Japan moves closer to restarting nuclear reactors

TOKYO — Japan moved a step closer to restarting nuclear reactors Monday as four utility companies applied for safety inspections of 10 idled plants, the clearest sign of a return to atomic energy nearly two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster.

With all but two of the country's 50 reactors offline since a tsunami swept through the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March 2011, Japan has been almost without nuclear energy that once supplied about a third of its power.

Four Japanese nuclear plant operators — supplying the regions of Hokkaido, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu — Monday filed applications for inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for 10 reactors at five plants under new safety requirements that have just come into effect. Applications for two more reactors are expected later in the week.

Only reactors that pass the stricter rules will be allowed to restart, possibly early next year. Inspections would take about six months for each reactor, the watchdog said, as its staff can handle just a few reactors at a time. Obtaining consent from local governments and communities would require at least several weeks

Watchdog officials refused to say which reactor they will inspect first. Critics say the rules have loopholes, including grace periods for some safety equipment

Hit by soaring gas and oil costs to run conventional power plants to make up the energy shortfall, Japanese utility companies have lobbied hard to get their reactors back online.

Nearly all the utilities that own nuclear power plants reported huge losses last fiscal year due to higher costs for fuel imports. Hokkaido Electric Power Co. said it has been hit with additional daily fuel costs of 600 million yen ($6 million) to make up for three idled reactors. Nuclear operators have requested rate hikes or plan to do so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for restarts since taking office in December, freezing the previous government's nuclear phase-out plan. Resumption of nuclear power plants is part of his ruling party's campaign platform in parliamentary elections in two weeks.

New rules for the first time require plants to guard against radiation leaks in the case of severe accidents, install emergency command centers and enact anti-terrorist measures. Operators are required to upgrade protection for tsunamis and earthquakes, as well as tornadoes and aviation accidents.

Safety was previously left up to the operators, relying on their self-interest in protecting their investments as an incentive for implementing adequate measures. Tokyo Electric Power Co. came under fire for underestimating the risk of a tsunami and building a seawall that was less than half the height of the wave that hit its Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and caused multiple meltdowns and massive radiation leaks. About 160,000 evacuees still cannot return home.

Ikuo Morinaka, senior official at Kansai Electric Power Co., which is applying to restart four reactors in Fukui prefecture that supply power to large parts of western Japan, said the company has taken emergency measures and additional steps since the Fukushima disaster.

"We are ready," Morinaka said after handing a thick file of documents to a watchdog official at a media-packed ceremonial event.

Dozens of activists opposing nuclear power staged rallies outside a building that houses the watchdog's office, holding banners and chanting anti-nuclear slogans.

Critics say the new safety requirements have loopholes that make things easier for operators, including a five-year grace period for some of the mandated steps given to reactors known as PWRs. They come with larger containment chambers considered less likely to suffer from pressure buildup than ones like those ravaged at Fukushima. This means half of the 48 reactors that use a pressurized water system could operate without the features for up to five years.

All 10 reactors set for inspections are PWRs, and none of them have completed filtered vents and full-fledged emergency command centers yet, according to the summary of their application documents released Monday.

The approvals are aimed at resuming reactor operations even though nearby communities lag in enacting needed emergency and evacuation procedures, and the restarts will cause more nuclear waste, plutonium stockpiles and other safety and environmental risks, said a group of experts headed by Hosei University sociologist Harutoshi Funabashi.

The critics say running nuclear plants will eventually become a financial burden, as safety upgrades under the new requirements add up and the cost of decommissioning aging reactors and waste cleanup. Even initial safety upgrades are estimated to exceed a combined total of 1 trillion yen ($10 billion).

The operators said it's a necessary investment.

"Despite the spending, we need to get nuclear plants running in order to provide stable power supply," said Toru Yoshisako, vice president of Kyushu Electric Power Co., which operates six reactors in southern Japan.

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Oil extends gains above $103 after US hiring jump

BANGKOK — The price of oil extended gains above $103 a barrel Monday after a stronger-than-expected jump in U.S. hiring suggested demand for fuels will increase.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 18 cents at $103.40 at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract on Friday jumped $1.98 to close at $103.22 in New York after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a robust 195,000 jobs in June and many more in April and May than previously thought. The job growth suggests a stronger economy.

Oil has also been pushed higher by instability in Egypt where Mohammed Morsi was ousted as president by the military last week.

Egypt is not an oil producer, but its control of the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, gives it a crucial role in maintaining global energy supplies.

Brent crude was up 28 cents at $108 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline was up 0.2 cent at $2.899 per gallon.

