RW Monitor
6/27/2014
AT FUKUSHIMA
The advanced water treatment system (ALPS) at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is back on line, TEPCO announced this week. The two of the three systems suffered a malfunction and had to be shut off, but TEPCO was able to repair and upgrade all three units. On May 23, Unit B was the first to be restarted after the upgrades, followed by Unit A on June 9 and now Unit C on June 22, TEPCO said. ALPS is part of TEPCO’s larger strategy to treat the water contamination that has been plaguing the site. TEPCO is also using a pump by-pass system to prevent further contamination as well as bringing in Kurion to treat its current contaminated water stored in tanks for strontium. “Improving the existing ALPS systems and the addition of the new supplemental processing systems are very positive steps toward complete control of the contaminated water situation at Fukushima,” former U.S. nuclear official and current TEPCO senior advisor Lake Barrett said in a statement.
IN THE INDUSTRY
Shine Medical Technologies entered into a three-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PT Industri Nuklir Indonesia (INUKI) and IPTN North America, Inc. (INA) last week that could potentially include an investment into Shine’s planned molybdenum-99 (moly-99) production facility. Shine has already submitted a construction authorization application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and if it receives all the necessary approvals and raises enough funds, the company could be in production by the end of 2016. The MOU calls for “detailed discussions regarding an INUKI and INA investment” in the facility, as well as examining the possibility of building a second facility in Indonesia. “This is a tremendous opportunity for international cooperation,” Shine CEO Greg Piefer said in a statement. “Indonesia and SHINE share a common vision: a stable and reliable source of medical isotopes for the millions of patients that count on them around the world. The vision includes a facility in Janesville, WI to replace the failing Canadian supply, and the subsequent need for additional production to serve the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific marketplace. I am hopeful these discussions will lead to a partnership that will help us make our vision a reality.”
