VanEck Vectors Uranium Plus Nuclear Energy ETF (NLR)

[3xBuBu]

Japan Nuclear Plant Data Reliability Is A Concern
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201105121025dowjonesdjonline000393&title=us-officialjapan-nuclear-plant-data-reliability-is-a-concern

A top official with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concern Thursday with the reliability of instrumentation readings and with potential structural problems at a stricken Japanese nuclear plant.

"The reliability of instrumentation complicates our understanding of the exact plant conditions at any given time," Bill Borchardt, the commission's executive director of operations, said Thursday.

Borchardt also said Japanese authorities faced the challenge of "structural concerns that have recently been identified, at least potential structural issues," related to spent fuel pools at Units 3 and 4 at the plant.

Japanese authorities have been trying to control the release of radiation from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (9501.T0) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to critical safety systems at the facility.

Borchardt said that, "while plant conditions are not exactly stable, you might say that they are static."

Conditions are changing, but "they are not changing at such a rapid pace that it is causing any undue concern," Borchardt said.

"The Japanese are making progress on these issues," Borchardt said. "They have a well-organized plan and are moving ahead deliberately."