via Japan Times / June 15, 2015 / Education ministry data released earlier this month showed that only 84.9 percent of public elementary and junior high school buildings in Fukushima Prefecture had been quake-proofed as of April 1, 10.7 points below the national average. Of the 2,053 buildings, 310 still need renovation and 67 are likely to collapse if a quake measuring upper 6 or higher on the Japanese seismic … Continue reading →
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via Japan Times / June 10, 2015 / The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are planning to push back the start of removing spent fuel at the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex by two to three years from the current schedule, according to government sources. Under an envisioned revised road map for decommissioning reactors 1 to 4 at the plant, which was ravaged by the March 2011 earthquake … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Zero Hedge / June 9th, 2015 / In a stunning report by The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Director General Yukiya Amano fingers Japanese over-confidence and complacency among the main reasons why the country was unprepared to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011. As Sputnik News reports, Amano exclaimed “there was a widespread belief in Japan that Japanese nuclear power plants are very safe and there would never be … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia world-nuclear-news.org / June 4, 2015 / Japan expects to start the retrieval of fuel debris from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2021, the executive director of the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF) said yesterday. Three of the plant’s six reactors suffered core meltdowns in the March 2011 accident, leaving melted nuclear fuel debris on the floor of their containment vessels. NDF was established in September … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia news.yahoo.com / June 1, 2015 / Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power said on Tuesday it has delayed the restart of its Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan, the first to be brought back into service under new rules introduced after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The delay to mid-August from the previous target of late July follows a warning by Japan’s nuclear regulator in April that the utility’s schedule for a … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Akira Hino / CNIC.jp / June 2, 2015 / 1. Current State of Fukushima Prefecture Four years have passed since the earthquake and nuclear accident, but almost no progress has been made toward Fukushima Prefecture’s recovery. In particular, the recovery of the Futaba area and its vicinity has just gotten underway. The reason for this delay in recovery has been radioactive contamination resulting from the nuclear accident. The radioactive … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Toshikazu Fujiwara / CNIC.jp / June 2, 2015 / The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident released radioactive substances across a wide area of the environment. Currently, not only decontamination operations but also people’s everyday lives generate wastes that include high concentrations of radioactive substances. The Japanese government terms radioactive wastes from 8,000 to 100,000 becquerel per kilogram (Bq/kg) designated wastes. They are today stored temporarily at various locations, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NDTV.com / May 31, 2015 / Seismologists today warned Japan to stay vigilant for the next “Big One” after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of the quake-prone nation, injuring a dozen people. Buildings swayed for around a minute in Tokyo and its vicinity Saturday night as the quake struck at a remote spot in the Pacific Ocean around 874 kilometres (542 miles) south of the capital, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Natural Society / May 28, 2015 / It is being reported that tainted food from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gumma, and Chiba is making its way into local supermarkets in Taiwan due to the irresponsibility of mislabeling. What’s more, these food products were banned in Taiwan since March of 2011. The first question is: Why are food products from the concerned Japanese prefectures surrounding Fukushima mislabelled? The second question is: Why is … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia reuters.com / May 29, 2015 / Japan’s ruling coalition will recommend lifting evacuation orders for most people forced from their homes by the Fukushima nuclear disaster within two years in a bid to speed up reconstruction, a draft proposal shows. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party and its governing partner will also press local governments in the disaster zone to shoulder more of the reconstruction spending now being borne by … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia tcetoday.com / May 29, 2015 / The Sendai nuclear power plant (pictured) has been given final regulatory approval to restart its reactors and moved one step closer to being the first in Japan to come online since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Plant operator Kyushu Electric Power Company first made its application to the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in mid-2013. It has finally gained the regulator’s third and final … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Reuters / May 20, 2015 / Japan’s nuclear regulator signed off on the basic safety of a reactor at a third nuclear plant on Wednesday, as the country inches toward rebooting its atomic industry more than four years after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The decision will be a boost for operator Shikoku Electric Power Co, which relied on its sole Ikata nuclear power station (pictured) in southwestern Japan for … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / May 21, 2015 / The latest report by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has shed more light on