Japan nuclear plant

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Fukushima Watchdog Doing Crummy Job: Experts

Regulators routinely approve TEPCO plans: investigators

(Newser) - Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority was launched in September to keep a closer watch on the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and TEPCO's work there—but what was supposed to be a more independent, tougher regulator is simply running "the same old routine," says an investigator. The NRA...

Fukushima Plant's Cooling System Fails—Again

Second cooling glitch in a month

(Newser) - Japanese nuclear regulators say the cooling system has failed for a storage pool for fuel at one of the reactors at the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant in the northeast. There was no immediate danger from the failure, the second at the plant in a month. A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulation...

Japan Marks 2 Years Since Quake, Tsunami

300K still displaced as recovery continues

(Newser) - Japan fell silent today to mark the second anniversary of the country's worst natural disaster in living memory, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami that left 19,000 people dead or missing and devastated large areas along its northeast coast. "I pray that the peaceful lives of those affected...

Japan to Fire Back Up Its Nuclear Plants

PM says new standards could come as soon as July

(Newser) - Japan isn't going to let one catastrophic meltdown scare it off of nuclear power forever. The country will restart its idled reactors later this year after implementing new safety guidelines, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament today. Abe didn't say when the first reactor would come online, but...

Fukushima Running Out of Room for Toxic Water

There's 200K tons of contaminated water and counting

(Newser) - If you thought the environmental crisis that is Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was last year's news, think again. The plant is still struggling with thousands of tons of contaminated water, which it used to cool down overheated reactors following the 2011 earthquake, says the water treatment manager at...

Fukushima Fallout: Scads of Mutant Butterflies

Radiation link clear, scientists say, and it's only the beginning

(Newser) - The radiation that poured out of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor last year looks like it's doing a number on Japan's animal populations, researchers warn, after discovering rampant mutations among butterflies. Scientists collected 144 adult pale grass blue butterflies—which would have been overwintering as larvae during the...

Fukushima Was 'Man-Made Disaster'

Japanese government and regulators not off the hook

(Newser) - Maybe Mother Nature wasn't entirely to blame. Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear meltdown was really caused by good old-fashioned human error, rather than quavering earth or massive waves, according to an independent investigation that's upending earlier assumptions about the disaster and blasting regulators, the government response, Tepco, and...

Japan Powering Up Reactor Amid Protests

Electric companies planning to stick with nuclear

(Newser) - After almost two months of doing without nuclear energy for the first time in nearly 40 years, Japan is planning to restart its first reactor this weekend, CNN reports. Nuclear power supplied almost a third of the country's electricity before last year's Fukushima disaster, but all 50 of...

Fukushima Fish Go on Sale

 Fukushima Fish Go on Sale 
Jun 25, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Fukushima Fish Go on Sale

Octopus, marine snails tested negative for radiation

(Newser) - Today you can buy fish caught off Japan's Fukushima coastline for the first time since the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant last year, although you're stuck with octopus or whelk, a type of marine snail. Testing showed no detectable radiation, but radiation fears are still keeping...

Japan Plans on Restarting First Reactors
 Japan to Restart First Reactors 
Jun 16, 2012 5:22 AM CDT

Japan to Restart First Reactors

Summer power crunch pushes pols to get some online again

(Newser) - Barely a month after Japan shut down its last nuclear reactor , the government approved plans today to bring one reactor back online, reports the AP . The Japanese public has been wildly against nuclear power since last spring's disaster at the Fukushima plant, but with summer energy demands threatening electricity...

New Japan Import: Radioactive Bluefin
 New Japan Import: 
 Radioactive Bluefin 
FUKUSHIMA FALLOUT
May 29, 2012 7:37 AM CDT

New Japan Import: Radioactive Bluefin

Study finds tuna off California with cesium levels 10X higher than usual

(Newser) - Radiation from Japan's nuclear meltdown keeps hitting US shores : The latest comes in the form of the bluefin tuna, a massive fish that can top 1,000 pounds and which spawn off the coast of Japan and rocket 6,000 miles across the Pacific to school off of California...

Japan: No Nuclear Power for First Time in 40 Years

Nation's last reactor is shut down for time being

(Newser) - Japan shut down the nation's last operating nuclear reactor today, and it's not clear when another one might be fired back up. The move means that the nation is without atomic power for the first time in more than 40 years, reports the New York Times . The government...

Japan Shutting Down Last Nuclear Reactor

Country faces energy crunch

(Newser) - Japan is shutting down its last nuclear reactor Saturday, meaning a long, hot summer as the Japanese are forced to conserve a power supply that could fall 16% below demand. Oil- and gas-based power has been ramped up to ease the energy shortage—nuclear power provided one-third of the country’...

Fukushima Radiation Found in California Kelp

'It's not a good thing,' says researcher

(Newser) - A major fallout from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant disaster has hit the coast of California, according to scientists. Radioactive iodine was found in giant kelp beds off Laguna Beach to Santa Cruz within a month of the meltdown, reports the Los Angeles Times . The radiation "represents a significant...

Japan Kept Worst-Case Nuclear Fears Under Wraps

Fukushima report warned that all of Tokyo might need to be evacuated

(Newser) - Japanese officials were told that last year's nuclear disaster could have required the evacuation of tens of millions—but they didn't mention it, worried that the information might cause a panic. A 15-page report, given to the prime minister two weeks after the earthquake, was obtained by the...

Japan to Shut Nuke Plants at 40 Years

Public concerns force stiffening of safety regulations

(Newser) - Nuclear reactors in Japan will be retired after 40 years of use, as part of the government's efforts to step up nuclear safety in the aftermath of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant disaster last March, reports the AP . There are 54 reactors in Japan, 18 of which will be 40...

Japan: 40 Years to Fully Shut Down Fukushima

Removing nuclear fuel will require tech not yet invented

(Newser) - The predictions are getting worse: Japanese officials today said that it could take as many as 40 years to decommission the Fukushima nuclear plant, upping the previous estimate of 30 years. According to the detailed roadmap, TEPCO intends to spend the next two years clearing the spent fuel rods out...

Fukushima Plant Is Stable: Japan

Experts say it will still take decades to close the site safely

(Newser) - Japan's prime minister said today that the country's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant has achieved a stable state of "cold shutdown," a crucial step toward the eventual lifting of evacuation orders and closing of the plant. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's announcement was intended to reassure the nation...

Japanese Scientists Track Radiation With Monkeys

They'll gather data from collars attached to wild ones

(Newser) - Japanese scientists are recruiting some unusual agents to investigate the radiation levels in the forests around the Fukushima reactor: wild monkeys. A professor of robotic technology at Fukushima University is leading a team that plans to capture up to three wild monkeys and outfit them with a collar that will...

Radiation Found in Japanese Baby Formula

Levels not high enough to pose health risk, parents told

(Newser) - Nearly nine months after the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami wrought havoc on Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, the country's nuclear nightmare is continuing. Traces of radiation have been found in infant formula for the first time and while government experts say the levels aren't high enough to...

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