency gives crisis involving Nos. 1-3 reactors preliminary value of Level 5 on nuclear accident scale of 7. March 19 -- Tokyo firefighters spray water at No. 3 reactor. Government announces detecti

As if it wasn't enough that three countries - including France - had raised concerns about safety in the new EPR nuclear reactor design, concerns are building over delays to another big European reactor. France remains a leader in world nuclear power, with almost 80 per cent of its electricity supply sourced from its reactors. The reactor under development by Electricite de France in Flamanville, northern France, and the Finnish Olkiluoto reactor are meant to be showcases for the new EPR reactor, largely designed by French company Areva. Delays over Olkiluoto have been well-publicised this year, and it's also been the subject of a public spat between Areva (which is building the plant) and Finnish utility TVO, which will operate it. Now the French project in Flamanville is coming under fire for delays, too. It is due to be commissioned in 2012, but sources close to the project told the FT the project is already six months behind, and that EDF is wrestling with Bouyges, the engineering company contracted to build the reactor, over budgets and round-the-clock shifts to advance the project.

As if it wasn't enough that three countries - including France - had raised concerns about safety in the new EPR nuclear reactor design, concerns are building over delays to another big European reactor. France remains a leader in world nuclear power, with almost 80 per cent of its electricity supply sourced from its reactors. The reactor under development by Electricite de France in Flamanville, northern France, and the Finnish Olkiluoto reactor are meant to be showcases for the new EPR reactor, largely designed by French company Areva. Delays over Olkiluoto have been well-publicised this year, and it's also been the subject of a public spat between Areva (which is building the plant) and Finnish utility TVO, which will operate it. Now the French project in Flamanville is coming under fire for delays, too. It is due to be commissioned in 2012, but sources close to the project told the FT the project is already six months behind, and that EDF is wrestling with Bouyges, the engineering company contracted to build the reactor, over budgets and round-the-clock shifts to advance the project.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

"Finland's fifth nuclear reactor preparing for installation of the reactor and turbine machinery Construction work on Olkiluoto III nuclear reactor to experience further major delays Construction work on Olkiluoto III nuclear reactor to experience further major delays Construction work on Olkiluoto III nuclear reactor to experience further major delays print this The construction of Finland's fifth commercial nuclear reactor, which is being built in Olkiluoto on the west coast of Finland, has been delayed once again. Even so, the French installation company Areva stands its ground, maintaining that the new reactor will generate electricity from the summer of 2012. "It does not look likely. The construction and the starting of installation on the reactor have progressed somewhat slower than scheduled", says Jouni Silvennoinen, a project manager at the Finnish nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima (TVO)."

70 percent of fuel rods in reactor core at Fukushima nuke plant damaged The pool for spent fuel at the No. 4 reactor of TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is pictured in this Feb. 1, 2005, file photo. (Mainichi ) About 70 percent of the 400 fuel rods in the No. 1 reactor at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant are damaged, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has revealed. In addition, some 30 percent of the 548 fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor core and 25 percent of those in the No. 3 reactor core are also thought to be damaged, the power company stated on April 6. The figures are based on analysis of radiation data collected from the side of the reactor pressure vessel between the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and March 15. Just after the earthquake hit, the No. 1-3 reactors were successfully shut down when control rods were inserted into the cores. However, the plant operators soon lost the ability to adequately cool the cores, and TEPCO believes it possible some of the nuclear fuel pellets inside the fuel rods may have melted and leaked from their metal sheathes. At the time of the quake the plant's No. 4 reactor was undergoing a routine inspection and had no fuel rods in its core, while reactors No. 5 and 6 were not operating.

