Japan nuclear plant

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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...

Scared Americans Stock Up on Anti-Radiation Pills

Potassium iodide, Geiger counters flying off the shelves

(Newser) - An ocean away from the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, worried Americans are stocking up on Geiger counters and supplements that can block one effect of radiation exposure. Pharmacies around the country are rapidly running out of potassium iodide, which can protect the thyroid gland from radiation damage, the AP...

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...

Germany Shuts Down 7 Nuclear Reactors

Older reactors will cease operations for at least 3 months

(Newser) - Japan’s growing nuclear crisis has led Germany to shut down seven of its nuclear power plants for at least three months, the New York Times reports. Plants that began operating before the close of 1980 will temporarily close while officials complete a safety review for all 17 of the...

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...

Japan's Nuclear Crisis: Let's Not Freak Out
Let's Not Freak Out Over Japan's Nuclear Crisis 

OPINION
Mar 14, 2011 12:45 PM CDT

Let's Not Freak Out Over Japan's Nuclear Crisis

It's far from another Chernobyl

(Newser) - America is positively freaking out over the state of Japan’s nuclear reactors, with some calling for a halt to the development of new nuclear plants. But that’s a wild overreaction, opines a Wall Street Journal editorial. The media’s done a poor job of putting the tragedy in...

US Carrier Crew Exposed to Radiation From Japan

Officials say crew received a month's radiation in just one hour

(Newser) - The US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, sailing 100 miles off the east coast of Japan, passed through a cloud of radiation spawned by the country's crippled nuclear reactors , delivering a month's worth of radiation to the crew in just one hour, reports the New York Times . Officials stressed that the...

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...

Radioactive Steam Could Be Pumped Into Air for Months

Seawater cooling nuclear cores needs to be released periodically

(Newser) - Japan's attempts to avert a full-scale meltdown in its damaged nuclear reactors by flooding them with seawater has an ugly byproduct: radioactive steam, which may continue to be pumped into the air for weeks or even months, reports the New York Times . Operators periodically flood the cores with seawater, which...

Japan Earthquake: Death Toll Estimate Passes 10K, Plus More on Nuclear Emergency
In Japan, Officials Knew Risk of Hydrogen Explosion
plus: death toll could pass 10k
Mar 13, 2011 5:05 PM CDT

In Japan, Officials Knew Risk of Hydrogen Explosion

Plus: Estimated death toll passes 10K, and more from Japan

(Newser) - When officials decided to vent radioactive steam from one of the damaged nuclear power plants in Japan, they knew it could result in a hydrogen explosion. And, even though an explosion is exactly what happened, the decision was still the best option for avoiding a total meltdown, the AP reports...

Joe Lieberman: After Japan Nuclear Troubles, Time to Put the Brakes on New US Nuclear Power Plants
 Lieberman: 
 'Put the Brakes' 
 on Nuclear Power 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Mar 13, 2011 1:33 PM CDT

Lieberman: 'Put the Brakes' on Nuclear Power

Plus, the no-fly zone and more from the Sunday talk shows

(Newser) - As Japan struggles to avoid a nuclear meltdown following its massive earthquake and tsunami, Sen. Joe Lieberman thinks it might be time to stop permitting new nuclear power plants in the US, Politico reports. "I think we've got to kind of quietly—quickly put the brakes on until we...

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...

Risk of Meltdown Grows at Damaged Nuclear Reactors

Japan working to keep at least two from catastrophic failure

(Newser) - Wire services are scrambling to assess the danger surrounding Japan's damaged nuclear reactors, but this much is clear: At least two are in serious trouble, and officials were taking extraordinary measures to avert full-blown meltdowns. Phrases like "possible partial meltdown" ( from AP ) and "assuming the possibility...

Japan to Distribute Iodine Tablets Near Nuclear Plant

Officials downplay danger, say it's only a precaution

(Newser) - If it's been tough to gauge how much risk is posed by Japan's damaged nuclear plants, it's because officials have given what the New York Times describes as "confusing accounts" of exactly what's going on. Safety officials say the explosion at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant destroyed walls of the...

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