Reactors Archives · Page 12 of 33

July 19, 2011

UPDATE, Tuesday, It has now been more than four months since the accident began at Fukushima Daiichi and unfortunately no end is yet in sight. Much like last year’s BP oil spill, which spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico for months yet vanished from the major media within weeks, so has much of the major media moved on from Fukushima. But the accident continues, radiation continues to be released (though much lower amounts, of course, than initially), and the risk of new problems remains.

Update

June 21, 2011

UPDATE, Tuesday, A new version of the map we posted Friday of radiation readings in Japan sheds more light on the vast contamination of the northern part of the country and new evidence that the government’s response has been woefully inadequate. The map is here. (Warning, this is a very large—15mb—pdf file; not recommended for slow connections).

Link

June 17, 2011

UPDATE, Friday, There have been increasing reports of radioactive “hotspots” being found around Japan, especially in the area outside but near the evacuation zone of course, but also quite far away. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported today on a hotspot found in Chiba Prefecture 120 miles from Fukushima Daiichi and not too far from Tokyo. There have been reports of elevated readings in Tokyo itself, and across northern Japan.

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June 14, 2011

UPDATE, Tuesday, In what can only be described as the most pathetic response to growing concern over radioactive contamination in Japan yet, 34,000 school children in the Fukushima City area will be given personal radiation dosimeters to wear constantly. But the dosimeters won’t be handed out until September, will be read by authorities only once per month and will only be used for three months. And, of course, the dosimeters won’t measure internal contamination.

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June 9, 2011

UPDATE, Thursday, Japan admitted this week that not only did three reactors melt down (Unit 4 had no fuel in its core, otherwise it would have melted too), but that the fuel melted through the containments. Not really news: the U.S. NRC had made that assessment in the first week of April (see April 6 and 7 below).

Update

June 6, 2011

In a new indication of just how far significant levels of radiation spread from Fukushima, Japan today banned distribution of green tea grown in four prefectures southwest of Tokyo south and southwest of Fukushima and north of Tokyo—more than as far as 150 miles from the Daiichi site—because of elevated levels of Cesium-137. (corrected, )

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June 2, 2011

UPDATE, Thursday, Concern is growing that radioactive water in the reactor buildings and other facilities at Fukushima Daiichi may again be released into the ocean. Water levels have been rising, partly as a result of continued pumping of water for cooling and partly as a result of heavy rains last weekend from Typhoon Songda, which fortunately only grazed the Fukushima site. A Tepco spokesman said today that radioactive water could begin to overflow trenches within 5-7 days.

Update

May 26, 2011

UPDATE, 11:30 am, Thursday, Evidence is growing that the March 11 earthquake itself caused major damage to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors even before the accompanying tsunami knocked out offsite power and ensured the subsequent meltdowns.

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May 20, 2011

UPDATE, 2:30 pm, Friday, The world’s media are shocked (shocked, we tell you…) that three Fukushima reactors melted down. Where have they been the past 10 weeks? Where did they think all that radiation was coming from? You know, that radiation that has caused the evacuation/relocation of people as far as 25 miles from the reactor site? Not to mention contamination of food, seawater, etc…..

Update

May 16, 2011

UPDATE, 12:30 pm, Monday, On March 27, we reported on a press conference by a Japanese nuclear engineer who believed that the meltdown at Unit 1 was caused by a loss-of-coolant accident initiated by the earthquake itself, which was exacerbated by the ensuing tsunami and loss of power. It now appears that assessment was correct. Tepco said today that radiation levels inside Unit 1 were measured at 300 MilliSieverts/hour within hours of the earthquake—meaning that fuel melting already had begun. For melting to have begun that early, coolant must have been lost almost immediately. It’s now believed that fuel melted and dropped to the bottom of the containment—melting a hole into it, within 16 hours. Most likely, a major pipe carrying cooling water to the core was damaged by the earthquake, which should lead to a new evaluation of the ability of key reactor components to withstand seismic events.

Update