the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, revealing a failure in one of the reactors’ pressure relief systems. The new report looks into data discovered by a robot that ventured into the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor-2 building (pictured) in October. It measured radiation levels at various places and studied the conditions of … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Reuters / May 21, 2015 / Japan launched a trade complaint at the World Trade Organization on Thursday to challenge South Korea’s import bans and additional testing requirements for Japanese food after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. South Korea expressed regret at Japan’s action and said its ban on some Japanese seafood (pictured) was necessary and reflected safety concerns. Japan says several measures taken by South Korea violate the … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Hiromi Kumai / Asahi Shimbun / May 23, 2015 / Inspections of containers holding contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant found that at least 10 percent have leaks, which could trigger a hydrogen explosion. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator, reported its findings at a meeting with a study group from the Nuclear Regulation Authority on May 22. It said no radioactive water was … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / May 19, 2015 / Tokyo Electric Power Company has not used any uranium to produce electricity since the March 11th, 2011 nuclear disaster. None of the reactors owned by TEPCO have been restarted and remain offline. The utility has been struggling to stay ahead of the mounting financial problems as it has to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and pay compensation for damages without generating … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Keisuke Sato / The Asahi Shimbun / May 19, 2015 / Nearly 70 percent of evacuees from areas around the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have family members complaining of physical or mental problems, a recent survey showed. Released by the Fukushima prefectural government, the survey covering fiscal 2014 revealed that 66.3 percent of households that fled the disaster area–after the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia bloomberg.com / May 15, 2015 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. should consider discharging water contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi reactor meltdowns into the Pacific Ocean, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. More than four years after the nuclear power-plant disaster in Japan, the United Nations agency renewed pressure for an alternative to holding the tainted water in tanks and offered to help monitor for offshore radiation. “The IAEA team … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / May 15, 2015 / The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began work on Friday morning to dismantle the cover of the No.1 reactor building. The cover was installed after the March 2011 nuclear accident to prevent radioactive dust from dispersing. The reactor experienced a hydrogen explosion at the time of accident. Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to remove the cover in order to clear … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Fairewinds.org / May 7, 2015 / In April of 2015, Fairewinds’ Chief Engineer, Arnie Gundersen and the Fairewinds crew headed to Quebec City for the World Uranium Symposium. Attended by more than 300 delegates from 20 countries that produce uranium for nuclear power and weapons, the symposium brought together experts who are calling on governments throughout the world to end all uranium mining. In this speech about the Fukushima … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia People’s Daily Online / May 9th, 2015 / The United States has recently tightened restriction of food imported from Japan. According to Import Alert 99-33 issued by USFDA, a list of Japanese food will be banned unless they pass physical examination, which includes milk, butter, milk-based infant formula, and other milk products; vegetables and vegetable products; rice and whole grain; fish; meat and poultry; venus clam; sea urchin; yuzu … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / May 12, 2015 / A powerful 6.8 earthquake has struck off the eastern coast of Japan’s Honshu island, USGS and Japan Meteorological Agency report. Shaking has been felt in Tokyo. The quake struck at 6:13am local time at a depth of almost 50 kilometers. While USGS originally reported the quake at 6.9 magnitude, JMA measured it at 6.6.No casualties or damage have yet been reported. No tsunami … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia asiaone.com / May 5th, 2015 / A new small robot will be used to inspect the condition of melted nuclear fuel at the second reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as early as this summer, marking the first full-scale probe since the disaster caused by the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011. The use of the robot, which is now being developed, will mark the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia bloomberg.com / May 4th, 2015 / The International Atomic Energy Agency delayed a report about meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to give Japanese officials another chance to explain radiation leaking into the Pacific Ocean. The IAEA’s report about mid- to long-term plans to decommission the stricken reactors will be published in “mid-May,” agency spokesman Serge Gas said in an e-mailed reply to questions. The report had … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Goddard’s Journal / Spycher et al (2015). Background ionizing radiation and the risk of childhood cancer: a census-based nationwide cohort study, Environ Health Perspect, DOI:10.1289/ehp.1408548. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/u… Supplemental material http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/u… Kendall et al (2013). A record-based case-control study of natural background radiation and the incidence of childhood leukaemia and other cancers in Great Britain during 1980–2006. Leukemia. 