AFP: Malware "Dragonfly" Aims at US, Europe Energy Sector

AFP news says:

The US security firm Symantec said it identified malware targeting industrial control systems which could sabotage electric grids, power generators and pipelines

This Stuxnet-like malware attack is likely to be government-sponsored, says Symantec. No word about nuclear power plants.

From Security Week quoting AFP (6/30/2014; emphasis is mine):

Malware Aims at US, Europe Energy Sector: Researchers

WASHINGTON - Cyberattackers, probably state sponsored, have been targeting energy operations in the United States and Europe since 2011 and were capable of causing significant damage, security researchers said Monday.

The US security firm Symantec said it identified malware targeting industrial control systems which could sabotage electric grids, power generators and pipelines.

"The attackers, known to Symantec as Dragonfly, managed to compromise a number of strategically important organizations for spying purposes," Symantec said in a blog post.

"If they had used the sabotage capabilities open to them, (they) could have caused damage or disruption to energy supplies in affected countries," it added.

The researchers said this malware is similar to Stuxnet, a virus believed to have been developed by the United States or Israel to contain threats from Iran.

"Dragonfly bears the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation, displaying a high degree of technical capability," Symantec said.

"Its current main motive appears to be cyberespionage, with potential for sabotage a definite secondary capability."

Symantec said the Dragonfly, also known as Energetic Bear, appeared to be an operation based in Eastern Europe based on the hours of activity of those involved.

It said one of the tools was a Trojan that appeared to have originated in Russia.

Officials in the US and elsewhere in recent months have expressed growing concerns about cyberattacks which could cripple critical infrastructure systems such as power grids, dams or transportation systems.

The Dragonfly group has used several infection tactics including spam email with malicious attachments, and browser tools which can install malware.

Once installed on a victim's computer, the malware gathers system information and can extract data from the computer's address book and other directories.

"The Dragonfly group is technically adept and able to think strategically," Symantec said.

"Given the size of some of its targets, the group found a 'soft underbelly' by compromising their suppliers, which are invariably smaller, less protected companies."

Symantec said it had notified victims of the attacks as well as relevant national authorities, such as the US Computer Emergency Response Team.

The affected companies were not named, but Symantec said targets of Dragonfly included energy grid operators, major electricity generation firms, petroleum pipeline operators, and energy industry industrial equipment providers.

Most targets were located in the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and Poland.

And Security Week's own article with more details including the link to Symantec's report (6/30/2014; part, emphasis is mine):

...The report builds on information released earlier this year by security firms CrowdStrike - which publicized the attack in January - and F-Secure.

The attacks on the energy sector began with malware sent via phishing emails to targeted personnel. Symantec observed the spear phishing attempts hitting organizations in the form of PDF attachments between February 2013 and June 2013, mostly targeting the US and UK. They emails were disguised as messages about administration issues such as delivery problems or issues with an account.

Later on, the group added watering hole attacks into its repertoire by compromising websites likely to be visited by people working in the industry and redirecting them to sites hosting an exploit kit known as Lightsout. The Lightsout kit has been upgraded over time, and eventually became known as the Hello exploit kit.

The third phase of the campaign involved the Trojanizing of legitimate software bundles belonging to three different industrial control system (ICS) equipment manufacturers using malware detected as Backdoor.Oldrea (Havex), according to Symantec's report (PDF).

The researchers reported that the first piece of Trojanized software was a product used to provide VPN access to programmable logic controller (PLC) type devices. The vendor discovered the attack shortly after it began, but by then there had already been 250 unique downloads of the compromised software. In the second incident, a European manufacturer of specialist PLC devices was compromised and had a software package containing a driver for one of its devices was compromised. According to Symantec, the software was available for download for at least six weeks between June and July in 2013.

The third firm was a European company that designs systems for managing wind turbines, biogas plants and other technology. In that case, the compromised software is believed to have been available for download for roughly 10 days in April 2014.

"Oldrea appears to be custom malware, either written by the group itself or created for it," according to the researchers. "This provides some indication of the capabilities and resources behind the Dragonfly group. Once installed on a victim’s computer, Oldrea gathers system information, along with lists of files, programs installed, and root of available drives. It will also extract data from the computer’s Outlook address book and VPN configuration files. This data is then written to a temporary file in an encrypted format before being sent to a remote command-and-control (C&C) server controlled by the attackers."

The majority of the command and control servers appear to be hosted on compromised servers running content management systems. Oldrea was linked to the vast majority of the infections caused by the group.

A second piece of malware used by the group was a Russian remote access Trojan known as Karagany, which was found in about five percent of the infections. The Karagany Trojan is available on the underground market. The source code for the first version of the malware was leaked in 2010. Symantec researchers suspect the Dragonfly group may have taken this source code and modified it for the group's own use. The malware can upload stolen data, download new files and run executable files on an infected machine. It is also capable of running additional plugins such as tools for collecting passwords and taking screenshots, according to Symantec.

"The attacks do have the hallmarks of a state-sponsored operation," said Vikram Thakur, principal security response manager at Symantec. "The attackers are well resourced, with a high degree of technical capability and have a lot of tools at their disposal. Their targets are of strategic interest. Their motivations appear to be espionage rather than cybercrime. As an example, we see the threat not only targeting specific industries, but also stealing credentials to connect into networks with industrial equipment. Such activity maps to espionage. Coupled with the sophistication of the campaigns, this activity lends itself to being perceived as being state sponsored."

(Full article at the link)

Well, remember the hacking incident at Monju earlier this year? A night-shift worker there downloaded a free video playback software from a supposed South Korean site and managed to infect the PC in the central control room. The PC was hacked, and email information was stolen. I haven't seen the result of the follow-up investigation of the incident.

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Russia's Fast Breeder Reactor BN-800 at Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station Reaches Criticality, "Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle"

If that's the case, Japan's Monju should be learning from Russians, not from French.

