J-gov to spend $473 million to contain Fukushima leaks

via RT.com / September 3, 2013 Japan is to spend $473 million to contain leaks of radioactive water from the disaster-struck Fukushima nuclear plant, as the government struggles to tackle the nuclear crisis. The government is to spend “tens of billions” of yen to deal with the water crisis after the beleaguered operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), stated it discovered another radiation center, Trade and Economy … Continue reading

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Fukushima water release unavoidable: Japan nuke watchdog

via Press TV / Sep 2, 2013 / Japan’s nuclear watchdog says contaminated water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant will have to be released into the ocean eventually. Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) Chairman Shunichi Tanaka made the statement during a governmental session held in response to growing concerns about the plant operator’s ability to deal with a worsening water crisis. He also said the water would be discharged once … Continue reading

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The Consequences of Inaction at #Fukushima Daiichi

via JapanFocus.org /  Sep 1, 2013 / by Andrew DeWit and Christopher Hobson / Japan’s searing summer of 2013 saw the lid slide further off Fukushima Daiichi and its Pandora’s box of radioactive and political crises. The company in charge, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), already Japan’s most distrusted firm,2 was irredeemably exposed as dangerously incompetent. A slew of reports concerning leaks of high-level radiation led to increasingly concerned appeals, … Continue reading

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New radioactive hotspots suggest more leaks at #Fukushima

via RT.com / Sep. 1, 2013 / Several new hotspots reading potentially lethal doses of radiation have been detected near the tanks storing the radioactive water, forcing the operator to admit there might be even more leaks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The high radiation readings were detected during the daily inspection on Saturday near three water tanks and one pipe stretched between the tanks and the plant, … Continue reading

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Japan Regulator urges monitoring of crippled #Fukushima plant

via Press TV / Aug 29, 2013 / Japan’s nuclear regulator says the impact of the radiation-contaminated water leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is not known and it needs to be monitored more closely. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said on Thursday that Fukushima plant leaks cannot be stopped instantly, warning that the level of monitoring is not enough. “We cannot fully stop contaminated water leaks … Continue reading

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TEPCO sidelined by Japanese government as #Fukushima leaks continue

via SMH.com.au / Aug 27, 2013 / The Japanese government has lost patience with the efforts of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to get the crippled reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant under control. Toshimitsu Motegi, the minister of trade and industry, visited the plant on Monday to determine progress on decommissioning three reactors damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in March, 2011. Tepco admitted last week that hundreds … Continue reading

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Fishing ban reinstated off #Fukushima coast

via International Business Times / Aug. 23, 2013 / A ban on fishing along the coast of Fukushima prefecture was greeted with frustration and anger by locals on Friday (August 22), in the aftermath of the latest contaminated water leak from the crippled nuclear reactor. In the port of Onahama, just 61 kilometers (37 miles) south of Fukushima Daiichi, fishermen who were forced to stop fishing were furious at the … Continue reading

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TEPCO: Deteriorated seams, contortion cause tank leak

via CNTV.cn / Aug. 25, 2013 / The operator of Japan’s wrecked nuclear plant has attributed this week’s massive leak of contaminated water to deteriorated seams and a possible contortion of a storage tank. Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco rushed to reassemble the tanks after the triple meltdown in March 2011. The quick fix was designed to last till 2016 until it worked out a more permanent solution, but has … Continue reading

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#TEPCO pleads for international help as crisis deepens

via Russia Today / Aug. 22, 2013 / TEPCO, operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, admits it needs overseas help to contain the radioactive fallout, after 18 months of trying to control it internally. It comes after the latest leak at the facility was deemed a “serious incident.” “Many other countries outside of Japan have experienced decommissioning reactors, so we hope we can consult them more and utilize their … Continue reading

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West Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by #Fukushima Radiation

via  Washington’s blog / Aug. 20, 2013 / Radiation levels will concentrate in pockets in Baja California and other West Coast locations. While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation. The University of Hawaii’s International Pacific Research Center … Continue reading

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18 Fukushima children diagnosed with thyroid cancer / 44 malignant cases reported

via Fukushima-Diary.com / Aug. 20, 2013 / On 8/20/2013, the investigative committee of Fukushima prefecture announced 18 Fukushima children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer (papillary cancer) by 7/31/2013. It was 12 on 5/27/2013. 6 more children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2 months. They all had surgery already. Also, 26 children are diagnosed with potential malignant thyroid problems. It was 16 on 5/27/2013. 10 more children were diagnosed with … Continue reading

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‘Serious radiation incident’: Japan to radically raise the severity level of Fukushima leak

via RT.com / Aug. 21, 2013 / Japan will drastically raise the gravity of the latest Fukushima leak to Level Three, which is considered a “serious radiation incident” on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) for radiological releases. “Judging from the amount and the density of the radiation in the contaminated water that leaked…a Level Three assessment is appropriate,” read the document used during Wednesday’s weekly meeting of Nuclear Regulation … Continue reading

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Tritium levels in #Fukushima bay highest since measurements began – reports

via RT.com / Aug. 19, 2013 / Readings of tritium in seawater taken from the bay near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has shown 4700 becquerels per liter, a TEPCO report stated, according to Nikkei newspaper. It marks the highest tritium level in the measurement history. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has detected the highest radiation level in seawater collected in the harbor of the crippled nuclear plant in the … Continue reading