— Natural gas added 2.1 cents to $3.638 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Heating oil gained 0.2 cent to $2.992 per gallon.

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Farmers worry about fate of immigration bills

ATWOOD, Mich. — For northern Michigan fruit grower Pat McGuire, the most potent symbol of the immigration debate isn't grainy television footage showing people slipping furtively across the U.S.-Mexican border. Instead, it's plump red cherries and crisp apples rotting on the ground because there aren't enough workers to pick them — a scenario that could become reality over the next couple of months.

Across the state's orchard belt, cherry trees already sag under the weight of bright-red clusters, yet many trailers and wood-frame cottages that should be bustling with migrant families stand empty. McGuire is waiting to hear whether crews will show up to pick his crop in mid-July.

"We're running out of time," he said, pulling aside leafy branches to inspect his ripening fruit on gently sloping hillsides a mile inland from Lake Michigan.

From Christmas tree growers in the Appalachians to Wisconsin dairy farmers and producers of California's diverse abundance of fruits and vegetables, agricultural leaders are pleading with Congress for an immigration bill that includes more lenient and less complex rules for hiring farm workers.

A measure that recently cleared the Democratic-led Senate contained provisions that the farm lobby said were promising. The Republican-controlled House is expected to take up the issue shortly. But with agriculture's once-mighty political influence in decline as its workforce has fallen to 2 percent of the population, it's uncertain how the industry will fare. Farmers' complaints about a shrinking labor pool are being overshadowed by the ideologically charged issues of border security and giving legal status to people in the country illegally.

McGuire, 42, a self-described conservative who usually votes Republican, was among representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation who made their case on Capitol Hill last week. His Michigan group went to the offices of eight lawmakers and to the Senate floor, buttonholing members or their staffers.

"Each office had their party speech," McGuire said, recalling one member's argument about border security. But the border must already be pretty secure, McGuire said, "because we don't have the labor in this country that we used to have."

Michigan farmers hire about 45,000 seasonal workers in the typical year, many of them immigrants. Some of the asparagus crop was left in the field this spring because too few pickers were available.

In neighboring Wisconsin, immigrant workers make up more than 40 percent of the hired labor force at increasingly large dairy operations, according to a 2008 University of Wisconsin study. Kevin Krentz, who milks 500 cows near Berlin, said finding enough help locally is a constant struggle.

"It's not a job that's 9-to-5," Krentz said. "It's a job that's done when the cows are fed, when the cows are milked, when the crops are harvested."

The situation poses a test for the House GOP, said Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers, a trade organization that represents the fresh produce industry in California and Arizona. A Republican who held several positions in the Reagan administration, Nassif said some in the party are so concerned about illegal immigration that they're trying to sabotage any chance for reform.

But if the House doesn't find something it can pass, he said, voters "are going to lose complete faith in the party's ability to legislate. All the national statistics show the American people believe in immigration reform."

The industry insists its chronic labor shortage isn't a matter of low pay, but too few Americans willing to deal with the long hours, hot weather and other hardships of farm labor.

"The truth is, not even farm workers are raising their children to be farm workers," Nassif said.

The Senate bill would enable experienced farm workers to obtain "blue cards" making them eligible for year-round residency. Applicants who entered the U.S. illegally would have to pay a fine, catch up on taxes and pass a background check. Another new program would allow farmers to hire foreign "guest workers" who would be issued three-year visas.

But such policies might be a hard sell with House conservatives who deride the idea as "amnesty."

Rep. Justin Amash, whose western Michigan district includes the city of Grand Rapids and outlying farm country, is typical of Republicans feeling pressure from both sides.

Home-state farmers visited his Washington, D.C., office twice last week. Mark Youngquist, an apple grower from Amash's district, later gave one of his aides an orchard tour. During a town-hall meeting the same day, the second-term Republican described the farm labor shortage as "a problem we should deal with" and called for compromise on immigration.

But Amash's comment that deportation wasn't a realistic way to deal with all 11 million people believed to be in the country illegally drew angry shouts. "They're criminals," one man protested.

Youngquist, 53, another staunch Republican, said he wished his fellow conservatives were more sympathetic toward immigrants who fill jobs that no one else will take. The more intense border enforcement appears to be taking its toll, he said. His migrant labor housing that is usually half-full for the approaching apple harvest is now "at zero," he said. "We're sitting on a beautiful crop of apples. Unless things change, none of it is going to get picked."

___

Associated Press writer David Eggert contributed to this report from Cedar Springs, Mich.

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European markets shrug off earlier retreat in Asia

LONDON — European markets recovered their poise Monday, despite an earlier sell-off in Asia, as investors shrugged off fears of an imminent scaling back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus.

