Fukushima | Common News Update

Mar102020 by adminNo Comments

Safety of Fukushima waste water focus of sea release debate

Technology

OKUMA, Japan -- Inside a giant decontamination facility at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant, workers in hazmat suits monitor radioactive water pumped from three damaged reactors, making sure it's adequately — though not completely — treated. Three lines of equipment connected to pipes snaking around in this dimly lit, sprawling facility can process up to 750 tons of contaminated water a day. Four other lines elsewhere in the plant can process more. From there, the water is pumped to a complex of about 1,000 temporary storage tanks that crowd the plant's grounds, where additional tanks are still being built. Officials say the huge tanks will be completely full by the summer of 2022. The decontamination process, which The Associated Press viewed on a recent tour, is a key elemen...

Feb32020 by adminNo Comments

Japan assures diplomats tainted Fukushima water is safe

World

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The Japanese government said Monday the planned release of tainted water from Fukushima would have no impact on oceans. During an information session for foreign embassy officials in Tokyo, the Japanese foreign ministry sent signals of reassurance regarding a plan to release tritium-tainted water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Mainichi Shimbun and Kyodo News reported. A total of 28 diplomats representing 23 countries were in attendance, according to reports. The water comes from Fukushima, where 170 tons of water is contaminated every day at the plant that was severely damaged during a catastrophic earthquake in March 2011. Water has been poured to cool the melted fuel, according to Kyodo. Japan has been purifying the contaminated water using an advanc...

Sep192019 by adminNo Comments

TEPCO executives acquitted over Fukushima nuclear disaster

World

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A Japanese court on Thursday acquitted three former Tokyo Electric Power Co. executives on charges of professional negligence in connection to the 2011 Fukushima meltdown, ending the only criminal trial to come from the nuclear power plant disaster. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the three former TEPCO executives -- Tsunehisa Katsumata, 79, Ichiro Takekuro, 73, and Sakae Muto, 69 -- were not responsible for the deaths of 44 people who died during or after mandatory evacuations of a local hospital due to the nuclear crisis, Japan Today reported. Prosecutors had blamed the executives for the deaths by failing to plan for a potential emergency at the nuclear plant. The executives had argued it was impossible to plan for the enormity of the tsunami, which was caused by...

Jul212018 by adminNo Comments

Fukushima nuclear isotopes found in Californian wine

Technology

The nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power plant in 2011 has led to a spike in levels of a radioactive isotope in Californian wines, scientists say. An increase in the levels of caesium-137 has been identified in several different wines by specialists from the University of Bordeaux in France, who say levels doubled in 2011.Affected red and rosé wines showed different levels of the isotope, which has been released into the atmosphere by nuclear accidents and weapons tests, with darker wines collecting more of it.They are all far below the threshold believed to cause radiation sickness in humans, but show how the material from the Fukushima disaster spread.Historical nuclear events have also led to much higher levels of the radioactive isotope, with levels peaking roug...

Nov252017 by adminNo Comments

Reporter's Notebook: Fukushima face-lift masks morass inside

Technology

Above ground, the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant has had a major face-lift since the 2011 disaster. Inside and underground remains largely a morass. A stylish new office building was the first thing that came into view during a tour for foreign media last month. Another building has a cafeteria and a convenience store. It's easy to forget you're in the official no-go zone, where access is restricted. We first went through automated security checks and radiation measurement at the new building, where 1,000 employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s decommissioning unit work. A sign prohibits games such as Pokemon Go. Visitors no longer must put on hazmat suits and full-face charcoal-filter masks, or plastic shoe covers, unless they are going to the most contaminated areas. We donne...