27(1): 3–9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic… And as a 130-page report, free online: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads… Two slide … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com /April 24, 2015 / A 40-year-old Japanese man has taken responsibility for launching a drone with radioactive material that landed on the roof of the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He said he took the course of action to protest the government’s nuclear policy The man turned himself in at a police station in Fukui Prefecture – nicknamed Japan’s ‘nuclear corridor’ because it contains 14 reactors lined … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia reuters.com / April 22, 2015 / A drone marked with a radioactive sign was found on the roof of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office on Wednesday and media said it tested positive for a “minuscule” amount of radiation. The radiation was so low it was not harmful to humans, media quoted police as saying. Public broadcaster NHK said the bomb squad was called in to take away the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / April 21, 2015 / All the eight water transfer pumps (pictured) at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power station have been shut down due to a power outage, leading to a leak of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reported a power outage on Tuesday, according to Kyodo news agency. It follows the line of the toxic leaks that … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Gizmodo.com / April 22, 2015 / The dangerous and unenviable task of cleaning up the Fukushima reactor has hit its latest snag: Two snake-like reconnaissance bots had to be abandoned inside the reactor—after one got stuck and another’s camera was damaged by radiation. The Fukushima cleanup relies almost entirely on robots because radiation levels inside the reactor are still too dangerous for humans. TEPCO, the company managing the efforts, … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom FIS.com / April 13, 2015 / An investigation carried out by The Independent newspaper reveals that there is a risk that food manufactured around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site may be entering the United Kingdom, raising the prospect of mildly carcinogenic ingredients entering the food system. According to the report issued by the media source, products contaminated by radiation, which include tea, noodles and chocolate bars, have already been … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia digitaljournal.com / April 15, 2015 / Pro-nuclear proponents suffered a serious setback today after Fukui District Court’s three-judge panel handed down a ruling forbidding the restart of two of the 13 nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture. Fukui Prefecture has a total of 13 commercial nuclear reactors clustered in a line along the region’s short coastline. The prefecture has earned the rather notorious nickname “Genpatsu Ginza,” or Nuclear Alley, not … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia the-japan-news.com / April 11, 2105 / The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are studying three different plans to remove melted nuclear fuel from reactors at the crippled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, it has been learned. The Yomiuri Shimbun obtained a draft outline of an operation road map as well as a strategic plan on technical methods concerning the removal of melted fuel rods in reactors Nos. 1 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 11, 2015 / A remote-controlled robot inserted to survey the inside of the No. 1 reactor at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has stopped functioning, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. As a first step in the utility’s effort to remove melted nuclear fuel from the bottom of the unit’s primary containment vessel, the shape-shifting robot was sent in Friday morning to find … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / April 8, 2015 / Tainted water from Fukushima nuclear plant storage may be evaporated or stored underground instead of following earlier plans to release it into the ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which is responsible for cleaning up the crippled power plant, planned to release the tritium-laced water into the ocean. However, it suffered a setback following protests by local fishermen who are already struggling with … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Goddard’s Journal / Published February 17, 2015 / What will be the impact of Fukushima on the North American coast? This video covers the key science you need to know to reasonably answer that question. Studies cited in order presented… – Behrens et al (2012). Model simulations on the long-term dispersal of 137Cs released into the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima. Environ Res Lett 7:034004. – Folsom & Mohanrao (1962). … Continue reading →
Continue readingIn case you’re interested. A brief explanation of how seawater samples to monitor for Fukushima contamination are processed when they arrive at the University of Victoria. More details about sample analysis can be found at our partner organization’s website Our Radioactive Ocean. The project website is http://fukushimainform.ca. source: Daily Kos