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Fukushima residents to sue state for lack of aid

via NHK World / Aug. 20, 2013 / Residents of Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled nuclear power plant, will sue the central government for negligence in providing assistance one year after the enactment of a relevant law. The law enacted in June last year mandates medical, housing and other support to current and former residents of areas where radioactive levels are higher than usual but were not designated as … Continue reading

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Japan looks to Nagasaki atom bomb maker for lessons on #Fukushima cleanup

via RT.com / Aug. 17, 2013 / TEPCO has sought the expertise of the same US company that produced plutonium for the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki in World War II. Hanford Engineer Works produced the 20 pounds of plutonium used for the atomic bomb “Fat Man” which was unleashed on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The company has had decades of experience treating millions of … Continue reading

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Toxic puddles found near water tanks at #Fukushima

via Japan Times / Aug. 20, 2013 / Puddles of water with extremely high radiation levels have been found near water storage tanks on the premises of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, nuclear regulators and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday. The radiation level, measured around 50 cm above the toxic water, stood at about 100 millisieverts per hour, Tepco said, while acknowledging that the … Continue reading

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Can an Ice Wall Stop Radioactive Water Leaks from #Fukushima?

via National Geographic / Aug. 19, 2013 / As contaminated groundwater continues to flow from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant into the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government has come up with a last-ditch solution that sounds like something out of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones: An underground wall of ice that would stop the radioactive leakage. Multiple efforts by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company to halt the … Continue reading

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TEPCO reveals new radioactive water leaks

via NHK World / Aug. 19, 2013 / Officials with Tokyo Electric Power Company say they will study storage tanks to find out why radioactive water is leaking at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The officials said on Monday about 120 liters of highly-radioactive water had leaked from a tank near the number 4 reactor. They detected 100 millisieverts per hour of radiation on the surface of puddles … Continue reading

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Water, Water Everywhere: Incentives and Options at #Fukushima Daiichi and Beyond

by Andrew DeWit / JapanFocus.org / August 16, 2013 / Japan’s ruined and radioactive reactor plant at Fukushima Daiichi has been an abiding source of concern among knowledgeable observers. There are a host of good reasons for this reemergence. As this Mainichi survey observes, it is now clear that several hundred tons of radiation-contaminated water is entering the ocean per day. Over the past week, it suddenly returned as an … Continue reading

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Insight: After disaster, the deadliest part of Japan’s nuclear clean-up

via Reuters.com / August 14, 2013 / The operator of Japan‘s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is preparing to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel from a damaged reactor building, a dangerous operation that has never been attempted before on this scale. Containing radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the amount released in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima 68 years ago, more than 1,300 used fuel rod assemblies packed … Continue reading

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Workers At #Fukushima ‘Sprayed’ With Radioactive Water

via eurasiareview.com / August 12, 2013 / Ten workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant were exposed to radiation from contaminated mist, TEPCO says. Workers in the building were prohibited from using tap water, which comes from the same tainted source 10 km from the facility. Exposure levels detected by radiation monitors worn by workers were found to be as much as 10 becquerels per square centimeter – 2.5 … Continue reading

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The Post-Fukushima Nuclear Industry: A Case Study in Institutional Self-Deception

by Dennis Riches / nf2045.blogspost.com / July 30, 2013 “If I had been downright honest with myself, I would have seen very plainly in my heart that I did but half fancy being committed this way to so long a voyage, without once laying my eyes on the man who was to be the absolute dictator of it, so soon as the ship sailed out upon the open sea. But … Continue reading

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#TEPCO’s Fantasy World

via FukuLeaks.org / August 13, 2013 / TEPCO released this unrealistic statement to the press today. The report was for their creditors. In this report TEPCO claims they plan to restart Kashiwazaki Kariwa by January and return to profitability in fiscal 2013. There are just a few things standing in their way. This does not take into account the massive amounts of money that need to be paid to the … Continue reading

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#Fukushima zone fully redesignated

via world-nuclear-news.org / August 8th, 2013 / Preparations can begin for residents to return to the town of Kawamata near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The town was the final evacuated municipality to be redesignated. Separate from the evacuation area defined by a 20 kilometre radius from Fukushima Daiichi, the area near Kawamata was evacuated once it was known that radioactive particles had been carried by the wind … Continue reading

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Unit 2 Pedestal Opening Shows Damage; First Image

via fukuleaks.org / August 12, 2013 / The image above is the first glimpse of the right side of the pedestal opening for the CRD drive. This is a location higher up in the pedestal that the reactor vessel sits on top of. TEPCO has been trying to inspect inside the pedestal to better understand the extent of the meltdown and damage inside the reactor containment. Inspections of the torus … Continue reading

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Pump and pray: #Tepco might have to pour water on #Fukushima wreckage forever

via RT.com  /  by Prof. Christopher Busby / August 9, 2013 / Fukushima is a nightmare disaster area, and no one has the slightest idea what to do. The game is to prevent the crippled nuclear plant from turning into an “open-air super reactor spectacular” which would result in a hazardous, melted catastrophe. On April 25, 2011 – one month after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the … Continue reading

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