What reads like an official PR piece, from RT (6/27/2014):

Fast reactor starts clean nuclear energy era in Russia

Controlled nuclear fission has been started in Russia’s newest fast breeder reactor in the Urals, heralding a closed nuclear fuel cycle and a future without nuclear waste. Russia is the only country that operates fast neutron reactors industrially.

The next generation BN-800 breeder reactor (880 megawatts) assembled at Russia’s Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant has been put in the so-called critical state on Friday, a week after all necessary nuclear fuel was loaded into the active zone.

The press service of Rosenergoatom, the electric energy generation branch of Russia’s nuclear monopoly, Rosatom, has confirmed to the RIA news agency that nuclear reaction in the BN-800 reactor has been initiated.

“Starting from that moment the reactor started to ‘live’,” RIA said, quoting the source in Rosenergoatom.

This means that controlled nuclear fission in the reactor is self-sustaining and ongoing at a constant speed. Once this most important stage of the start-up work is done, the reactor will be gradually prepared to achieve the desired 880 megawatts output expected to be reached in October, when the reactor will be commissioned for industrial use.

The BN-800 uses liquid metal sodium (Na) as a coolant heat transfer agent. The start of commercial operation of the new reactor is planned for early 2015.

Service life of the BN-800 breeder reactor is expected to be 45 years. Every month it will produce 475 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to ensure constant supply to 3.15 million families (considering that the average monthly consumption of a family of three is 150 kilowatt hours).

Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant is situated in Zarechny, some 45 kilometers from the regional center of Yekaterinburg, in the Urals region.

The fast-neutron nuclear reactors use so-called breeder reactor technology that enables the use of a wider range of radioactive elements as fuel, thus considerably enlarging the potential stock of nuclear fuel for electricity generation.

Fast fission reactors close the question of potentially ending uranium nuclear fuel as they could ‘burn’ even nuclear waste.

Besides producing electric energy, it generates more fissile material that can be used as nuclear fuel. This brings us to the closed nuclear fuel cycle, a long-lasting dream of the nuclear energy industry that appears to have come true.

Unlike ‘traditional’ nuclear reactors that use assemblies of uranium-235 as the principal fuel, breeder reactors use specially designed MOX (Mixed Oxide) fuel based on plutonium-239.

Russia’s nuclear monopoly, Rosatom, is finishing a plant in Krasnoyarsk region that will produce MOX fuel for the BN-800 reactor. The production line is assembled in a mine 200 meters underground. This will be operable by the end of 2014, and, starting from 2016, it will be running at full capacity.

Russia has unique experience of operating fast reactors, although the first one, CLEMENTINE, was constructed in the US in 1946 at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Over the decades, the USSR, then Russia, introduced a number of industrial and research fast neutron reactors. One of them, the BN-600 (600 megawatt), since 1980 running at the same Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant, is the only fast neutron reactor in the world that generates electricity on industrial scales. The BN-600 is also the most powerful operable fast neutron reactor in the world.

After decades of research, practically all breeder reactor projects around the world, including in the US, France, Japan and several other countries possessing nuclear energy technologies are now closed down. The only country that currently possesses operating breeder reactor power generation is Russia.

Russian physicists have already elaborated the next step for the revolutionary technology: a BN-1200 breeder reactor that is set to be assembled at the same Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant by 2020.

Overall, eight BN-1200 breeder reactors are expected to be constructed by 2030, which means that Russia is the only nation that is entering a new era of nuclear energy power generation – a truly clean and ecologically secure closed nuclear fuel cycle.

BN-800 on wiki:

The BN-800 reactor will be a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, under construction now at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station, in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Designed to generate electrical power of 880 MW in total, the plant will be the final step to the commercial plutonium cycle breeder. It is assumed to start by the end of 2014. By now (2014 June) reactor start-up is in progress.

The plant will be a pool-type reactor, where the reactor, coolant pumps, intermediate heat exchangers and associated piping are all located in a common liquid sodium pool. The design of this plant was started in 1983 and was totally revised after the Chernobyl Disaster in 1987 and for somewhat lower degree in 1993 according to the new safety guidelines. After the second revision the electric output power was increased by 10% to 880 MW.

The reactor core is very much like in size and mechanical properties to the BN-600 reactor core, but differs very much in the fuel composition. While BN-600 uses medium-enriched uranium dioxide, the new plant will burn mixed uranium-plutonium fuel, helping to reduce the weapon-grade plutonium stockpile and provide information about the functioning of the closed uranium-plutonium fuel cycle. It was specially mentioned that the closed cycle will not require plutonium separation and other chemical processing.

The unit employs a three-circuit coolant arrangement; sodium coolant circulates in both the primary and secondary circuits. Water and steam flow in the third circuit. This heat is transferred from the reactor core via several independent circulation loops. Each comprises a primary sodium pump, two intermediate heat exchangers, a secondary sodium pump with an expansion tank located upstream, and an emergency pressure discharge tank. These feed a steam generator, which in turn supplies a condensing turbine that turns the generator.[1]

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Latest from Fast Breeder Monju: PC Hacked by Someone Accessing from a Korean Site, After a Night-Shift Worker Downloaded a Free Video Software off the Net

Net citizens in Japan are incredulous.

"So this fast-breeder project burns hundreds of millions of yen every year, and the worker downloads a free software off the net?" "A video playback software cannot be for business use, can it?"

(I'd say, "Don't they have antivirus software and firewall? They are also free...")

From NHK News (1/6/2013):

福井県敦賀市にある、高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」の中央制御室にあるパソコンが、韓国のサイトから不正なアクセスを受けたうえで、メールなどの情報が盗まれた可能性があることが分かりました。

It has been revealed that a personal computer in the central control room of the fast breeder Monju in Tsuruga City in Fukui Prefecture may have been accessed illegally and information including emails may have been stolen.

もんじゅを管理する日本原子力研究開発機構は、「安全上重要な情報は、外部に流出していないとみられる」と説明しています。

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), who operates [well, tries to operate would be more accurate...] Monju, says, "Important security information is not likely to have leaked."

