China interested in building nuclear plant in E.Africa, IBI Corp says

birou notarial

BEIJING | Wed May 25, 2011 2:09am EDT

BEIJING May 25 (Reuters) - China wants to help build nuclear power generation in East Africa, uranium mining and investment company IBI Corp said in a statement after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing, revealing China's undimmed appetite for overseas nuclear expansion despite the Japanese nuclear crisis this year.

IBI, which has uranium-prospective land in Uganda, said its director, A.J. Coffman, held an "encouraging meeting... with the relatively new umbrella organization overseeing China's research and development of Generation 3 and Generation 4 nuclear power plant designs."

"At the meeting, this entity expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear power plant construction in East Africa."

China is in the early stages of a massive nuclear power expansion to help meet the demands of its power-guzzling economy and to weaken the grip of coal as the dominant source of fuel.

Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11 and the ensuing nuclear crisis have threatened to put cracks in China's own plans, with the government ordering a halt to further nuclear approvals until it had inspected the existing reactors and construction sites.

China's ambitious domestic nuclear expansion is widely expected to march ahead, although talk of the sector growing to 80-90 gigawatts by 2020 may give way to a target of 70-75 GW. Still, that is a giant leap from China's existing nuclear capacity, which amounted to 10.8 GW, at the end of 2010.

Some of China's new plants will use "third generation" reactors, using technology from France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) and U.S.-based Westinghouse, part of Toshiba Corp . But later their technology will be transferred to China, enabling it to build third generation plants in its own right.

Currently there are no nuclear plants in East Africa, and only one country on the continent, South Africa, has nuclear power.

China already has some early-stage interests in uranium in Africa. The overseas arm of China National Nuclear Corp has a 37.2 percent stake in a uranium mine in Niger that began producing on Dec. 30, 2010, as well as exploration projects in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Another state-owned company, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp , earlier this month withdrew a bid for UK-listed Kalahari Minerals , which holds 43 percent of Extract Resources , owner of Namibia's Husab project, potentially the world's second-biggest uranium mine.

The Chinese firm, which withdrew its $1.2 billion bid after regulators refused to let it cut its offer in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear disaster, is considering whether to come back with a fresh offer. [ID:nSGE74A012]

For a graphic of uranium production by country, please click on r.reuters.com/xun48r (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Ken Wills)

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BEIJING | Wed May 25, 2011 2:09am EDT

BEIJING May 25 (Reuters) - China wants to help build nuclear power generation in East Africa, uranium mining and investment company IBI Corp said in a statement after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing, revealing China's undimmed appetite for overseas nuclear expansion despite the Japanese nuclear crisis this year.

IBI, which has uranium-prospective land in Uganda, said its director, A.J. Coffman, held an "encouraging meeting... with the relatively new umbrella organization overseeing China's research and development of Generation 3 and Generation 4 nuclear power plant designs."

"At the meeting, this entity expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear power plant construction in East Africa."

China is in the early stages of a massive nuclear power expansion to help meet the demands of its power-guzzling economy and to weaken the grip of coal as the dominant source of fuel.

Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11 and the ensuing nuclear crisis have threatened to put cracks in China's own plans, with the government ordering a halt to further nuclear approvals until it had inspected the existing reactors and construction sites.

China's ambitious domestic nuclear expansion is widely expected to march ahead, although talk of the sector growing to 80-90 gigawatts by 2020 may give way to a target of 70-75 GW. Still, that is a giant leap from China's existing nuclear capacity, which amounted to 10.8 GW, at the end of 2010.

Some of China's new plants will use "third generation" reactors, using technology from France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) and U.S.-based Westinghouse, part of Toshiba Corp . But later their technology will be transferred to China, enabling it to build third generation plants in its own right.

Currently there are no nuclear plants in East Africa, and only one country on the continent, South Africa, has nuclear power.