Talks on with US, France, Russia to set up more N-reactors Coimbatore, May 29 (PTI) Talks are being held with United States, France and Russia to set up six to eight large nuclear reactors to increase the power generation capacity in the country, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission said here today. Dr Anil Kakodkar told media that modalities are being worked out to set up the reactors. Besides Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu and Jethapur in Maharashtra, more locations are being identified, he said. Techno-economic details and safety related problems would come up for discussions before finalising the agreements, he said, adding the investment would roughly work out to be Rs six crore to Rs eight crore per MW. Generally, it would take six to seven years for a reactor to become operational. The Government has in principle cleared one each of 700 MW capacity reactor in Kakrapar and Rajasthan thermal power station, Kakodkar said. Besides 500 MW fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam, three heavy water reactors and two light water reactors at different locations were under different stages of construction, he said

Small cracks have again been detected in control rods used to control the fission process at two nuclear reactors in Sweden, media reports said Wednesday. Cracks were detected last year at one reactor at Forsmark, north of Stockholm, and one reactor at the Oskarshamn plant, in south- eastern Sweden. Several control rods were replaced at the end of the year, but some of the new rods appear to have faults. Chief executive Lars Turing of the Oskarshamn plant told Swedish radio news that the new rods may have been damaged at production, but a probe was underway. Reactor 3, one of three at Oskarshamn, is to remain offline due to maintenance work and the new finds were likely to delay the scheduled start-up in June. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said it would review the report from the operators, but did not rule out allowing the reactors to be restarted for a limited time. Sweden operated 12 nuclear reactors at the peak of its nuclear activity. Two at the Barseback plant in southern Sweden have been decommissioned, the most recent in May 2005.

Two out of the six damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are now under control in a state known as "cold shutdown" after engineers restored emergency water pumps using diesel generators. The reactors, Nos. 5 and 6, had already been shut down before last week's historic earthquake and tsunami, posing less of a risk than the other reactors at the plant. But their cooling systems were knocked out, and the fuel rods left inside the reactor started to heat up, together with spent fuel rods stored in a separate storage pool. "We are getting closer to bringing the situation under control," Tetsuro Fukuyama, the deputy chief cabinet secretary, said of the entire plant late Sunday. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, had appeared to suffer a serious setback as officials said that pressure buildup at the ravaged No. 3 reactor would require the venting of radioactive gases. The reactor contains a highly toxic fuel that includes reclaimed plutonium. This announcement came after an all-out mission Saturday to cool the reactor by firefighters, who doused the it with 2,400 tons of water over 14 hours.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

The cost of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor's (PBMR's) demonstration plant and pilot fuel plant had almost doubled to R31-billion as a result of inflation and higher materials costs, company chief executive Jaco Kriek said last week. Kriek said the demonstration reactor, which would generate 200 megawatts of heat and 80MW of electricity, was now expected to be commissioned by 2018 - four years later than previously expected. The plant has yet to receive environmental clearance.

"The Swedish government Thursday presented a draft bill that would quadruple the sum owners of nuclear reactors should pay in damages in case of an accident. "The reactor owners should take full responsibility for the security and insurance at nuclear plants," Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said. At present reactor owners are obliged to cover costs of up to 3 billion kronor (415 million dollars), but the sum should be hiked to 12 billion kronor, according to the government's proposal. The government said reactor owners should sign up to a mutual insurance system, noting that this is in place in other countries. Other options included that the company has to show it has sufficient securities. These would be reviewed by the National Debt Office, Carlgren told reporters. Further, the proposal states that "all assets in a company" could be used to cover the damages, he said. The bill also scraps a previous ban against building new nuclear power reactors, revoking a 1980 referendum decision to phase out nuclear power, Carlgren said but "at most 10 reactors are allowed". "

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

"Having failed to accurately grasp the extent of actual damage to nuclear reactors and the amount of water contaminated with radioactive substances, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been forced to revise its timetable for resolving the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The plant operator released Tuesday an updated version of its road map to end the crisis, making some changes to critical aspects of the plan, especially in regards to cooling the reactors. It has been more than two months since the crisis began following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. TEPCO had to review its strategy on cooling the reactors as it learned about an apparent leakage of a huge amount of contaminated water from a damaged containment vessel. The company said an estimated 87,500 tons of contaminated water has accumulated in the turbine buildings of the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors and elsewhere at the site. On Saturday, about 3,000 tons of contaminated water, which likely leaked from the containment vessel of the No. 1 reactor, was discovered in underground areas of the reactor building. Water had been pumped in to attempt to fill the containment vessel of the reactor and cool the fuel inside."

