JAEA risks extractration of 3.3 ton fuel loader from near Monju reactor core

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has successfully removed a 3.3 ton fuel loading device from precariously near its Monju experimental plutonium breeder reactor's (picture at left) core, Reuters reports. The move was quite risky, in that Monju's 1,600 tons of liquid metal sodium coolant is violently reactive upon contact with water or air. A fire involving the 1.4 tons of ultra-hazardous plutonium fuel in the reactor's core could be catastrophic. Just such a liquid sodium leak took place in 1995, shutting the $12 billion plant until spring 2010. Then the fuel loading device drop accident happened in August. The 20 year old facility has only generated electricity for one hour thus far in the past two decades. Given public concern over the ongoing Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, pressure may force the local and prefectural governments to not approve Monju's eventual restart. The article above reports that Monju was named after the Buddhist god of wisdom -- a most ironic, even blasphemous choice. But then again, the U.S. nuclear establishment code-named its first plutonium bomb "Trinity," and India code-named its first nuclear detonation "Smiling Buddha." This risky "surgery" was only carried out because JAEA wants to re-start Monju. The extraction could have been avoided if further operations at the reactor are simply disallowed, and the problem-plagued facility shut down for good. See Thom Hartmann's interview with Kevin Kamps on Monju a couple postings below.