You are here

Radiation

Cleanup Crews Near Fukushima Plant Dump Waste in Rivers, Newspaper Reports

By ROBERT MACKEY According to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, cleanup crews working near the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, “dumped soil and leaves contaminated with radioactive fallout into rivers.”

Scene of "shoddy decontamination efforts" in Fukishima Prefecture

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Calculating the global health consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

submitted by Luis Kun

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - July 18th, 2012

Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster may eventually cause approximately 130 deaths and 180 cases of cancer, mostly in Japan, Stanford researchers have calculated. The estimates have large uncertainty ranges, but contrast with previous claims that the radioactive release would likely cause no severe health effects. The numbers are in addition to the roughly 600 deaths caused by the evacuation of the area surrounding the nuclear plant directly after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Fukushima Disaster “a Profoundly Man-Made Disaster”: Investigative Commission

submitted by Luis Kun

Homeland Security News Wire - July 5, 2012

Executive Summary - Slideshare

Executive Summary - (88 page .PDF file)

NAIIC Report

The commission investigating the Fukushima disaster of March 2011 concluded that although the combination of the tsunami and earthquake was unprecedented in its ferocity, the disaster was largely man-made because it was amplified by what came before it and what followed it. The disaster itself, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, said was sandwiched by practices and conduct which were the result of government-industry collusion and the worst conformist conventions of Japanese culture.

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Japan, Ukraine to Perfect Post Nuclear Accident Response

submitted by Samuel Bendett

KYIV, Ukraine, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Japan and Ukraine will join their efforts in liquidation of the consequences of nuclear disasters. The respective Resolution on Deepening the Relations with Ukraine has been unanimously approved by the House of Representatives of the National Diet of Japan (the bicameral legislative body of the country).

The resolution of the Japanese parliament lists the lamentable experience that both Ukraine and Japan have had with nuclear plants accidents as the basis for the ensuing bilateral cooperation. The two countries resolved to sustain world peace and further their partnership in perfecting post-accident response to nuclear emergencies according to the recently signed agreement. Interestingly, Ukraine has four functioning nuclear plants, while Japan boasts 16.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Senator Wyden: Fukushima Worse Than Reported

The Fourth Reactor at Fukushima on February 20, 2012. The yellow area is the containment vessel. (photo: The Asahi Shimbum Digital)

by Roberta Rampton, Reuters - readersupportednews.org - April 17, 2012

Japan, with assistance from the U.S. government, needs to do more to move spent fuel rods out of harm's way at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on Monday.

Wyden, a senior Democratic senator on the Senate Energy committee, toured the ruined Fukushima plant on April 6, and said the damage was far worse than he expected.

"Seeing the extent of the disaster first-hand during my visit conveyed the magnitude of this tragedy and the continuing risks and challenges in a way that news accounts cannot," said Wyden in a letter to Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan's ambassador to the United States.

Last March, an earthquake followed by a tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant, causing the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years and prompting global scrutiny of the safety of nuclear power plants.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Fukushima Reactor Water Level Shallower Than Thought

yomiuri.co.jp - March 28, 2012

The water level in the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is only about 60 centimeters deep, far shallower than previously assumed levels of about four meters, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The lower-than-expected water level was discovered for the first time when the power utility used an industrial endoscope to check the crippled reactor's interior on Monday, TEPCO said.

According to some experts, it is possible that nuclear fuel that melted through the reactor's pressure vessel and accumulated on the bottom of the containment vessel in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami may not be completely covered in the water.

TEPCO said the water temperature in the vessel remained relatively low within a range of 48.5 C to 50 C. The discovery of the unexpectedly shallow water level will not affect TEPCO's judgment that the reactor is in a state of "cold shutdown."

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120327006202.htm

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Molecule May Aid Nuclear Waste Clean-Up

Molecules cause radioactive waste to cluster, facilitating cleanup // Source: kokokuxhito.info

submitted by Luis Kun

Homeland Security News Wire - March 14, 2012

Scientists have produced a previously unseen uranium molecule in a move that could improve clean-up of nuclear waste.

The distinctive butterfly-shaped compound is similar to radioactive molecules that scientists had proposed to be key components of nuclear waste. These molecules, however, were thought too unstable to exist for long.

A University of Edinburgh release reports that researchers have shown the compound to be robust, which implies that molecules with a similar structure may be present in radioactive waste.

University of Edinburgh scientists, who carried out the study, say their findings suggest the molecule may play a role in forming clusters of radioactive material in waste.

These are difficult to separate during clean-up. Improving treatment processes for nuclear waste, including targeting this type of molecule, could help the nuclear industry move towards cleaner power generation.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Research - Radioactive Contamination

- Show quoted text -
Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Xenon Means Recent Fission in Reactor 2

               

Graphic by The Asahi Shimbun

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

By KAZUAKI NAGATA and MIZUHO AOKI - The Japan Times - November 3, 2011

Tepco claims level in gas too small to affect shutdown effort

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that some of the melted fuel in reactor 2 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may have triggered a brief criticality event.

Although the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there have been no drastic changes in the reactor's temperature and pressure level, and the reactor itself is stable overall, the discovery may mean the goal of Tepco and the government to achieve cold shutdown of all three crippled reactors by the end of the year may not be possible.

Suggesting that criticality, or a sustained nuclear chain reaction, may have occurred temporarily, or partially, Tepco said one hundred thousandth of a becquerel per cubic centimeter of xenon-133 and xenon-135 was detected in gas samples.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

New Trouble Reported at Japan Nuclear Plant

by Eric Talmadge - Associated Press (AP) - msnbc.com - November 1, 2011  

          

An aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released by AIR PHOTO SERVICE, damaged Unit 3, left, and Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan on March 24, 2011. (AP / AIR PHOTO SERVICE)

Officials detected a radioactive gas associated with nuclear fission at Japan's tsunami-damaged atomic power plant Wednesday, indicating there could be a new problem at one of its reactors. They injected a substance that neutralizes nuclear reactions as a precaution.

Gas from inside the reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission. Boric acid was being injected through a cooling pipe as a countermeasure because it can counteract nuclear reactions.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Pages

Subscribe to Radiation
howdy folks