日本原子力研究開発機構によりますと、今月２日、もんじゅの中央制御室で、男性職員の当直長が８台の業務用パソコンのうちの１台で映像再生用のフリーソフトを更新していたところ、そのあと韓国のサイトから３０回余りの不正なアクセスがありました。

According to JAEA, a male supervisor on night duty on January 2 was downloading a free software for video playback on one of the eight personal computers used for operations, when 30 or so incidents of illegal access to the PC from a Korean site happened.

このパソコンには、業務連絡に使っていたおよそ４万２０００通のメールや職員の訓練報告書などの情報が保存されていますが、外部に送信された記録が残っていて、一部が盗まれた可能性があるということです。

The PC in question stores about 42,000 emails and training reports. There is a record of external transmission, and part of the information may have been stolen.

日本原子力研究開発機構は、フリーソフトの更新の際にコンピュータウイルスに感染したとみていますが、もんじゅにあるほかのパソコンへの不正なアクセスは確認されていないとして、「安全上重要な情報は外部に流出していないとみられる」と説明しています。

JAEA thinks the computer was infected with a virus during the update of the free software, but says no illegal access to other PCs at Monju has been confirmed. "It is not likely that critical security information has been leaked outside," JAEA explains.

もんじゅを巡っては、テロ対策に不備があるとして去年１１月、原子力規制委員会が「厳重注意」を行っています。

Last November, Nuclear Regulation Authority issued a "reprimand (stern warning)" to Monju's operator for deficiencies in countermeasures against terrorism.

Yup. We're supposed to take JAEA's comment at face value, as if they are on top of things while in fact they weren't aware of the illegal access until they were contacted by their security firm, according to Yomiuri Shinbun (1/7/2014).

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Monju Fast Breeder Reactor's Emergency Response Support System Was Down for One Hour, Cause Unknown, Plant Site Not Accessible Due to Landslides

According to an emergency email from Nuclear Regulatory Authority that independent journalist Ryuichi Kino shares, the cause of the system stoppage is not likely to be known anytime soon as the maintenance staff cannot reach Monju because of landslides caused by Typhoon 18's heavy rain.

From Kino's tweets:

本日（16日）、原子力規制庁は、独立行政法人原子力安全基盤機構（JNES）より、日本原子力研究開発機構もんじゅの緊急時対策支援システム(ERSS)のプラント情報表示システムからのデータ伝送が停止している旨の連絡を受けました。

Today (September 16), we at Nuclear Regulatory Authority received correspondence from Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) that data transfer from the plant parameter display system of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)'s Monju Fast-Breeder stopped.

（16日2時56分から伝送停止。同日3時46分から順次受信）。JNES及び日本原子力研究開発機構においてデータ伝送停止の原因を調査中ですが、台風18号の大雨による土砂崩れのため、保修担当者がもんじゅ構内に通行不能であり、伝送停止の原因判明には時間を要する模様です。

(The data transfer stopped at 2:56AM on September 16, and partially resumed after 3:46AM.) JNES and JAEA are currently investigating the cause of the data transfer stoppage. However, because of landslides from heavy rain from Typhoon No.18, maintenance and repair staff cannot get to the Monju Plant compound. Therefore, it may take a while to determine the cause of the stoppage.

なお、ERSS伝送装置復旧までの間に原子力施設でトラブルが発生した場合には、電話、FAX、電子メール等の代替手段によりデータを入手でき、データ提供を確実なものとするよう、日本原子力研究開発機構に指示済みです。

We have already instructed JAEA to secure the collection and transfer of data via alternative means such as telephone, FAX, email if a problem arises at the nuclear facility before the ERSS data transfer system is fully restored.

According to Asahi Shinbun (9/16/2013), there were two landslides near Monju, with one of them at the entrance of a tunnel 1 kilometer from the plant.

There are several nuclear power plants in Japan which are only accessible by one road and/or a tunnel - Monju, Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, and Ooi Nuclear Power Plant.

Here's how Monju is situated: accessible via a tunnel, or a narrow road hugging the coastline:

Accessibility to the site in case of a problem is not included in the conditions for restarting the nuclear power plants in Japan.

By the way, in terms of accessibility, TEPCO's nuclear plants including Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plants are one of the best nuclear plants in Japan, and still the earthquake and tsunami led to the disaster we continue to face at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

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Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority Investigates Faults Beneath Fast-Breeder Monju, Operator JAEA Insists They Are Not Active Faults

Nuclear Regulatory Authority's Deputy Chairman and seismologist Kunihiko Shimazaki is leading a team of experts to determine whether the 8 faults that run directly beneath the trouble-prone fast-breeder Monju in Fukui Prefecture are active faults.

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) "operates" the fast-breeder reactor which is supposed to be the centerpiece of Japan's fuel cycle policy. In its 22-year history since the test run in 1991, Monju has managed to generate one hour worth of electricity.

The Abe administration insists the fuel cycle policy will continue.

JAEA is a government corporation under the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry - i.e. a landing pad for the top bureaucrats with golden parachutes.

NRA's Dr. Shimazaki has not been political so far, and has practically said about another nuclear power plant in Fukui (Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant) that the operator doesn't want to see active faults, therefore does not see the active faults which are apparent to him and his team of experts in two-day investigation.

I suspect it's the same thing at Monju.

From Asahi Shinbun (7/17/2013):

もんじゅ断層、現地調査を開始　原子力規制委

NRA starts field survey of faults at Monju

日本原子力研究開発機構の高速増殖原型炉もんじゅ（福井県）の敷地内に活断層がある疑いが指摘されている問題で、原子力規制委員会は１７日、現地調査を始めた。活断層と判定されれば廃炉になる公算が大きく、国は核燃料サイクル政策の見直しを迫られる。

To determine whether there are active faults at Fast-breeder Monju (Fukui Prefecture) operated by Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Authority started the field investigation on July 17. If the faults are determined to be active, it is likely that Monju will be decommissioned, and the national government will be pressed to revise its fuel cycle policy.

