Are nuclear regulators making the industry safer?
In Japan, like the United States, utilities have a lot of influence in politics and regulations, and lobby to delay legislation which affects the bottom line of their nuclear facilities. At Fukushima Daiichi,…
TEPCO investigates radiation levels of exhaust stack at Fukushima Daiichi
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant used a camera attached to a long pole with a dosimeter to explore highly radioactive areas near the combined exhaust stack for Unit 1 and…
Regulators urge TEPCO to dump tritiated water into the Pacific Ocean
On Tuesday, Shinichi Tanaka, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan warned the press that low-level contaminated water stored at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant represented one of the biggest…
TEPCO forced to shut down contaminated water processing system at Fukushima Daiichi again
Workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are working around the clock to cool reactors and spent fuel pools. They are accumulating massive amounts of highly contaminated water from the cooling…
TEPCO begins critical work unloading Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent fuel pool
On Monday at 15:18, TEPCO workers began work removing spent fuel from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent fuel pool, which holds 1,533 assemblies. Of the 1,533 assemblies, 1,311 are spent fuel,…
Leaks confirmed in Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 containment vessel
After two and a half years, two leaks have been found in the containment vessel of the Unit 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Workers used a robotic boat equipped…
Elementary school in Japan using water bottles to shield students from radiation
An elementary school in Koriyama City, which is located in Fukushima Prefecture some 34 miles west of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is using water bottles to shield radiation coming from the…
US: Japan should accept liability to receive international help at Fukushima Daiichi
As reported last week, United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz requested that Japan join a treaty called the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damages. This treaty collects funds from participating nations to…
United States pledges to assist Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning if requested
In a speech on Thursday, United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz acknowledged that the decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture and decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors were a matter of global significance and…
Levels of contamination on-site at Fukushima Daiich soaring as typhoons slam Japan
Tokyo Electric has continued to conduct measurements around storage tanks which leaked some 300 tons of contaminated water in August. The utility announced on Thursday that 140,000 becquerels per liter of beta-emitting radioactive…
Japanese government unable to persuade citizens of necessity of nuclear energy says former prime minister
An opinion poll conducted by NHK of Japan, found that nearly half of those responding were against the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s plan to allow the restart of shut down nuclear reactors after safety…
Evacuation drill in Japan has residents flee in same direction as radiation carried by the wind
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, there has been concern in Japan and around the world about the effectiveness of emergency evacuation guidelines around nuclear power plants. Japan was forced had to rethink…
Chairman of Japanese nuclear regulator blames declining worker morale for Fukushima leaks and problems
On Wednesday, Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, suggested that one of the causes of radioactive leaks and other problems at Fukushima Daiichi is due to a decline in worker moral. …
Kan, Jaczko, Gundersen, Bradford and Nader — Nuclear Power Through the Fukukshima Perspective
It started this June in California. Speaking about the problems at the troubled San Onofre nuclear plants through the perspective of the Fukushima nuclear complex catastrophe was a panel of Naoto Kan, prime…
Japanese Prime Minister admits need for international aid at Fukushima Daiichi
Despite the fact that over the weekend, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted that Japan was in need of international expertise to handle the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi, the continuous string of failures,…
Fukushima governor distrustful of TEPCO’s promises after recent leaks
Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato is questioning the honesty of TEPCO President Naomi Hirose after the most recent leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. Recently, Hirose had been speaking to the prefectural assembly, when he promised…
TEPCO submits criteria to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to dump contaminated rainwater in ocean
Tokyo Electric, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has submitted a new plan for handling and discharging contaminated rainwater into the Pacific Ocean. Last month, after a tropical storm…
Japan to accept help from France at Fukushima Daiichi
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster Japan thought TEPCO would be able to manage the problem, but earlier this year the government was forced to step in and play a bigger role. Now,…
TEPCO failed to deliver on promise to install fence to restrict contamination from leaking into Pacific Ocean
Both Japan and TEPCO have drawn harsh international criticism for slow responses to contaminated water leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. When Japan was lobbying to host the 2020 olympics, Prime…
Japanese ministers miss the point at Fukushima Daiichi
Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the International Olympic Committee in Buenos Aires, that the “effects from the contaminated water have been perfectly blocked within the (artificial) bay” of the…
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