Feb 27, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
A team of Japanese researchers say Fukushima resident’s cancer risk is very, very low. A team of Kyoto University medical professors, headed by Dr. Akio Koizumi, surveyed the exposures of volunteers living in Kawauchi, Soma, and Minamisoma, all of which are between 20...
Feb 26, 2014 | Fukushima Commentary
February 26, 2014 Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority appears to be intentionally delaying the restarts of the country’s nukes. The sequence of events that cause this conclusion evokes nuclear energy déjà vu, reminiscent of the American regulatory experience...
Feb 25, 2014 | Fukushima Commentary
February 25, 2014 On Monday, February 24th, Bloomberg posted a brief article about a minor power loss at Fukushima Daiichi; Fukushima Nuclear Fuel Removal Suspended After Cooling Failure. (1) Today, Tepco reported that the cause was excavation in the ground outside...
Feb 24, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
The number of fuel bundles removed from unit #4 spent fuel pool stands at 374. There have been no reports of problems with the process, nor have any damaged, warped or heat-deformed bundles been found. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html More...
Feb 23, 2014 | Fukushima Commentary
February 23, 2014 The Hiroshima Syndrome’s Fukushima Commentary is proudly hosting the 197th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers. Here’s the Fact or Fiction (?) for this week…The world’s first civilian nuclear power plant to produce electricity was the Calder Hall...
Feb 20, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Human error appears to be the cause of the latest Fukushima waste-water spill. This morning, Tepco reported that an improper valve line-up resulted in water being pumped into an already-filled tank, located about 700 meters from the sea. The flow out of the tank and...
Feb 17, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Tepco has now transferred 352 of 1533 spent fuel bundles from unit #4 spent fuel pool without news media-worthy incident. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html It is possible that no reactor safety checks will finish in time for summer restarts. A senior...
Feb 13, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Japan’s nuclear watchdog says no restart reviews will be finished before April. The Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said, “I think none (of the checks) will be completed by the end of this fiscal year,” which terminates at the end of March....
Feb 10, 2014 | Fukushima Commentary
February 10, 2014 Yesterday, nuclear-neutral Yoichi Masuzoe won a decisive victory in the Tokyo governor’s election. Ever since former Governor Naoki Inose resigned in December, most of the Japanese Press has bent over backwards to make nuclear energy the key,...
Feb 10, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Fukushima staff moved another 44 spent fuel bundles from unit #4 last week. To date, 308 of 1533 bundles have been transferred out of the 5th floor spent fuel pool and safely submerged in another pool inside the neighboring ground-level common fuel handling facility....