　規制委の島崎邦彦委員長代理ら有識者会合のメンバー４人がこの日午前、現地に入った。まず、もんじゅの西約５００メートルを走る活断層「白木（しらき）―丹生（にゅう）断層」が露出している福井県美浜町の現場を調査。２日間かけて、敷地内の断層が活断層かどうかを確かめる。

4 members of the expert group including NRA's Deputy Chairman Kunihiko Shimazaki arrived in Fukui in the morning of July 17. They first investigated the location in Minaha-cho in Fukui where the known active fault, "Shiraki-Nyu Fault", which runs 500 meters west of Monju, is exposed. The group will determine whether the faults inside the Monju compound are active, after the two-day survey.

　敷地内には９本の断層があり、うち８本が原子炉施設の真下にあることが知られている。白木―丹生断層が活動したときに、これらの断層が引きずられて動くおそれが指摘されてきた。今回は最も長い「ａ断層」を中心に見る。機構側は「新しい年代に繰り返し動いたことを示す痕跡は認められない」として活断層ではないと主張している。

There are nine faults inside the compound, with 8 of them known to be directly beneath the reactor facilities. Experts have pointed out the danger of these faults moving if the Shiraki-Nyu Fault becomes active. In the survey, the longest fault "a-fault" will be the focus. JAEA insists that it is not an active fault, saying there is no evidence that it repeatedly moved in recent years.

By "recent years", JAEA means in the last 100,000 years or so. NRA has made it clear in its new "regulatory standards" that it will consider the last 400,000 years.

Location of the Shiraki-Nyu Fault and Monju, from Asahi Shinbun:

The Shiraki-Nyu Fault in Mihama-cho:

Even without any active fault, Monju should not be operating, for the simple reason that should the road (Route 141) become inaccessible, Monju would be utterly inaccessible except from the sea. Even the ocean access would be problematic after a big earthquake and tsunami:

View Larger Map

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Fast Breeder Reactor Monju's Coolant Heating System Accidentally Switched Off for 30 Minutes, No Effect on the Environment, Says JAEA

JAEA again, this time on the fast breeder reactor Monju that this agency "operates" (if it can be called "operating").

Coolant for Monju, sodium, is supposed to be kept at 200 degrees Celsius.

So what's the excuse this time?

Their manual was not well written!

Do you trust these people to run a nuclear reactor, not to mention fast breeder reactor that uses liquid metal that explodes on contact with water and ignites on contact with air?

Do you trust these people to export nuclear reactors all over the world, claiming the superior technology and know-hows, including know-hows from "lessons learned from the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident"?

Good luck, Czech Republic. Good luck, India, Vietnam, and Turkey.

From Kyodo News (6/8/2013):

もんじゅ、ヒーター停止　ナトリウム一時保温できず

Monju's heater stopped, sodium wasn't kept warm enough temporarily

　日本原子力研究開発機構は７日、高速増殖炉原型炉もんじゅ（福井県敦賀市）で２日、電源設備の点検作業中に、２次系冷却材ナトリウムの温度を保つヒーターを誤って約３０分間停止させたと発表した。手順書の不備による作業ミスなどが原因とみられる。

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced on June 7 that at Fast Breeder Reactor Monju (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture) the heater to keep the secondary coolant, sodium, warm was switched off accidentally for about 30 minutes during the inspection of electric systems on June 2. The cause is attributed to human error due to poor instructions in the manual.

　一部の配管で、ナトリウムは本来の２００度から約４０度下がったが、環境や原子炉への影響はなかったとしている。ナトリウムの融点は９８度程度。

In certain part of the pipe, the temperature dropped 40 degrees Celsius from the normal 200 degrees Celsius, but there was no effect on the environment or the reactor, according to JAEA. Melting point of sodium is about 98 degrees Celsius.

　原子力規制庁や福井県、敦賀市には３日に通報した。公表が遅れた理由について原子力機構は「内規で通報が不要な軽微以下の事案だったため」としている。

JAEA reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Fukui Prefecture and Tsuruga City on June 3. The reason for the delay in reporting was, according to JAEA, because "it was the very minor incident that didn't require reporting, according to our internal [i.e. unofficial] rules".

So they blame the manual for the incident, but abide by the other, unofficial manual and decide they don't need to report it.

If they didn't notice the heater was off for another hour, they would have been in a big trouble (assuming the temperature drop is linear).

The footage of 1995 sodium leak accident is still there on the net, despite TV Asahi's copyright claim.

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority has already ordered JAEA to stop all the work for preparation for the restart, as 10,000 parts and equipments weren't maintained according to the schedule.

Again, good luck Czech Republic, India, Vietnam, Turkey. And many others, no doubt, now that Japan's Prime Minister Abe and President Francois Hollande of France have formed a formidable team to sell nuclear plants all over the world...

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Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara: "Decommission Monju? Not a Chance!"

as if he has any say in it. Or maybe he thinks he will shortly. He must be counting on the Liberal Democratic Party becoming the ruling party again, with one of his sons at the helm. (That son was the one who diagnosed people against nuclear power as suffering from hysteria, in July last year.)

As Jiji Tsushin reports, he spoke like the de facto leader of LDP anyway.

From Jiji Tsushin (9/6/2012):

福井でもんじゅ視察＝「廃炉はとんでもない」－石原都知事

Tokyo Governor Ishihara visits Monju in Fukui: "Decommissioning? Not a chance."

東京都の石原慎太郎知事は６日、日本原子力研究開発機構の高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」（福井県敦賀市）を視察した。石原知事は視察後、「もんじゅは世界に先駆けた画期的な技術。廃炉なんてとんでもない」と感想を語った。

Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara visited Monju fast-breeder reactor of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) (in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture) on September 6. Governor Ishihara said after the visit, "Monju is the first-in-the-world, epoch-making technology. Not a chance of decommissioning."