China already has some early-stage interests in uranium in Africa. The overseas arm of China National Nuclear Corp has a 37.2 percent stake in a uranium mine in Niger that began producing on Dec. 30, 2010, as well as exploration projects in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Another state-owned company, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp , earlier this month withdrew a bid for UK-listed Kalahari Minerals , which holds 43 percent of Extract Resources , owner of Namibia's Husab project, potentially the world's second-biggest uranium mine.

The Chinese firm, which withdrew its $1.2 billion bid after regulators refused to let it cut its offer in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear disaster, is considering whether to come back with a fresh offer. [ID:nSGE74A012]

For a graphic of uranium production by country, please click on r.reuters.com/xun48r (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Ken Wills)

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Cost aparat dentar

BEIJING | Wed May 25, 2011 2:09am EDT

BEIJING May 25 (Reuters) - China wants to help build nuclear power generation in East Africa, uranium mining and investment company IBI Corp said in a statement after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing, revealing China's undimmed appetite for overseas nuclear expansion despite the Japanese nuclear crisis this year.

IBI, which has uranium-prospective land in Uganda, said its director, A.J. Coffman, held an "encouraging meeting... with the relatively new umbrella organization overseeing China's research and development of Generation 3 and Generation 4 nuclear power plant designs."

"At the meeting, this entity expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear power plant construction in East Africa."

China is in the early stages of a massive nuclear power expansion to help meet the demands of its power-guzzling economy and to weaken the grip of coal as the dominant source of fuel.

Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11 and the ensuing nuclear crisis have threatened to put cracks in China's own plans, with the government ordering a halt to further nuclear approvals until it had inspected the existing reactors and construction sites.

China's ambitious domestic nuclear expansion is widely expected to march ahead, although talk of the sector growing to 80-90 gigawatts by 2020 may give way to a target of 70-75 GW. Still, that is a giant leap from China's existing nuclear capacity, which amounted to 10.8 GW, at the end of 2010.

Some of China's new plants will use "third generation" reactors, using technology from France's Areva (CEPFi.PA) and U.S.-based Westinghouse, part of Toshiba Corp . But later their technology will be transferred to China, enabling it to build third generation plants in its own right.

Currently there are no nuclear plants in East Africa, and only one country on the continent, South Africa, has nuclear power.

China already has some early-stage interests in uranium in Africa. The overseas arm of China National Nuclear Corp has a 37.2 percent stake in a uranium mine in Niger that began producing on Dec. 30, 2010, as well as exploration projects in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Another state-owned company, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp , earlier this month withdrew a bid for UK-listed Kalahari Minerals , which holds 43 percent of Extract Resources , owner of Namibia's Husab project, potentially the world's second-biggest uranium mine.

The Chinese firm, which withdrew its $1.2 billion bid after regulators refused to let it cut its offer in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear disaster, is considering whether to come back with a fresh offer. [ID:nSGE74A012]

For a graphic of uranium production by country, please click on r.reuters.com/xun48r (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Ken Wills)

Cost aparat dentar

Q+A-What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?

birou notarial

TOKYO | Wed May 25, 2011 2:22am EDT

TOKYO May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese engineers are trying to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, which was crippled by the huge March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Radiation continues to seep into the sea and the air, although at far lower levels than at the peak of the crisis in mid-March.

Four of the six reactors at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), are considered volatile.

Following are some questions and answers about efforts to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Cooling systems were knocked out in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and Tepco officially acknowledged this week that nuclear fuel rods at the plant's No. 1, No. 2 and No.3 reactors melted.

Tepco is trying to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown, where the water cooling them is below 100 degrees Celsius.

Efforts to cool the reactors by pouring water into them have brought down temperatures and the rods are no longer melting but the No. 1 reactor continues to leak radiated water and the No.2 and No.3 reactors are also believed to be leaking.

To achieve a cold shutdown, Tepco initially planned to use "water entombment", in which the containment vessels -- an outer shell of steel and concrete that houses the reactor vessel -- would be filled with water.

But this option is likely to be ruled out for the No. 1 reactor and possibly for the other two, after new data and inspections showed that the No. 1 reactor vessel had been punctured when the rods melted, allowing water being pumped as a coolant to pool in the basement of the reactor.

