Fukushima radioactive emissions – a guarded secret
”The notion that you can track an air parcel precisely as it travels across the Pacific is fanciful,” he said. “The difficulty in doing that is we really don’t know what is being emitted.” That information, if known at all, is being closely held by Japanese authorities and the U.S. government,
Computer models aid Japanese nuclear response, The Washington Post, By Andrew Freedman, 23 March 11, U-Md. research team wants more data made public. As the Japanese nuclear crisis continues to unfold, the airborne spread of radioactive materials from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station continues to be a key concern of Japanese and American officials. Continue reading
Mixed oxide fuel means danger for No 3 Fukushima nuclear plant
New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “…..Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor No. 3 began belching black smoke for an hour late in the afternoon, leading its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, to evacuate workers.. No. 3 is considered one of the most dangerous of the reactors because of its fuel — mixed oxides, or mox, which contain a mixture of uranium and plutonium and can produce a more dangerous radioactive plume if scattered by fire or explosions. The cooling system at Reactor No. 5, which was shut down at the time of the earthquake and has shown few problems since, also abruptly stopped working on Wednesday afternoon, said Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric.New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant – NYTimes.com
Fukushima nuclear plant will be scrapped
Japan signals nuclear plant to be scrapped – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 21 March, The Japanese government has signalled the Fukushima nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing crisis will be scrapped……Japan signals nuclear plant to be scrapped – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Wide area around Fukushima nuclear plant will be radioactively contaminated for decades
“Given the weather, it is likely that contaminations have occurred beyond that, up to 100 kilometres or so.”…..
Contamination at Fukushima nuclear plant for decades, says France’s Nuclear Safety Authority | Herald Sun, From: NewsCore * March 22, 2011 LOCAL contamination from Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant would be a problem that would last “for decades and decades”, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said. Continue reading
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) faked nuclear safety records
for many in Japan, Tepco’s track record of safety issues and attempts to cover them up add to suspicion over a flow of opaque, erratic information about Fukushima.
Power company failed to maintain safety checks, Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura SMH March 21, 2011 OSAKA: Days before Japan plunged into an atomic crisis after a giant earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the ageing Fukushima nuclear plant, its operator had admitted faking repair records.
The revelation raises more questions about the scandal-tainted past of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the government’s perceived soft regulation of the industry. Continue reading
Raised levels of radioactivity in seawater, in some foods – Japan
Radioactive food fears grow in Japan, By Hayden Cooper and wires ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 22 March 11, Japan is continuing to deal with a nuclear emergency as fears of food contamination grow and high levels of radioactive substances are found in seawater near the crippled Fukushima plant.The news comes amid another setback in efforts to cool the earthquake-crippled nuclear plant, with officials spotting grey smoke coming from the roof of the No. 3 reactor……. Continue reading
At Fukushima, radiation leak continues, spent fuel storage pool a big problem
A separate storage pool for spent fuel rods also is drawing the attention of some Tepco and safety officials. The area, which takes fuel rods from all six reactors, is located near the No. 4 reactor. The pool is nearly full with 6,375 units of fuel, according to Tepco.
Japan Nuclear Dangers Linger Despite Progress, WSJ, By PETER LANDERS And NORIHIKO SHIROUZU, MARCH 20, 2011,As of late Sunday, power was still out at reactors No. 3 and No. 4, the two most troublesome during the nine-day fight to keep the nuclear plant from spinning out of control. Until Tokyo Electric Power Co. fully restores power at the reactors and turns on cooling systems knocked out after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, it faces continued radiation leakage from spent fuel rods stored at the two reactors. Continue reading
Serious problems continue at Fukushima nuclear plant
Snapshot: Japan’s nuclear crisis Mar 20, 2011 TOKYO (Reuters) – Following are main developments after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeast Japan and crippled a nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation.
IAEA says some positive developments but overall situation remains very serious. Continue reading
Fukushima’s spent nuclear fuel rods are critically dangerous
Figures provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company on Thursday show that most of the dangerous uranium at the powerplant is in the spent fuel rods, not the reactor cores.
The company said that a total of 11,195 spent fuel rod assemblies were stored at the site. That is about four times as much radioactive material as in the reactor cores combined…….the zirconium cladding on the fuel rods could burst into flames if exposed to air for hours when a storage pool lost its water
Spent rods the biggest hazard, Sydney Morning Herald, Keith Bradsher and Hiroko Tabuchi, March 19, 2011 YEARS of procrastination in deciding on long-term disposal of highly radioactive fuel rods from nuclear reactors are coming back to haunt Japanese authorities as they try to control fires and explosions at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.
Japanese nuclear workers called upon for heroic sacrifice
Disaster officials could face a grim choice: Scale back their containment efforts or allow workers to face radiation levels that could significantly increase their risk of cancer…..The actions of the power plant workers in Japan have already been described as heroic,
Japan nuclear accident poses crisis for worker safety, latimes.com, 17 march 11, Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could rapidly reach their annual radiation exposure limit and may have to be rotated out soon. Continue reading
Fukushima reactors might get concrete tomb, like Chernobyl
Japan nuclear operator: not impossible to encase reactors in concrete TOKYO (Reuters) 18 March 11, – The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said on Friday that it would not be impossible to encase the facility’s reactors in concrete, though cooling them down is the priority.
Tokyo Electric Power Co told reporters that using concrete was an option, but that it would continue trying to cool the reactors for the time being……UPDATE 1-Japan nuclear operator: not impossible to encase reactors in concrete | Reuters
The danger of “spent nuclear fuel rods” at Fukushima
These rods, which will have become laced with radioactive by-products of the main reaction, including plutonium and radioactive isotopes of strontium, iodine and other elements, are taken out of reactors and put in pools of water for storage
The Fukushima crisis: A new danger at Fukushima | The Economist, 18 March 11, “…….the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum, a trade body, acknowledged that there were worries about the water levels in the ponds at units 3 and 4. Continue reading
Failure of cooling systems in Japanese nuclear plant
Confidence in Japan’s nuclear safety was dented by a series of scandals in the late 1990s when the Tokyo Electric Power Company, owner of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, admitted falsifying safety data and concealing cracks in the core structures of its reactors.
Japan earthquake forces thousands to evacuate in nuclear plant emergency The Guardian, 15 March “……….Failure of the cooling system – and the diesel back-up generator – at the Fukushima 1 plant in Onahama raises questions about what has gone wrong so far and what could happen in future. Continue reading
Widespread unease in Japan over radioactivity from nuclear plant’s cooling
There is widespread uneasiness despite the reassuring noises coming from the authorities over the situation, in part because of the industry’s history of ignoring warnings and covering up safety problems.
Japan earthquake: the nuclear crisis is not over yet, guardian.co.uk, Julian Borger, 15 March, Japan says disaster has been averted at the Fukushima nuclear plant but serious questions remain Continue reading
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