TSURUGA, Fukui Pref. -- Ten years after a sodium leak and fire shut down the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor, plans are moving forward to have it operational by 2008.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051209f1a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='260'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>The Monju experimental fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has been closed for a decade after it suffered a sodium leak and fire that officials tried to conceal. </B></FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>On Dec. 8, 1995, liquid sodium coolant leaked from a pipe inside the reactor plant, which had begun supplying power in August of that year.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Dramatic video footage that was first covered up and later released by Monju officials showed the leak led to a fire that caused extensive damage. Sodium burns when it comes into contact with air.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Revelations of negligence and the coverup by Monju officials led to a strong public outcry, which forced a partial reorganization of the atomic power industry and prompted Tokyo to pass laws to strengthen quality control and safety steps for nuclear plants.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>At the time, Monju was being operated by the now defunct Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>One of the main problems the accident exposed was a lack of timely communication between Monju officials and Tsuruga, Fukui and central government officials.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Today, a new system has been development whereby officials from all three levels of government along with nuclear power experts and Monju representatives would analyze information about an accident and coordinate a response through a Tsuruga-based center.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Tsuruga city officials have said they are prepared to respond to a major disaster at Monju, which sits on the Sea of Japan coast, about 10 km northwest of the city center.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'About 98 percent of Tsuruga's roughly 70,000 residents have an emergency cable TV channel in their homes that broadcasts information related to nuclear power plants,' said Toshiyuki Mukaiyama, a city spokesman. 'No matter how small the incident, residents can tune to emergency channel 9, which is operated by the city, and learn what happened.' </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The city also has evacuation plans in case of a disaster at the reactor.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Tsuruga households have been given information on 32 refugee centers where they should go if there is an accident. They can get this information both on –

channel 9 and through 26 public address towers set up inside the city limits," said Fumiyoshi Kato, an official in the municipal nuclear power safety section.

The evacuation areas are mostly elementary schools and public halls. However, Kato said they do not contain much in the way of emergency supplies.

But one pressing issue is how to deal with residents who try to flee the area after an accident.

Antinuclear activists have long claimed that large steel gates on several roads leading into Tsuruga would be closed to keep people who might have been exposed to radiation from leaving.