　もんじゅは２０１０年に運転を再開したが、試運転の第１段階終了後、停止したままになっている。石原知事は高速増殖炉研究の必要性を主張している。

Monju restarted operation in 2010, but has stopped ever since the first step of the test run was completed. Governor Ishihara has been a strong proponent of the fast-breeder reactor research.　

一方、政府が尖閣諸島（沖縄県石垣市）の購入で地権者と合意したことについて、石原知事は「所有者が決めて売ればいい。どうせ（今の）内閣はもたず、次の選挙で変わるんだから。自民党には買う意思はある。総裁選の争点にしてもらいたい」と話した。

In the meantime, when asked about the national government having come to an agreement with the owner of the Senkaku Islands over the purchase of the island, Governor Ishihara said, "It's up to the owner to decide and sell [if he wants to]. The current administration won't last long anyway, and will be replaced in the next election. LDP has the will to purchase the islands. I want the issue [of the Senkaku Islands] as a focal point in the LDP leadership election."

Never mind that Monju is not the first fast-breeder reactor; it may be epoch-making, but not in the way Ishihara seem to think. Where else has an operator of a fast-breeder reactor that uses liquid sodium as coolant dropped a fuel transfer machine in the reactor? Only in Japan. Or maybe he meant the make-shift technology that JAEA had to devise (or I should say Toshiba and Hitachi had to devise) to fish out the fuel transfer machine without exposing the coolant to the atmosphere.

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Liquid Sodium Leak Alarm at Monju Fast Breeder Reactor But No Leak Found, Says Operator JAEA

Secondary coolant leak alarm was sounded on July 30, but the workers didn't find any actual leak. Or so the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the operator of Monju Fast Breeder in Fukui Prefecture, says.

From Kyodo News (7/30/2012):

もんじゅでナトリウム漏れ誤警報　福井・敦賀、作動原因調査

False alarm of sodium leak at Monju, in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture; JAEA to investigate the cause of malfunction

　日本原子力研究開発機構は３０日、高速増殖炉原型炉もんじゅ（福井県敦賀市）で同日午前３時４０分ごろ、２次冷却系の冷却材ナトリウムの漏えいを知らせる警報が作動したと発表した。実際のナトリウム漏れや環境への影響はなかった。

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced on July 30 that an alarm was sounded off at about 3:40AM on July 30 that signaled a leak of coolant (liquid sodium) from the secondary cooling system at Monju Fast Breeder Reactor (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture).

　警報が作動した原因は不明で、同機構が詳しく調べ、結果を経済産業省原子力安全・保安院に報告する。

It is not known why an alarm was triggered. JAEA will investigate, and will report the findings to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

　もんじゅは原子炉停止中だが、炉内には核燃料が装荷されており、冷却のために１次系、２次系でナトリウムが循環している。

Monju Reactor is stopped, but the nuclear fuel is loaded in the reactor. To cool the fuel, liquid sodium is being used in the primary and secondary cooling systems.

　警報が作動したのは、原子炉補助建屋にある、２次系配管周辺に設置された検出器の一つ。作業員が現場を目視で点検したりしたが、ナトリウム漏れは確認できなかったという。

The alarm was set off by one of the detectors placed around the secondary cooling system pipes in the reactor auxiliary building. The workers went to the site to do the visual inspection, but no sodium leak was observed, says JAEA.

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Monju Fast Breeder Ready to Restart in Fukui Prefecture in Mid July

(The horror, the horror...)

The troubled fast breeder that has cost a fortune just to maintain (sort of) over the past 30 years is now ready to restart, after the IVTM (In-Vessel Transfer Machine) that had fallen into the reactor in August of 2010 was finally removed in June last year after two failed attempts.

Just like Ooi Nuclear Power Plant (and couple of other plants in the same area), Monju is accessible by land by only one road, which ends at Monju. There are faults running under the plant, as the Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency says it will review the faults in and around all the nuclear power plants in Japan.

NISA is on the way out, as the regulation of the nuclear industry will fall on the yet-to-be-created regulatory agency and adjunct commissions of experts and politicians.

Remember also that this reactor uses liquid sodium as coolant, which ignites on contact with air.

From Asahi Shinbun Fukui local version on June 22, 2012:

もんじゅ、来月復旧へ

Monju to be restored next month [July]

相次ぐトラブルで運転停止中の高速増殖原型炉「もんじゅ」（敦賀市）が、７月中旬にも完全復旧する見通しになった。日本原子力研究開発機構は２１日、復旧作業を報道陣に公開。原子炉内への落下事故を起こして新品に交換した装置が正常に動くことを示した。

Fast breeder "Monju" (in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture), whose operation has been suspended due to numerous problems, is expected to be fully restored in mid July. Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) showed the restoration work to the press on June 21, demonstrating the equipment, newly installed after the accident [of the IVTM dropped inside the reactor], operated normally.

　もんじゅでは２０１０年８月、核燃料の交換に使う「炉内中継装置（ＩＶＴＭ）」が原子炉内に落ち、試験運転を中止。今年３月末までに運転再開予定だったが、復旧が遅れていた。

At Monju, the In-Vessel Transfer Machine that is used to replace nuclear fuel fell inside the reactor in August 2010, and the test operation was halted. The plan was to restart the operation by the end of March this year, but the restoration work has taken longer.

　この日は、同機構とプラントメーカーの作業員らが見守る中、原子力安全基盤機構の職員２人が、５月２８日からの作業で新品に換えたＩＶＴＭの動作確認をした。ほかに、制御棒に取り付けた電磁ブレーキの動作確認作業も進めており、７月中旬にも試験運転を再開できる状態になるという。

On June 21, as the workers at JAEA and the plant manufacturers looked on, two personnel from the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) confirmed the newly replaced IVTM worked. They will confirm the operation of the electro-magnetic brakes attached to the control rods, and the test operation is set to resume in mid July.

Monju's operation has been nothing but "test operation" for nearly 20 years (the reactor achieved criticality in April of 1994), and for the most part it has been idle because of seemingly endless problems. The biggest of all was the leak of liquid sodium coolant that resulted in fire at the plant in December of 1995, but what was at issue was not so much of the fire incident itself. The Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, who was running the plant at that time, downplayed the accident and hid the information of the accident.