Tepco is readying a fallback plan that will involve decontaminating the water already accumulated and then pumping it back to cool the reactors.

Officials are also concerned about the slow pace of cooling at the No. 3 reactor, and the No. 4 reactor was so badly damaged by a hydrogen explosion that workers will have to try to shore it up with steel beams and concrete to prevent a collapse.

In an effort to limit the spread of radioactive dust, the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors will be covered with giant tent-like polyester covers supported by steel beams.

WHAT IS HAMPERING TEPCO?

Water is a huge headache for the operator. It has pumped in tens of thousands of tonnes of it to cool the reactors and much of it has ended up as contaminated runoff, accumulating as huge pools at the reactor buildings.

Preventing the massive pools of runoff from seeping out into the environment remains a challenge and Tepco is running out of space to store the radioactive water.

It is building tanks and towing in a massive barge to secure extra storage and is looking to build plants to treat some of the water. The operator caused an international outcry in April when it was forced to dump thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific.

Weather conditions, such as the approaching rainy season and typhoons and lightning during the summer, could also pose problems.

HOW LONG WILL THE CRISIS LAST?

In April, Tepco announced a timetable for its operations. Within the first three months it plans to cool the reactors and the spent fuel stored in some of them to a stable level and reduce the leakage of radiation.

The company then hopes to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown in another three to six months. That would take the initial phase of work to stabilise the plant to January.

But with the extent of the damage to the reactors gradually being revealed, with some of it worse than thought, some experts said the process could take longer.

According to a report released by Tepco on Tuesday, the utility suspects damage to the container vessels encasing the pressure vessels. Tepco also reckons that the quake could have damaged an emergency cooling system at the No. 3 reactor.

Even after the plant is under control, recovery work at the site is expected to continue for years.

For reference, officials have cited the work to clean up Three Mile Island after that U.S. reactor suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

The Three Mile Island cleanup involved over 1,000 workers and took 13 years. It took nearly six years before the fuel from the reactor could be safely removed. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Yoko Nishikawa and Mayumi Negishi)

Birou Notarial Bucuresti

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TOKYO | Wed May 25, 2011 2:22am EDT

TOKYO May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese engineers are trying to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, which was crippled by the huge March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Radiation continues to seep into the sea and the air, although at far lower levels than at the peak of the crisis in mid-March.

Four of the six reactors at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), are considered volatile.

Following are some questions and answers about efforts to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Cooling systems were knocked out in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and Tepco officially acknowledged this week that nuclear fuel rods at the plant's No. 1, No. 2 and No.3 reactors melted.

Tepco is trying to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown, where the water cooling them is below 100 degrees Celsius.

Efforts to cool the reactors by pouring water into them have brought down temperatures and the rods are no longer melting but the No. 1 reactor continues to leak radiated water and the No.2 and No.3 reactors are also believed to be leaking.

To achieve a cold shutdown, Tepco initially planned to use "water entombment", in which the containment vessels -- an outer shell of steel and concrete that houses the reactor vessel -- would be filled with water.

But this option is likely to be ruled out for the No. 1 reactor and possibly for the other two, after new data and inspections showed that the No. 1 reactor vessel had been punctured when the rods melted, allowing water being pumped as a coolant to pool in the basement of the reactor.

Tepco is readying a fallback plan that will involve decontaminating the water already accumulated and then pumping it back to cool the reactors.

Officials are also concerned about the slow pace of cooling at the No. 3 reactor, and the No. 4 reactor was so badly damaged by a hydrogen explosion that workers will have to try to shore it up with steel beams and concrete to prevent a collapse.

In an effort to limit the spread of radioactive dust, the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors will be covered with giant tent-like polyester covers supported by steel beams.

WHAT IS HAMPERING TEPCO?

Water is a huge headache for the operator. It has pumped in tens of thousands of tonnes of it to cool the reactors and much of it has ended up as contaminated runoff, accumulating as huge pools at the reactor buildings.