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 5, 2015 / The central government has not been able to identify half of some 2,400 owners of land in Fukushima Prefecture where it plans to build storage facilities for contaminated soil from the nuclear crisis, sources said. The government intends to build the complex on around 16 sq. km of land in the towns of Okuma and Futaba that is designated as uninhabitable due … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia abcnews.com / March 27, 2015 / The cutting-edge technology was billed as a way to decipher where exactly the morass of nuclear fuel might sit at the bottom of reactors in the Japanese power plant that went into multiple meltdowns four years ago. But what went wrong, even in a simple demonstration for reporters Friday for the 500 million yen ($5 million) project, was a sobering reminder of the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / March 31, 2015 / The nuclear operator of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has announced that it plans to disclose all data on radiation levels recorded at the site in response to criticism of lack of transparency following the catastrophe. Tokyo Electric Power Co. TEPCO will start disclosing all data sets “as soon as they become available” for release, President Naomi Hirose (pictured right) told a press … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia CNIC.jp / March 31, 2015 / The Complainants for Criminal Prosecution of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (CCFN) filed a criminal accusation in June 2012 inquiring into the responsibility for the nuclear accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, but the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office dropped the case in September 2013, and the complainants therefore petitioned the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution. In July 2014, the Tokyo Fifth … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Hajime Matsukubo / CNIC.jp / March 31, 2015 / Many of the measuring instruments installed in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) measuring system continue to malfunction as a result of the accident. Although there is no guarantee of the accuracy of values being measured, if the values from the measuring instruments are taken as the premise, from the water temperature in the containment vessels and the spent … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Hiroshi Hoshi / Asahi Shimbun / March 30, 2015 / FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture — A daily calendar pad on a living room wall in a private home in this northeastern community still showed the fateful date: “March 11, 2011.” All of Futaba’s 7,000 or so residents left the town after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, which struck on that date, triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia japantimes.com / March 27, 2015 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. has disclosed that a 35-ton piece of machinery debris might be resting on the inner gate of the spent fuel pool for reactor 3 of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and that the gate is slightly out of position. TEPCO said Thursday that a fuel-handling machine dislodged during the March 2011 quake, tsunami and meltdown-triggered hydrogen explosions is … Continue reading →
Continue readingMarch 24, 2015 / by Mari Yamaguchi / AP / Japanese government auditors say the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has wasted more than a third of the 190 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in taxpayer money allocated for cleaning up the plant after it was destroyed by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A Board of Audit report describes various expensive machines and untested measures that ended in … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Stephanie Chao / chinapost.com More than 283 Japanese food products imported from the radiation-stricken areas near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster were found to be relabeled as having come from other areas of Japan and sold to local customers, authorities said yesterday. Officials from New Taipei City’s Department of Health, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and other law-enforcement authorities, seized the mislabeled products, although a substantial … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia phys.org / March 20, 2015 / Researchers in Japan have jointly developed a robot with four arms and four crawlers which can perform multiple tasks simultaneously to help clean up the rubble left after the 2011 quake-tsunami disasters in Minamisoma, Fukushima. On March 13th, a remote controlled four-armed, four-wheeled crawler robot designed to clear rubble and save lives in areas with complex terrain was unveiled at the Kikuchi plant … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Daily Kos / March 19, 2015 / “Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, destroyed 4 years ago in explosions and meltdowns triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, won’t be truly safe until engineers can remove the reactors’ nuclear fuel. But first, they have to find it.“ So begins an in-depth article in the March 6th edition of the Journal Science entitled Muons probe Fukushima’s ruins. In February of this … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / March 22, 2015 / Japan plans to build a 400-kilometer chain of sea walls to fend off any future natural disasters. Some parts of the $6.8 billion project will reach a height of five stories, but critics say it could damage marine life and won’t guarantee residents safety. Some 440 sea walls will be built in the north east of the country. The project is aimed at … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Julie Makinen / via latimes.com / March 11, 2015 / Neon pink and yellow banners flutter along the roadsides, their gentle flapping breaking an eerie stillness. The houses here are shut tight, the streets are nearly deserted, the fields that once sprouted rice, tomatoes and cucumbers are fallow. Shigeo Karimata dons a hard hat and a mask and prepares to get out of his car. “Some people say, ‘Oh, … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom japan-focus.org / December 26, 2011 / By Nishioka Nobuyuki I: Fukushima and Okinawa At midnight on April 22, 2011, the Japanese government designated the zone within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima nuclear power plant a controlled area under the Basic Law for Disaster Countermeasures. As a result, all entry into the zone was prohibited without special government permission. Some 78,000 people were separated from their homes, without knowing … Continue reading →
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