More than anything else, the loss of credibility was what stopped Monju operation until March 2010, when the NISA deemed the reactor was "appropriately safe". The governor of Fukui set about restarting the plant. It reached the criticality in May 2010, only to have the IVTM dropped into the reactor 3 months later.

Here's the Google map of Monju location. Scroll to the northeast direction, you see Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant which has Japan's oldest boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor. A known active fault runs through the middle of that plant, and Reactor 2 may be sitting right on top of yet another potentially active fault. You also see a landfill over the mountain from Tsuruga Nuke Plant. That's where they are building Reactor 3 and 4. (You have to admire the dare.)

View Larger Map

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India's First Fast Breeder Reactor to Go Critical in Early 2013, Near Chennai

Some poetic justice, I can't help thinking. But this may be exactly what the Japanese government and the corporate elites (particularly in the nuclear industry) want anyway, to be near a successful (if) fast breeder reactor for a change.

India's first prototype fast breeder reactor will go critical in early 2013, with commercial power generation to commence in March 2015 in the township of Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, about 70 kilometers south of Chennai where the Japanese government-industry joint venture is to set up a "Japan town" where expat Japanese can live in luxury with own hospitals and shopping centers, golf course in a resort setting.

The fast breeder uses liquid sodium as coolant, just like "Monju" in Japan. I am pretty sure that Indians, just like the Japanese before them, think they are different, and won't make stupid mistakes like Americans (TMI), Russians (Chernobyl), and Japanese (Fukushima). Not to mention the costly "Monju" fast breeder project that has had nothing but failures.

Just watch out for those cyclones and tsunamis from future mega earthquakes from Indonesia...

From Zeenews.com (1/21/2012):

Chennai: India's first 500-MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR), being set up at Kalpakkam near here, is likely to go critical early next year and commercial generation of electricity is expected in March 2015.

India`s first PFBR to go critical early 2013
"Construction activities will come to close this year-end. Loading of the part fuel is expected to happen during the first quarter of next year and the reactor would go critical," said S.C. Chetal, director at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) that designed the PFBR.

Chetal is also a director at Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI), a public sector company under the Directorate of Atomic Energy (DAE), that has been given the responsibility to build fast reactor power plants in the country.

When the PFBR is commissioned, power can be produced at a lesser cost than electricity generated from conventional sources.

A breeder reactor is one that breeds more material for a nuclear fission reaction than it consumes. The reaction produces energy that is used in the form of electricity. The Indian fast reactors will be fuelled by a blend of plutonium and uranium oxide.

India`s first PFBR to go critical early 2013
While the reactor will break up (fission) plutonium for power production, it will also breed more plutonium than it consumes. The original plutonium comes from natural uranium.

The surplus plutonium from each fast reactor can be used to set up more such reactors and grow the nuclear capacity in tune with India's energy needs.

Fast reactors form a key in the India's three-stage nuclear power programme, which comprises pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at the first stage, fast breeder reactors (FBRs) at second and thorium-based systems at the third stage. In 1985, India became the sixth country in the world to have such a technology.

The government has said in parliament that the PFBR is expected to begin commercial production in March 2015. Nuclear scientists though are of the view that commercial generation can happen even before that date.

According to Prabhat Kumar, project director, BHAVINI, the PFBR construction work will be over by September this year and testing of various systems would end by December 2012 or January 2013.

"There is no inordinate time lag between PFBR attaining criticality and it starting commercial production given the fact that it is a newly-designed reactor. With small core/fuel lot of tests on reactor physics would be done. Then by gradually increasing the generation engineering tests would be carried out," a nuclear scientist told IANS, preferring anonymity.

"A year of testing will be sufficient after reactor attained criticality," he remarked.

Asked about the delay in commercial production, Chetal said: "The PFBR is first of its kind in the country and we want to be sure about the functioning of each and every system."

According to him, with the loading of part fuel, the reactor systems will be checked by increasing the power generation in a gradual manner.

He does not agree that the delay in commercial production of PFBR would have an impact on the next two fast reactors that is planned at Kalpakkam.

"The design modifications made in the proposed two reactors will not make them as first of its kind. They will be commercial reactors. Since PFBR is new we want to be sure with its systems," Chetal added.

The government has allotted Rs.250 crore for pre-project activities for two more 500 MW units.

It has sanctioned construction of two more 500 MW fast reactors whose location is yet to be finalised.

IANS

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NISA Hid Fast Breeder "Monju" Trouble for Over a Month

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's excuse is that the operator, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, did make an announcement of the trouble "locally" - probably meaning the municipality where the fast breeder is located.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (1/20/2012):

もんじゅで原因不明トラブル、存廃論議に拍車も

Trouble at Monju, cause unknown. May further spur the debate whether to continue the project

経済産業省原子力安全・保安院は２０日、日本原子力研究開発機構の高速増殖原型炉「もんじゅ」（福井県敦賀市）で、制御棒の駆動機構に不具合が生じたとして、同機構に原因究明と再発防止を指示した。

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry instructed the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to investigate the cause of malfunction at the driving mechanisms for the control rods at the JAEA's fastbreeder "Monju" (in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture), and to come up with measures to prevent it from happening again.

　保安院によると、不具合が生じたのは昨年１２月１２日。駆動機構１９基のうち、１基が動作確認試験で稼働せず、２日後の再試験で動いた。さらに別の１基も動かず、機構は、原因を究明できないとして工場で分解点検する方針。

According to NISA, the malfunction happened on December 12. Of the 19 driving mechanisms for the control rods, one mechanism didn't work at all when they conducted the test to verify the mechanisms were working. When tested again 2 days later, the mechanism worked. However, there is another mechanism that didn't work [and didn't work in the 2nd test]. JAEA says they will disassemble the mechanism in order to identify the cause.