Preventing the massive pools of runoff from seeping out into the environment remains a challenge and Tepco is running out of space to store the radioactive water.

It is building tanks and towing in a massive barge to secure extra storage and is looking to build plants to treat some of the water. The operator caused an international outcry in April when it was forced to dump thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific.

Weather conditions, such as the approaching rainy season and typhoons and lightning during the summer, could also pose problems.

HOW LONG WILL THE CRISIS LAST?

In April, Tepco announced a timetable for its operations. Within the first three months it plans to cool the reactors and the spent fuel stored in some of them to a stable level and reduce the leakage of radiation.

The company then hopes to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown in another three to six months. That would take the initial phase of work to stabilise the plant to January.

But with the extent of the damage to the reactors gradually being revealed, with some of it worse than thought, some experts said the process could take longer.

According to a report released by Tepco on Tuesday, the utility suspects damage to the container vessels encasing the pressure vessels. Tepco also reckons that the quake could have damaged an emergency cooling system at the No. 3 reactor.

Even after the plant is under control, recovery work at the site is expected to continue for years.

For reference, officials have cited the work to clean up Three Mile Island after that U.S. reactor suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

The Three Mile Island cleanup involved over 1,000 workers and took 13 years. It took nearly six years before the fuel from the reactor could be safely removed. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Yoko Nishikawa and Mayumi Negishi)

Baloane

Cost aparat dentar

TOKYO | Wed May 25, 2011 2:22am EDT

TOKYO May 25 (Reuters) - Japanese engineers are trying to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, which was crippled by the huge March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Radiation continues to seep into the sea and the air, although at far lower levels than at the peak of the crisis in mid-March.

Four of the six reactors at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), are considered volatile.

Following are some questions and answers about efforts to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Cooling systems were knocked out in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and Tepco officially acknowledged this week that nuclear fuel rods at the plant's No. 1, No. 2 and No.3 reactors melted.

Tepco is trying to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown, where the water cooling them is below 100 degrees Celsius.

Efforts to cool the reactors by pouring water into them have brought down temperatures and the rods are no longer melting but the No. 1 reactor continues to leak radiated water and the No.2 and No.3 reactors are also believed to be leaking.

To achieve a cold shutdown, Tepco initially planned to use "water entombment", in which the containment vessels -- an outer shell of steel and concrete that houses the reactor vessel -- would be filled with water.

But this option is likely to be ruled out for the No. 1 reactor and possibly for the other two, after new data and inspections showed that the No. 1 reactor vessel had been punctured when the rods melted, allowing water being pumped as a coolant to pool in the basement of the reactor.

Tepco is readying a fallback plan that will involve decontaminating the water already accumulated and then pumping it back to cool the reactors.

Officials are also concerned about the slow pace of cooling at the No. 3 reactor, and the No. 4 reactor was so badly damaged by a hydrogen explosion that workers will have to try to shore it up with steel beams and concrete to prevent a collapse.

In an effort to limit the spread of radioactive dust, the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors will be covered with giant tent-like polyester covers supported by steel beams.

WHAT IS HAMPERING TEPCO?

Water is a huge headache for the operator. It has pumped in tens of thousands of tonnes of it to cool the reactors and much of it has ended up as contaminated runoff, accumulating as huge pools at the reactor buildings.

Preventing the massive pools of runoff from seeping out into the environment remains a challenge and Tepco is running out of space to store the radioactive water.

It is building tanks and towing in a massive barge to secure extra storage and is looking to build plants to treat some of the water. The operator caused an international outcry in April when it was forced to dump thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific.

Weather conditions, such as the approaching rainy season and typhoons and lightning during the summer, could also pose problems.

HOW LONG WILL THE CRISIS LAST?

In April, Tepco announced a timetable for its operations. Within the first three months it plans to cool the reactors and the spent fuel stored in some of them to a stable level and reduce the leakage of radiation.

The company then hopes to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown in another three to six months. That would take the initial phase of work to stabilise the plant to January.