Investors in Europe regained their footing after last week's stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report prompted an end-of-week sell-off. After European markets closed on Friday, U.S. stocks posted solid gains.

Given the prevailing focus on the U.S., the key day this week will likely be Wednesday, when the minutes to the last policy meeting of the Fed are published. The Fed's chairman, Ben Bernanke, is also due to deliver a speech.

"It is possible that the combination of these events will encourage speculation that tapering is almost upon us," said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International. "Alternatively there is the possibility that Bernanke will push back against speculation that the Fed is ready to take a less accommodative position."

Without a clearer gauge, markets around the world have been volatile for weeks. For the past few years, the Fed's stimulus, echoed by other central banks, has been one of the props shoring up a number of financial assets, in particular stocks.

Volatility was a key feature Monday as European markets started the week positively following Wall Street's late turn Friday and amid hopes that Greece will get its next batch of bailout funds. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 1 percent at 6,437 while Germany's DAX rose 2.2 percent to 7,676. The CAC-40 in France was 1.8 percent higher at 3,821.

The mood in Europe was perked up by the news that Greece's international creditors appear to have reached a deal with the cash-strapped country over further economic reforms required for the release of the bailout funds. A meeting later in the day of the finance ministers of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro is expected to confirm the release.

Wall Street was poised for a solid opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.5 percent. Another key focus in markets will be the start of the U.S. second-quarter corporate reporting season after Monday's close. As usual, aluminum company Alcoa Inc.'s will be the first to report.

"The U.S. is going to remain in the spotlight in the coming weeks, as investors try to make sense of companies' second quarter earnings at a time when the Fed is looking to withdraw its support and begin tapering its asset purchases," said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari.

Earlier, most Asian markets fell amid renewed worries over the economic recovery in China.

"Credit data this week will give investors clues to how much the cash squeeze is affecting the world's second biggest economy," said Lee Mumford, a trader at Spreadex.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 1.3 percent at 20,582.19. Mainland Chinese shares sank, with the Shanghai Composite Index down 2.4 percent to 1958.27. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 3.6 percent to 889.53. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.4 percent to 14,109.34. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.9 percent to 1,816.85.

In other financial markets, the mood was fairly benign. Among major currencies, the euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.2856 while the dollar was flat at 101.19 yen.

In commodity markets, the price of oil was down 16 cents at $103.06 a barrel.

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Ex-fans line up in Mass. to dump Hernandez jersey

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Hundreds of one-time fans are trading in their Aaron Hernandez jerseys.

The New England Patriots are letting fans trade in their No. 81 jerseys for a different one on Saturday and Sunday.

The ex-Patriots tight end has been charged with the murder in the death of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Patriots released Hernandez shortly after he was arrested on June 26.

Team spokesman Stacey James says children love wearing Patriots gear but may not understand why their parents don't want them wearing Hernandez's jersey.

The jerseys must have been purchased at the team shop at Gillette Stadium or its online store.

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Moms create laundry-free sheets, linens

Sure, all parents worry when they send their kids off to college for the first time. But by the end of the first semester, Kirsten Lambert and Joan Ripple discovered a very disturbing fact: College kids hate to wash their bed sheets, so they don't ... for weeks, even months.

"We joked about sending them paper sheets you find in doctors' offices," Ripple said.

Instead, the two Hingham mothers founded Beantown Bedding and introduced Bedsox laundry-free linens.

Bedsox, they say, are comfortable to sleep on, hypoallergenic and can be used for weeks, making them ideal for college, camp, vacation homes and home health care.

They're also chemical- and dye-free and made from wood pulp, which makes them biodegradable and compostable.

Prices range from $9.99 for a set of two pillowcases to $25 for a twin sheet set and $27.99 for a queen sheet set.

Their motto: "Just toss, don't wash!"

Before launching their website last summer, Lambert and Ripple tested their products with students at 22 universities, including Stonehill College and Boston University.

Today, Bedsox are at universities in Massachusetts and 11 other states, where they're used for academic and sports camps.

Lambert and Ripple are also exploring other markets, including lodging facilities, the military and prisons.

"Our goal is to provide a convenient product," Ripple said, "but also to give back to society in some way."

So Beantown Bedding donates sheets to Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Sebago, Maine, for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, who would otherwise be asked to bring sheets of their own.

In May, Lambert and Ripple found out their company was among 128 finalists MassChallenge had chosen out of 1,200 applicants to compete in its four-month accelerator and $1.3 million competition.

