New report from Earthworks on impact of uranium mining: Nuclear Power's Other Tragedy: Communities Living with Uranium Mining.
Link
Link
Latest Updates
-
-
UPDATE, Noon, Wednesday, Tokyo Broadcasting System has set up a live webcam at Fukushima Daiichi. Radioactive steam can be seen constantly emitted from Units 3 and 4.
Link
-
Major new report from Robert Alvarez at Institute for Policy Studies for the first time spells out the estimated amount of radioactivity in spent fuel at each U.S. reactors site, and what should be done to reduce the unacceptable hazard of high-density spent fuel pools.
Link
-
In the meantime, radiation releases continue. The IAEA reports that Cesium-137 deposition continued in 13 prefectures from April 22-May 3, with levels ranging from 1.3 Bq/m2 to 92 Bq/m2. Gamma radiation above background was measured in only two nearby refectures—Fukushima and Ibaraki. Levels in northeast Fukushima, more than 30 kilometers from the Daiichi site, were measured as high as 19.7 MicroSieverts/hour. Radiation levels closer to the reactor site are much higher.
Link
-
UPDATE, 11 am, Wednesday, Bloomberg News reports today that 2 robots entered the Unit 1 reactor building and took radiation readings inside of 1120 MilliSieverts/hour (about 112 rems/hour)—among the highest readings measured since the onset of the accident. A worker would receive a maximum annual dose (by Japanese standards) in less than 15 minutes; in the U.S. a worker could stay less than three minutes before receiving the maximum allowable dose (a member of the public could be exposed to that level for only about a second…).
Link
-
UPDATE, 4:00 pm, Monday, Kyodo News Service is reporting that the Japanese government is finally considering upgrading the severity of the Fukushima accident to the highest level on the international scale—Level 7. This follows release of a calculation from the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan that a staggering 10,000 terabecquerels of radiation were released from the site for at least several hours (one terabecquerel is a trillion becquerels and is roughly equivalent to 27 curies of radiation) at one unspecified point. Clearly, millions of curies have been released from Fukushima.
Link
-
NIRS, Friends of the Earth, NC WARN and others file new legal challenge to AP 1000 reactor design in wake of Fukushima accident.
Link
-
UPDATE, 3:30 pm, Wednesday, The New York Times has an important front-page story today on a still-unreleased U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission assessment that indicates the situation at Fukushima remains extremely serious, that some of the measures Tepco and the Japanese government have taken have caused unanticipated repercussions and new problems—in particular new stresses placed on the containments that places their ability to withstand earthquake aftershocks in doubt, and ongoing concerns about the possibility of more hydrogen explosions at the site.
Link
-
UPDATE, 4:30 pm Tuesday, Japan’s NHK TV is reporting that a plant worker at Fukushima Daiichi says that radiation levels inside the reactors buildings of Units 1-3 are “immeasurable”—so high that their radiation monitors have been rendered useless. The report states that levels of 10 rems/hour have been measured even outside the buildings.
Link
-
UPDATE, 11:00 am, Tuesday, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that radioactive Iodine-131 has been measured in seawater near Fukushima at 7.5 million times the legal limit. Perhaps even more worrisome is that radioactive Cesium-137 has been measured at more than 1 million times the limit. The Cesium is likely to lodge in sediment in the region and remain a factor for marine life and fishing for perhaps centuries.
Link