　公表が遅れた点について保安院は「制御棒がすべて挿入されていた上、機構側が地元で公表していた」と釈明した。もんじゅは現在、原子炉に制御棒が挿入された状態で、安全性に問題はない。しかし、東京電力福島第一原発事故を受けて政府がもんじゅの存廃を含めた原子力政策全般の見直しを進めており、不具合は議論に拍車をかけそうだ。

As to why the disclosure was so late, NISA explained that the control rods were all in, and JAEA did announce locally. The control rods are all inserted, and the Monju reactor is safe at this time. However, the government has been reviewing its nuclear policies in the aftermath of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, including whether to continue the Monju project. The trouble this time may spur the debate.

Not just the malfunction trouble, but the fact that the regulatory agency NISA felt it was OK to wait for more than one month to announce the problem should raise alarm.

NISA's press release on January 20 states that JAEA must report back to the Agency by February 29.

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Japan's Minister of Education Visits Monju, Says Fast Breeder Is Necessary for Japan

Minister of Education and Science Yoshiaki Takagi, a former union official at a shipyard in Nagasaki before he ran for office, visited Monju, the troubled fast breeder reactor in Tsuruga City in Fukui Prefecture where Governor Nishikawa may be jockeying for an advantageous position vis a vis the national government on the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) project and opposing the re-start of the reactors in his prefecture.

From Nikkei Shinbun (8/3/2011):

高木義明文部科学相は３日、高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」（福井県敦賀市）を視察し、東京電力福島第１原発の事故を踏まえた安全対策の実施状況を確認した。

Minister of Education and Science Yoshiaki Takagi visited Fast Breeder Reactor "Monju" in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture to be briefed on the implementation of safety measures after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

　視察後に記者団の取材に応じた高木文科相は、「ウラン燃料を有効に使い、廃棄物をより少なくする研究開発は資源の乏しい日本に適している」と高速増殖炉開発の意義を強調した。一方で今後の開発方針は「政府のエネルギー・環境会議で、再生可能エネルギーの普及状況などをしっかり議論をする中で方向性が出てくる」と明言を避けた。

After the visit, the minister gave comments to the press, "Research and development to find ways to use uranium fuel more effectively and to reduce nuclear waste is a natural fit for Japan, which has scarce natural resources", emphasizing the importance of developing a fast breeder reactor. However, he avoided specifics of the future development policy and said "it will be made clear through the discussion of renewable energy in the government's energy and environmental committees".

　高木文科相は７月15日午前の閣議後の記者会見で、もんじゅについて開発中止を含めて検討する考えを示唆した後、同日夕に発言を事実上撤回した。

Minister Takagi hinted at discontinuing the development of Monju during the press conference after the cabinet meeting on July 15 morning, but effectively withdrew his comment in the evening of the same day.

Since Sellafield is closing its MOX-fuel plant specifically designed for the Japanese nuclear industry due to uncertain prospect after the Fukushima accident, Monju will be needed more than ever, if it ever succeeds in running for more than a few weeks.

Or the new generation of fast breeder reactor, to be built by Mitsubishi FBR Systems, which was set up by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2007. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was selected by the government (Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industries) and the Federation of Electric Power Companies as the core company to develop the next generation fast breeder reactor in 2006.

There is no "free market" for the nuclear industry.

(In case you are wondering why the Ministry of Education is involved in nuclear power, it's because the Ministry absorbed the Science and Technology Agency in 2001. The Science and Technology Agency was set up as an independent agency under the Prime Minister's Office in 1956, for the express purpose of promoting nuclear energy in Japan. Its first head was Matsutaro Shoriki, "father of Japan's nuclear energy" who was also the owner of Yomiuri Shinbun and Nippon Television Network.)

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Monju: The In-Vessel Transfer Machine Has Been Pulled Out

3rd time charm.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency who runs the Monju Fast Breeder Reactor announced the In-Vessel Transfer Machine (IVTM) was successfully pulled out of the reactor at 4:55AM JST on June 24.

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Monju: Pull-Out of In-Vessel Transfer Machine Still On-Going

(UPDATE: The technical glitch that delayed the start of the operation was a argon gas leak at the bottom of the container that would hold the IVTM as it was being pulled out of the reactor. Argon gas fills the reactor to prevent air from entering the sodium-cooled reactor. Information from Fukui Shinbun.)

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The attempt to remove the 3.3-ton In-Vessel Transfer Machine from the Monju fast breeder reactor was supposed to start in the morning of June 23 JST, and the operation was supposed to be over by now (3:00AM JST on June 24). However, some technical glitches delayed the start, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) who runs the reactor decided to halt the operation until June 23 night.

From Fukui Shinbun, local newspaper in Fukui Prefecture where Monju sits (5:59PM JST 6/23/2011):

高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」（福井県敦賀市）で原子炉容器内に炉内中継装置が落下したトラブルをめぐり、日本原子力研究開発機構が２３日午後に行う予定の引き抜き作業は、機器類の調整などに手間取り、夜以降にずれ込んだ。同日中に作業が始まり順調に進めば、翌２４日午前には回収を終える見通し。

The operation to pull out the In-Vessel Transfer Machine from the Monju Fast Breeder Reactor, which was scheduled to commence in the afternoon of June 23 was delayed till after the nightfall due to delay in preparing the necessary equipment for the operation. If the operation starts sometime on June 23 and everything goes smoothly, the IVTM will be out of the reactor sometime in the morning of June 24.

The operation is supposed to last for 8 to 9 hours.

According to the press release from the JAEA, the operation finally started at 8:50PM JST on June 23. There is no explanation of the cause of the delay. The press release has one picture of the operation, taken at 9:30PM:

There have been doubts expressed whether the operation is technically feasible.

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Monju: They Will Try to Pull Out the In-Vessel Transfer Machine on June 23

(UPDATE: Operation started late, and it is still on-going as of 11:24AM Pacific Standard Time in the US. See my post.)