Model for new UK reactors reveals damaging disagreements between Finland and French contractors From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the warehouse by the offices on Finland's Olkiluoto island, site of what should have been the world's first modern nuclear reactor. But inside, stacked on five kilometres of shelving, are 160,000 documents. "If a valve for the reactor is changed, it comes in a small box and a van full of documents," complains Jouni Silvennoinen, project director for Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), the Finnish utility that ordered the plant from the Franco-German consortium Areva-Siemens. The paper mountain helps explain why the reactor, which should have cost €3bn (£2.72bn) and been working this year, will now miss its revised completion date of mid-2012 and will cost at least €5.3bn. In the latest delay, Finland's nuclear safety regulator halted welding on the reactor last week and criticised poor oversight by the sub-contractor, supplier and TVO.

Model for new UK reactors reveals damaging disagreements between Finland and French contractors From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the warehouse by the offices on Finland's Olkiluoto island, site of what should have been the world's first modern nuclear reactor. But inside, stacked on five kilometres of shelving, are 160,000 documents. "If a valve for the reactor is changed, it comes in a small box and a van full of documents," complains Jouni Silvennoinen, project director for Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), the Finnish utility that ordered the plant from the Franco-German consortium Areva-Siemens. The paper mountain helps explain why the reactor, which should have cost €3bn (£2.72bn) and been working this year, will now miss its revised completion date of mid-2012 and will cost at least €5.3bn. In the latest delay, Finland's nuclear safety regulator halted welding on the reactor last week and criticised poor oversight by the sub-contractor, supplier and TVO.

In the race to provide energy for the nation's future, two multinational companies have led the way with designs for reactors that promised clean, green electricity with unprecedented safety. But detailed reviews by the Health and Safety Executive highlight a series of shortcomings in security and safety systems in both reactors that must be fixed or redesigned before the power plants can be approved for construction. Safety officials reviewed plans from the European companies, Areva and EDF, which make the EPR reactor, and similar documents for the AP1000 reactor built by the American multinational power company, Westinghouse, and ruled that both need to improve the safety of their power plants before they can be approved for construction.

In the race to provide energy for the nation's future, two multinational companies have led the way with designs for reactors that promised clean, green electricity with unprecedented safety. But detailed reviews by the Health and Safety Executive highlight a series of shortcomings in security and safety systems in both reactors that must be fixed or redesigned before the power plants can be approved for construction. Safety officials reviewed plans from the European companies, Areva and EDF, which make the EPR reactor, and similar documents for the AP1000 reactor built by the American multinational power company, Westinghouse, and ruled that both need to improve the safety of their power plants before they can be approved for construction.

France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) said on Monday it would modify the design of its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) before the end of the year, following a request by the French, UK and Finnish nuclear safety bodies. The bodies asked in a joint statement that the control and safety systems within the reactor be independent from each other to avoid both systems failing at the same time. "The safety of the EPR is not called into question," a spokeswoman at the world's largest nuclear reactor maker told Reuters.

France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) said on Monday it would modify the design of its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) before the end of the year, following a request by the French, UK and Finnish nuclear safety bodies. The bodies asked in a joint statement that the control and safety systems within the reactor be independent from each other to avoid both systems failing at the same time. "The safety of the EPR is not called into question," a spokeswoman at the world's largest nuclear reactor maker told Reuters.

France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) said on Monday it would modify the design of its European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) before the end of the year, following a request by the French, UK and Finnish nuclear safety bodies. The bodies asked in a joint statement that the control and safety systems within the reactor be independent from each other to avoid both systems failing at the same time. "The safety of the EPR is not called into question," a spokeswoman at the world's largest nuclear reactor maker told Reuters.