But with the extent of the damage to the reactors gradually being revealed, with some of it worse than thought, some experts said the process could take longer.

According to a report released by Tepco on Tuesday, the utility suspects damage to the container vessels encasing the pressure vessels. Tepco also reckons that the quake could have damaged an emergency cooling system at the No. 3 reactor.

Even after the plant is under control, recovery work at the site is expected to continue for years.

For reference, officials have cited the work to clean up Three Mile Island after that U.S. reactor suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

The Three Mile Island cleanup involved over 1,000 workers and took 13 years. It took nearly six years before the fuel from the reactor could be safely removed. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro, Yoko Nishikawa and Mayumi Negishi)

Cost aparat dentar

WRAPUP 2-Japan nuclear evacuation ring will be no-go zone, PM visits

birou notarial

* Penalty charge for entering no-go zone

* PM Kan harangued by homeless quake survivors

* Engineers struggle to control Fukushima plant (Adds comment by PM Kan, evacuees, Australian PM)

By Yoko Kubota and Kazunori Takada

TOKYO, April 21 (Reuters) - Japan said on Thursday it would ban people entering the 20-km (12-mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo, weeks after the tsunami-wrecked facility began leaking radiation.

Tens of thousands of people left the zone after the March 11 quake smashed the power station, operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), but some have since returned to their homes to collect belongings as the utility struggles to contain the world's most serious nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference that as of midnight on Thursday, people will only be allowed into the zone under government supervision.

"The setting of the no-entry zone and (last month's) evacuation instruction are aimed at securing the safety of the people," Edano said.

"We will take strict legal measures against those trying to enter the area," he said. "For residents, all I can say is I ask for their understanding so that no legal action will be taken against them."

Those breaking the ban can be fined up to 100,000 yen ($1,200) or face temporary detention by police.

TEPCO has said it may take the rest of the year or longer to bring the plant under control.

More than 130,000 people are still living in school gymnasiums and other shelters more than a month after the March 11 quake and tsunami that left some 28,000 dead or missing.

"HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL?"

Prime Minister Naoto Kan taste d their ire when he visited a Fukushima evacuation centre on Thursday.

"Are you leaving? shouted a man as Kan and his entourage headed for the door. "We are evacuees. Are you just going to ignore us?"

Kan turned back, apologised and was berated.

"You should bring cabinet ministers here and let them try living here themselves. How do you think we feel? We want you to somehow get the nuclear plant under control," one woman said.

A subdued Kan replied: "The government as a whole is doing our best to implement the timetable without delay or speed it up." He then tried to depart but was again called back.

"We want you to exercise much more leadership and quickly bring (the crisis) to a conclusion," said another evacuee.

Kan, already unpopular before the disasters hit, has come under fire from inside his own party as well as the opposition for his handling of the crisis as it drags on.

TEPCO wants a "cold shutdown" of the plant, 240 km (150 miles) from the capital, within six to nine months, a timeline experts say will be tough to meet.

This week it began pumping highly contaminated water from one of the reactors, a key step towards repairing the cooling system that regulates the temperature of radioactive fuel rods.

But water levels were unchanged, the latest in a litany of problems engineers have faced since the crisis began, which has included pumping radioactive water into the sea, to the concern of Japan's neighbours.

French nuclear plant maker Areva (CEPFi.PA) will supply a water treatment plant that uses a process called "co-precipitation" -- which isolates and removes radioactive elements from water -- to speed up decontamination. TEPCO hopes to begin the water treatment before the end of May.

TEPCO insists that while fuel rods at three of its six reactors were damaged when they partially melted after the quake, they are not in "meltdown".

Later on Thursday, Kan will meet Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is visiting Japan.

Gillard expressed confidence that Japan could rebuild and promised A ustralia w ould stay a reliable energy source for Tokyo , which must compete with an insatiable China.

"Japan can rely on Australia at a time when you have never needed these resources more," Gillard told Japanese business leaders, adding Australia would become Japan's most important supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next few years.