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The 3.3-ton In-Vessel Transfer Machine (IVTM) dropped back inside the Reactor Vessel of Monju Fast Breeder Reactor in August last year, when they were finishing up on exchanging the fuel rods. The past 2 attempts to pull out the IVTM were unsuccessful.

This time, by removing the "sleeves" (part of the lid) with the 12-meter-long IVTM, they think they can pull the whole thing out and without any air entering the reactor.

According to Fukui Shinbun (6/22/2011), they will pull out very slowly (6 centimeters/minute), and the entire process is expected to last 8 to 9 hours.

The coolant of this reactor is sodium, which burns on contact with air. The reactor uses MOX-fuel.

Information from Monju site on how to pull out the In-Vessel Transfer Machine (blue rod in the diagram):

TV Asahi did a documentary on Monju in June, in which you get to see the inside of Monju:

増殖炉事故 [もんじゅ] 現場で何が・・・内部取材 by sean2010jp

About 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the documentary, a local councilman shouts at the Monju operators after the sodium leak and fire accident in 1995: "A courage to climb the mountain? You need a courage to quit, you idiot!"

About 10 minutes into the documentary, you get to see the inside of the Containment Vessel of Monju. Brightly lit, cavernous hall. We cannot assume the safety of the reactor, but if there is no radiation leak, it means it is safe, says the engineer.

17, 18 minutes into the documentary, you see the public buildings built by Tsuruga City with the money from the government for having nuclear reactors. The documentary then shows the local fishermen reluctant to say anything about Monju. One elderly man says "Safe, of course it's safe." One elderly woman says "I can't answer anything", when asked about the nuclear accident in Fukushima.

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Mainichi English: "Agency gears up to retrieve device fallen inside Monju reactor"

Ah, the horror, the horror....

Monju is a fast breeder reactor that uses sodium as coolant, which catches on fire on contact with air. It uses MOX-fuel.

3.3-tonne, 12-meter "In‐Vessel Transfer Machine" fell into the reactor vessel on August 26, 2010. The manager at the plant in charge of fuel exchange committed suicide in February this year.

From Mainichi Shinbun English (5/24/2011):

TSURUGA (Kyodo) -- The Japan Atomic Energy Agency began preparatory engineering work Tuesday to set up equipment it will use to retrieve a device that fell inside the vessel of its prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju in Fukui Prefecture last August, agency officials said.

The agency aims to collect the cylindrical 3.3-ton device together with part of the vessel's upper lid by mid-June to get the reactor back to normal by autumn, allowing the resumption of a test run of the 280,000-kilowatt prototype, the officials said.

But it is unknown when the test run will begin at the unit on the Sea of Japan coast as Prime Minister Naoto Kan has declared a review of Japan's basic energy plan following the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

After the Aug. 26 accident, the agency tried in October to recover the device used in fuel exchange but failed as it had become misshapen, preventing its retrieval through the upper lid.

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Japan's Monju Super Breeder Reactor Had Ill-Fitting Pipes

even though they were all true to the specs. I hope something like this didn't happen at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

I am reading an old monograph written by a nuclear plant engineer in Japan who died in 1997 from radiation-caused cancer. His name is Norio Hirai. He was no celebrity scholar or commentator who adorns the TV screens over in Japan every day these days but he seems to have been an engineer who knew what he was talking about, and fought against nuclear power plants in later life (till his death) that he helped built. The monograph is about the reality of nuclear power generation and nuclear power plants as he experienced firsthand for 20 years.

One particular minor detail he discusses in the paper caught my attention. It is not about Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, but about Monju Fast Breeder Reactor run by Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tsuruga City in Fukui Prefecture (Japan Sea side).

I have this nagging feeling that something quite similar to the incident he describes may well have happened also at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Or for that matter, any nuclear plant in Japan, but gone uncorrected.

He describes how one day he received a telephone call from his former colleagues (at that time he had already retired from Hitachi where he worked for 20 years as nuclear plant engineer) who now worked at Monju Fast Breeder Reactor construction:

(My quick translation; emphasis added)

Last year (1995), on December 8, Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (which later became Japan Atomic Energy Agency)'s Monju [Fast Breeder Reactor] had a severe accident where sodium leaked and caused a huge fire. This accident was not Monju's first. I was called to the plant 6 times during the construction, as my former subordinates were in charge of Monju, so they would call me when there was a problem. At that time, I had already quit the company [Hitachi, as it revealed later], but I went because a nuclear plant accident, once that happened, would be irreparable.

Once [during the construction], I received the telephone call, asking me to "Come to the plant because we can't fit the pipes no matter what we try." So I went. I looked at the pipes - custom-made pipes, ready-made pipes - but they were all according to the spec. But they did not fit. Why didn't they fit? We thought of various possible causes but we couldn't figure out. Then, after a night's sleep I suddenly realized: the companies that supplied the pipes used different standards in determining the specs. Monju was being built by different companies working together, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Fuji Electric, etc.

When they drew up the spec, Hitachi, where I used to work, would round down 0.5 millimeter. Toshiba and Mitsubishi would round up 0.5 millimeter, Nihon Genken would round down 0.5 milli-meter. It was only 0.5 millimeter, but it made a whole lot of difference when there were 100 different parts that needed to fit together. So the pipes didn't fit, even though they were exactly to the spec and fit perfectly on the blueprint.

So we have all of them re-made. Since it was a national project, money wasn't an issue; the national prestige was.

How did this happen? Each company had its own know-how and secrets, and they didn't bother to discuss which method to use, round up or round down.

Since Monju was a national project, reworking of the pipes were done no matter how much the cost was. Fukushima I Nuke Plant wasn't. It was a TEPCO's project. And TEPCO, having been run by succession of presidents with education and expertise in economics and finance, is known for relentless cost-cutting, sometimes at the expense of safety and performance, critics have argued.

On the other hand, 0.5 millimeter difference may be all within the tolerance, and it wouldn't have mattered even in Monju if they had forced the fit. All I can tell from Mr. Hirai's paper is that the engineers at the Monju Reactor were worried enough to call Mr. Hirai to the plant.

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