Call it a case of having too many medical eggs in too few baskets. Just over a year ago, in December 2007, a nuclear reactor in Chalk River was in the news because of maintenance issues. The reactor had been shut down for repairs, and Canada's nuclear regulatory agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, would not allow it to restart until safety improvements were made. Problem was, the reactor produced most of the world's medical isotopes - used to test for cancer, heart problems and bone ailments. Faced with a massive diagnostics problem, the federal government passed legislation that allowed the reactor to be restarted, despite the regulatory body's objections. The 50-year-old reactor is crucial to the world supply of medical isotopes. Even though it was supposed to be decommissioned in 2005, it and another reactor in Petten, Netherlands, produce close to 85 per cent of the world's medical isotopes, through a process that involves the nuclear decay of molybdenum-99.

* India's Department of Atomic Energy plans to build a large fleet of fast breeder nuclear reactors in the coming years. * However, many other countries that have experimented with fast reactors have shut down their programs due to technical and safety difficulties. * The Indian prototype is similarly flawed, inadequately protected against the possibility of a severe accident. India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is planning a large expansion of nuclear power, in which fast breeder reactors play an important role. Fast breeder reactors are attractive to the DAE because they produce (or "breed") more fissile material than they use. The breeder reactor is especially attractive in India, which hopes to develop a large domestic nuclear energy program even though it has primarily poor quality uranium ore that is expensive to mine.

China will start building another "two or three" third-generation Westinghouse nuclear reactors by the end of next year once they have been approved by the government, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the AP1000 reactor projects would also be the first to be built in the country's interior provinces, with central China's Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi likely candidates. All of China's existing reactors are located along the eastern coast. China signed an agreement with Westinghouse Electric in 2006 to build four AP1000 reactors in the coastal provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang.

China will start building another "two or three" third-generation Westinghouse nuclear reactors by the end of next year once they have been approved by the government, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the AP1000 reactor projects would also be the first to be built in the country's interior provinces, with central China's Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi likely candidates. All of China's existing reactors are located along the eastern coast. China signed an agreement with Westinghouse Electric in 2006 to build four AP1000 reactors in the coastal provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang.

The 1.18 million-kW No. 3 reactor at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, which is Japan's first reactor using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) as fuel, attained nuclear criticality last Thursday and started trial operations Monday (commerical operations are to start on Dec. 2). Thus "pluthermal" power generation has begun, but many problems remain unresolved. MOX fuel, made of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel and uranium, was primarily intended for use in a fast breeder reactor (FBR), the core of Japan's nuclear fuel-cycle plan. But the prototype FBR Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has remained shuttered since a major accident in 1995. As a secondary step, the government in 1997 decided to adopt pluthermal power generation, which burns MOX fuel in ordinary light water reactors. But mishaps delayed its start by 10 years.

The 1.18 million-kW No. 3 reactor at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, which is Japan's first reactor using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) as fuel, attained nuclear criticality last Thursday and started trial operations Monday (commerical operations are to start on Dec. 2). Thus "pluthermal" power generation has begun, but many problems remain unresolved. MOX fuel, made of plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel and uranium, was primarily intended for use in a fast breeder reactor (FBR), the core of Japan's nuclear fuel-cycle plan. But the prototype FBR Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has remained shuttered since a major accident in 1995. As a secondary step, the government in 1997 decided to adopt pluthermal power generation, which burns MOX fuel in ordinary light water reactors. But mishaps delayed its start by 10 years.

The nuclear safety regulator has warned that two new reactor designs earmarked for use in Britain remain incomplete and could be rejected unless improvements are made. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) said that it was concerned about several features of both the US-Japanese and French reactor technologies that had been proposed for use in a new generation of British nuclear power stations. The NII, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive, is conducting a safety review of the so-called AP-1000 reactor from Toshiba-Westinghouse and the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) from Areva of France. Final approval of the designs is not due to be granted until 2011, but an update on progress said that significant questions remained unanswered.

The nuclear safety regulator has warned that two new reactor designs earmarked for use in Britain remain incomplete and could be rejected unless improvements are made. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) said that it was concerned about several features of both the US-Japanese and French reactor technologies that had been proposed for use in a new generation of British nuclear power stations. The NII, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive, is conducting a safety review of the so-called AP-1000 reactor from Toshiba-Westinghouse and the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) from Areva of France. Final approval of the designs is not due to be granted until 2011, but an update on progress said that significant questions remained unanswered.