Japan is keen to secure Australian energy resources, especially LNG to compensate for reduced power since the disaster. Besides the damage at Fukushima Daiichi, several other nuclear power plants were shut down after the quake.

Resultant power shortages have exacerbated the disruption to manufacturing supply chains and overall economic activity. ($1 = 82.465 Japanese Yen) (Writing by Daniel Magnowski and Linda Sieg; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Sugita Katyal)

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* Penalty charge for entering no-go zone

* PM Kan harangued by homeless quake survivors

* Engineers struggle to control Fukushima plant (Adds comment by PM Kan, evacuees, Australian PM)

By Yoko Kubota and Kazunori Takada

TOKYO, April 21 (Reuters) - Japan said on Thursday it would ban people entering the 20-km (12-mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo, weeks after the tsunami-wrecked facility began leaking radiation.

Tens of thousands of people left the zone after the March 11 quake smashed the power station, operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), but some have since returned to their homes to collect belongings as the utility struggles to contain the world's most serious nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference that as of midnight on Thursday, people will only be allowed into the zone under government supervision.

"The setting of the no-entry zone and (last month's) evacuation instruction are aimed at securing the safety of the people," Edano said.

"We will take strict legal measures against those trying to enter the area," he said. "For residents, all I can say is I ask for their understanding so that no legal action will be taken against them."

Those breaking the ban can be fined up to 100,000 yen ($1,200) or face temporary detention by police.

TEPCO has said it may take the rest of the year or longer to bring the plant under control.

More than 130,000 people are still living in school gymnasiums and other shelters more than a month after the March 11 quake and tsunami that left some 28,000 dead or missing.

"HOW DO YOU THINK WE FEEL?"

Prime Minister Naoto Kan taste d their ire when he visited a Fukushima evacuation centre on Thursday.

"Are you leaving? shouted a man as Kan and his entourage headed for the door. "We are evacuees. Are you just going to ignore us?"

Kan turned back, apologised and was berated.

"You should bring cabinet ministers here and let them try living here themselves. How do you think we feel? We want you to somehow get the nuclear plant under control," one woman said.

A subdued Kan replied: "The government as a whole is doing our best to implement the timetable without delay or speed it up." He then tried to depart but was again called back.

"We want you to exercise much more leadership and quickly bring (the crisis) to a conclusion," said another evacuee.

Kan, already unpopular before the disasters hit, has come under fire from inside his own party as well as the opposition for his handling of the crisis as it drags on.

TEPCO wants a "cold shutdown" of the plant, 240 km (150 miles) from the capital, within six to nine months, a timeline experts say will be tough to meet.

This week it began pumping highly contaminated water from one of the reactors, a key step towards repairing the cooling system that regulates the temperature of radioactive fuel rods.

But water levels were unchanged, the latest in a litany of problems engineers have faced since the crisis began, which has included pumping radioactive water into the sea, to the concern of Japan's neighbours.

French nuclear plant maker Areva (CEPFi.PA) will supply a water treatment plant that uses a process called "co-precipitation" -- which isolates and removes radioactive elements from water -- to speed up decontamination. TEPCO hopes to begin the water treatment before the end of May.

TEPCO insists that while fuel rods at three of its six reactors were damaged when they partially melted after the quake, they are not in "meltdown".

Later on Thursday, Kan will meet Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is visiting Japan.

Gillard expressed confidence that Japan could rebuild and promised A ustralia w ould stay a reliable energy source for Tokyo , which must compete with an insatiable China.

"Japan can rely on Australia at a time when you have never needed these resources more," Gillard told Japanese business leaders, adding Australia would become Japan's most important supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next few years.

Japan is keen to secure Australian energy resources, especially LNG to compensate for reduced power since the disaster. Besides the damage at Fukushima Daiichi, several other nuclear power plants were shut down after the quake.

Resultant power shortages have exacerbated the disruption to manufacturing supply chains and overall economic activity. ($1 = 82.465 Japanese Yen) (Writing by Daniel Magnowski and Linda Sieg; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Sugita Katyal)

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