Fukushima Daiichi

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Experts Fear Alarming Crack in Reactor Pool

Engineers may face unprecedented nuclear problem

(Newser) - The situation at Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex may be even more dire than realized, according to American nuclear experts. Authorities at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspect that a crack or hole has developed in the floor or wall of a spent fuel pool at the complex, which will...

'Funny' Japanese Nuclear Boy Explains Disaster

Watch out for gas!

(Newser) - Confused about Japan's mounting nuclear disaster? Check out the nation's cheery animated "Nuclear Boy," a personification of the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi's plant, on YouTube. Poor Genpatsu-kun (Nuclear Boy to you) gets an upset stomach and he "can't hold his poo any longer!" But he lets out...

Japan Nearly Done With Back-Up Power Line

It could restart plant's cooling system; Nikkei opens strong

(Newser) - In Japan, this might qualify as good news on the nuclear front: The UN nuclear agency says the situation is "very serious" but that it hasn't gotten much worse over the last 24 hours, reports the Voice of America . And in another glimmer of hope, officials say they're close...

Japan Has Robots All Over —Except at Nuke Plant

Humans are still being asked to risk their lives

(Newser) - Japan has built robots for all kinds of distinctly human tasks—from playing instruments to officiating at weddings—but none have been used in this nuclear mess, notes Reuters . Instead, humans are still being asked to risk their lives. Robots are common elsewhere in the nuclear industry, so what gives?...

Fukushima Plant Worker: 'Please Stop Attacking Us'

My coworkers are putting their lives on the line, she says

(Newser) - Michiko Otsuki is sick of people ripping on Tokyo Electric Power Co. Otsuki is one of the workers who evacuated from the Fukushima nuclear plant on Monday, and afterward she took to her blog to give the people she left behind there a voice. “People have been flaming Tepco,...

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'


 '48 Hours to Worse 
 Than Chernobyl' 
UPDATED
Mar 17, 2011 7:54 AM CDT

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'

The Japanese have lost control, officials warn

(Newser) - Officials around the world are increasingly concerned that Japan's mounting nuclear disaster is out of control. "It would be hard to describe how alarming this is right now," an American official tells ABC News . He warns that unless Japan can get all of its crippled nuclear plants under...

Traces of Radiation to Reach US Friday

UN charts radiation plume

(Newser) - A plume of radiation from stricken Japanese nuclear reactors is crossing the Pacific and will be detectable in southern California by tomorrow, according to a United Nations forecast. Experts stress that the radiation in the plume will be extremely diluted and will, at worst, have very minor health consequences for...

Pentagon, State Offer to Evacuate Tokyo Residents

Evacuation offered to families of US personnel

(Newser) - US authorities have offered to evacuate the family members of State Department and Pentagon personnel from a large area of Japan, including Tokyo. As radiation from stricken nuclear reactors spreads, a travel alert has been issued warning American citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Japan and urging Americans already in...

Radiation Levels 'Extremely High': US Nuclear Official

Watchdog Chief Says Japan Is Understating Dangers

(Newser) - The situation at the Dai-ichi nuclear plant is worse than Japanese officials are acknowledging, says the head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “We believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures," Gregory Jaczko told Congress, while advising Americans...

Another Reactor May Be Leaking Radioactivity

Japan doubles number of workers inside to 100

(Newser) - The news remains grim from Japan's Fukishima Dai-ichi plant. Two of the six reactors there may now be leaking radioactive steam, reports the New York Times , which again characterizes the official pronouncements as confusing. In the meantime, the 50 emergency workers who were yanked off the site earlier have returned,...

Japan Nuclear Power Plant Crisis: Government Was Warned of Safety Issues in 2008, WikiLeaks Cables Reveal
 Japan Was Warned 
 About Nuke Safety in '08 
wikileaks reveal
Mar 16, 2011 7:54 AM CDT

Japan Was Warned About Nuke Safety in '08

WikiLeaks cables also reveal a number of other past concerns

(Newser) - The Japanese government was warned in 2008 that a strong earthquake would be a “serious problem” for the country’s nuclear power stations, WikiLeaks cables reveal. An International Atomic Energy Agency official declared twin concerns at a meeting of the G8’s Nuclear Safety and Security Group: that safety...

Japan Yanks Workers at Crippled Nuke Plant

Work suspended, residents flee as radiation surges

(Newser) - Japan suspended operations to keep its stricken Fukishima Dai-ichi nuclear plant from melting down yesterday after surging radiation made it too dangerous for employees to stay. Workers dousing the reactors in a frantic effort to cool them have been ordered to withdraw, a government minister said. "The workers cannot...

Fire Flares at Nuclear Plant; 2 Workers Missing

Japan still on brink on nuclear meltdown

(Newser) - Yet another fire appears to have erupted at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, reports Reuters . Details remained sketchy, and it's possible this fire is a flare-up from an earlier fire at the building that houses reactor No. 4. That earlier fire blew a hole in the building and emitted radiation,...

50 Japan Workers Risk Lives Trying to Avert Meltdown

They remain in plant amid fire, explosions, and dangerous radiation levels

(Newser) - Japan has evacuated roughly 170,000 people from a 30-mile radius around the Fukishima Dai-ichi plant and even instituted a no-fly zone around it, but at least 50 people aren't going anywhere. That's how many technicians remain inside the plant, writes Dana Kennedy at AoL News , and it's no exaggeration...

Japan Nuclear Crisis: 'We Are on the Brink'

Experts say worst-case scenario could be upon us

(Newser) - Now that Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station has experienced its third explosion in four days and radiation is spreading , “We are on the brink. We are now facing the worst-case scenario,” says one expert. In an extensive New York Times piece detailing the timeline and series...

Radiation Spreading From Japan's Nuke Plant
 Radiation Spreading  
 From Japan's Nuke Plant  
TOKYO LEVELS ON THE RISE
Mar 15, 2011 1:58 AM CDT

Radiation Spreading From Japan's Nuke Plant

Residents ordered to stay inside after latest blast, fire

(Newser) - An alarming level of radiation is leaking from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo after an explosion and fire today , and nearby residents have been warned to stay indoors to avoid exposure, AP reports. Radiation around the plant is now high enough to be a health risk,...

New Explosion Rocks Japanese Nuclear Plant

Suppression pool found to have a defect

(Newser) - A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country's nuclear safety agency said. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the explosion occurred near the suppression pool in the reactor's containment vessel. The pool was later found to...

Cooper on Nuke Plant Blast: Time for Me to Leave?

Anxiety is obvious as news of second blast comes in

(Newser) - Not two months after he and his crew were attacked while covering the protests in Egypt, Anderson Cooper once again put himself in (or near) harm’s way, this time to cover the Japan earthquake. While reporting on the situation at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, Cooper received word of...

Second Explosion Rocks Japanese Nuke Plant

Radiation leaked, officials say levels are low

(Newser) - A second hydrogen explosion rocked Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant today as workers scrambled to avert a meltdown disaster. The explosion occurred in a separate unit of the reactor from the one hit by an earlier explosion Saturday. Nuclear agency officials said radiation was leaked, but that levels were low...

Japan Declares Emergency at 2nd Nuke Plant

22 people found to be contaminated at Dai-ichi plant

(Newser) - The International Atomic Energy Agency said today that Japan has declared a state of emergency at a second earthquake-ravaged nuclear plant after measuring higher-than-permitted levels of radiation. The IAEA says the source is being investigated, but all three reactors at the Onagawa plant are currently under control. Japan also said...

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