"I called Joan and said, 'I just want to know if you're ready,' and she said, 'For what?'" Lambert said. "I said, 'To move into One Marina Park Drive (MassChallenge's offices)," and then she screamed. It's like being accepted into Harvard."

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Flying car on a roll

Fifteen months after it created a sensation at the New York International Auto Show, Terrafugia's "flying car" will make its first airshow appearance later this month, as the Woburn company works on a next-generation prototype.

The Transition is scheduled to fly and drive July 31 at the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisc.

"We've had the vehicle on display there since 2006, and every year, people ask us when they can see it fly," said Richard Gersh, vice president of business development. "So we're very excited about the chance to demonstrate before a very large and enthusiastic crowd."

The company did a demonstration at Lawrence Municipal Airport last October for a select group of investors and prospective buyers, Gersh said, but AirVenture will be the Transition's first airshow.

The road-ready light sport aircraft still has a long way to go before it's ready for production, though.

In August 2012, Terrafugia said it had received more than 100 orders for the $279,000 aircraft, and the first delivery was expected this September.

But testing — and a new prototype that could be done by the end of this year — has pushed back that date to early 2015 or 2016, assuming the Transition wins certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

"Based on what we've learned from testing, our engineers have called for some changes," Gersh said. "But the overall look of the vehicle will be very similar."

Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and former airline industry executive, said the delays are indicative of the central problem Terrafugia faces.

"You see the difficulty in trying to be a compromise between a land vehicle and an aircraft," Mann said. "When you compromise, you tend to not do either very well."

But Jake Schultz, a technical analyst for Boeing and author of "A Drive in the Clouds: The Story of the Aerocar," tips his hat to how far the Transition has come.

"I ... look forward to what this team still has in their old kit bag," Schultz wrote in an email. "Their team has not sat on the sidelines and talked about what could be done some day. They are out working every day to actually make it happen. There have only been two flying cars that have been certified — the Aerocar and the Airphibian — so theirs will be the first in nearly 60 years."

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Japan set to restart reactors after nuclear crisis

TOKYO — Japan is moving a step closer to restarting nuclear reactors as utilities are set to ask for safety inspections at their idled reactors, the clearest sign of a return to nuclear energy nearly two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster.

With all but two of its 50 reactors off line since the crisis, Japan has been without nuclear energy that once supplied about a third of its power.

Four of nine Japanese nuclear plant operators — supplying the regions of Hokkaido, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu — will apply for inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for 10 reactors at five plants Monday, when new safety requirements take effect. Applications for two more reactors are expected later in the week.

Reactors that pass the stricter rules will be allowed to reopen possibly early next year, with each inspection expected to take several months. Critics say the rules have loopholes, including grace periods for some safety equipment.

Hit by soaring gas and oil costs to run conventional power plants to make up for the shortfall, Japanese utility companies have desperately sought to put their reactors back online.

Nearly all the utilities owning nuclear power plants reported huge losses last fiscal year due to higher costs for fuel imports. Hokkaido Electric Power Co., for example, said it has been hit with additional daily fuel costs of 600 million yen ($6 million) to make up for three idled reactors. Nuclear operators have requested rate hikes or plan to do so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for restarts since taking office in December, freezing the previous government's nuclear phase-out plan. Resumption of nuclear power plants is part of his ruling party's campaign platform in parliamentary elections in two weeks.

New rules for the first time require plants to guard against radiation leaks in the case of severe accidents, install emergency command centers and enact anti-terrorist measures. Operators are required to upgrade protection for tsunamis and earthquakes, as well as tornadoes and aviation accidents.

Safety was previously left up to the operators, relying on their self-interest in protecting their investments as an incentive for implementing adequate measures. Tokyo Electric Power Co. came under fire for underestimating the risk of a tsunami and building a seawall that was less than half the height of the wave that hit Fukushima Dai-ichi and caused multiple meltdowns and massive radiation leaks. About 160,000 evacuees still cannot return home.

"We decided to apply because we're confident about the safety measures we've taken," said Shota Okada, a spokesman at Hokkaido Electric Power Co., filing for the triple-reactor Tomari plant. "We'll do everything to accommodate a smooth inspection process."

Critics say the requirements have loopholes that make things easier for operators, including a five-year grace period — given to reactors known as PWRs that come with larger containment chambers considered less likely to suffer from pressure buildup than ones like those ravaged at Fukushima — for taking some mandated steps. This means half of the 48 reactors that use a pressurized water system could operate without the features for up to five years.

All 10 reactors set for inspections are PWRs, and filtered vents and command centers are reportedly still under way at many of them.

The approvals are aimed at resuming reactor operations even though nearby communities lag in enacting needed emergency and evacuation procedures, and the restarts will cause more nuclear waste, plutonium stockpiles and other safety and environmental risks, said a group of experts headed by Hosei University sociologist Harutoshi Funabashi.

The critics say running nuclear plants will eventually become a financial burden, as safety upgrades under the new requirements add up and the cost of decommissioning aging reactors and waste cleanup jump. Even initial safety upgrades are estimated to exceed a combined total of 1 trillion yen ($10 billion).

TEPCO, struggling with huge compensation and disaster cleanup costs, wanted to apply to restart two reactors in Niigata, central Japan, but was forced to postpone that amid local protests.

Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida on Friday accused TEPCO President Naomi Hirose of ignoring the local communities: "Money or safety, which is more important?"

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U.S. jobs up, but many gigs are not 40 hours

Employers kept hiring in June, adding a better-than-expected 195,000 jobs, but many of them were part-time or temporary positions, hinting at a hollow economic recovery.

The number of part-timers who said they would prefer full-time work soared 322,000 to 8.2 million — the most in eight months, according to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report. These people were working part time because their hours had been cut or because they were unable to find a full-time job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The growing number of part-time workers may be related to the across-the-board federal budget cuts and the associated cutbacks and furloughs of federal employees, said Michael D. Goodman, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Public Policy at UMass Dartmouth.

And some employers may be reluctant to hire full-time workers because they would have to offer them health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which starts to go into effect next year.

"Obamacare pretty much does discourage full-time work by withholding subsidies from a large majority of full-time workers and by penalizing employers who don't offer health insurance," said Casey B. Mulligan, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.

But while there are incentives built into the Affordable Care Act that will lead some companies to hire part-timers over full-timers, that is not as important as sufficient demand for goods and services, said Robert A. Nakosteen, professor of economics and statistics at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

"We still have a 'demand-deficient' economy — not enough spending in the aggregate, "Nakosteen wrote in an email, "and until this problem comes to an end, companies will not hire in sufficient quantities, and/or will hire part-timers, to bring our labor market to full employment."

Because more people started looking for work, the unemployment rate remained at 7.6 percent last month, according to the Labor Department.

"But the broadest official measure of unemployment, the so-called 'U-6', rose from 13.8 percent to 14.3 percent in June," Goodman said. "This measure includes the unemployed and workers who want to work but have given up looking and those working part-time for economic reasons. Thus, while the recovery continues, it is continuing to leave troublingly high numbers of American workers behind."

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Hyundai does luxury right

The 2013 Azera, which is slotted between Hyundai's Sonata and Genesis, is one of six sedans in the Korean automaker's 10-model lineup. I'm amazed that Hyundai offers that many models, but I shouldn't be surprised, Hyundais are everywhere you look these days. But with all those models, it's difficult to distinguish the Azera from the others.

The Azera's $33,000 base price puts the sedan in direct competition with the Ford Taurus, Nissan Maxima and Buick LaCrosse. Our test model included a technology package that hiked the price up to $37,000, which certainly doesn't make the Azera a bargain, but it remains competitive when you consider that the sedan is loaded with luxury features.

Dual-zone climate controls, heated seats throughout, and touch screen navigation with a back-up camera are all part of the Azera's standard equipment package. Power seat adjustments mounted near the door handles made it easy to see the controls and tweak the driver's seat positions. Interior space was ample with plenty of head and foot room in the backseat.

The Azera's $4,000 technology package included ventilated front seats that cooled the Azera's leather interior after it baked in the June sun. Rear and side window sunshades also helped keep the sedan cool. The shades also gave the Azera's two-tone camel and black interior an upscale feel. A panoramic tilt and slide sunroof opened up the roof for both front and backseat passengers. Xenon headlights and a powerful Infinity stereo rounded out the package. While these features were appreciated, if I were buying an Azera, I think I'd hold on to the extra $4,000.

Our test Azera was painted in a bronze metallic with plenty of chrome trim and was set on 19-inch wheels. A push-button-ignition turned over the sedan's 3.3 liter V6 engine that produced 293 horsepower. The engine and 6-speed transmission combined to return 23 mpg overall. The Azera's acceleration was smooth with a comfortable ride quality and had minimal road noise. While the Azera's front-wheel drive is welcome for winter driving in New England, it did hinder the sedan's handling.

If you're considering a Sonata, the Azera might be worth a look. The extra $10,000 gets you more room and a cabin loaded with luxury touches. Better performance and handling can be found with the rear-wheel-drive Genesis that offers a choice of a V6 or a V8 engine mated to an 8-speed automatic. The Genesis has a base price of $35,000.

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