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Tech NewsNewsLooks Like Japan Is Going Ahead With Plan to Dump Radioactive Fukushima Water Into the Ocean
The writing has been on the wall for a while now, but it finally appears that Japan is ready to proceed with dumping over 1 million tons of contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The water will be treated to remove some—but not all—of the contaminants. Understandably, the local fishing … Continued
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EartherFukushima’s Contaminated Wastewater Could Be Too Risky to Dump in the Ocean
Almost a decade ago, the Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami triggered an explosion at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing the most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl and releasing an unprecedented amount of radioactive contamination in the ocean. In the years since, there’s been a drawn out cleanup process, and water radiation levels around the … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherConservationFukushima’s Exclusion Zone Is Being Overtaken by Wild Animals
The success of wildlife in the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been well documented, most recently in the Netflix series Our Planet. New research shows that wildlife are experiencing a similar flourishing in the Fukushima exclusion zone in Japan. No matter how much humans screw up the planet, nature seems to find a way to rebound … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Tech NewsNewsNuclear Radiation Hot Spots Found at Starting Point of Japan’s 2020 Olympic Torch Relay
High levels of radiation have been detected near Japan’s J-Village, a sports facility and the starting point of the upcoming Olympic torch relay, according to Greenpeace. The discovery was made by surveyors with Greenpeace Japan, which warns that monitoring and decontamination efforts in Fukushima are inadequate. Radiation levels as high as 71 microsieverts per hour … Continued
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EartherEnergyJapan to Reinvent Fukushima as a Renewable Energy Hub
Plans have been announced to convert abandoned areas in Fukushima to a renewable energy hub, a scheme that will involve the construction of new solar plants, wind farms, and a power transmission grid that will feed Tokyo with electricity. It’s been eight years since an earthquake and tsunami triggered a catastrophic meltdown at the Fukushima … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsFormer Fukushima Bosses Cleared of Criminal Negligence Over Nuclear Disaster
The Tokyo District Court has acquitted three former Tokyo Electric Power Company executives charged with criminal negligence leading to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. On Thursday, the Japanese court ruled that ex-TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, along with former vice-presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, were not criminally responsible for deaths and injuries caused by the … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsNuclear Fuel Rod Removed From Stricken Fukushima Reactor for the First Time
Engineers in Japan reached an important milestone today, as they began removing fuel rods from one of three reactors that experienced meltdowns in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Hard to believe, but it’s been eight years since the catastrophic Tōhoku earthquake struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The resulting 15-meter-high (49-foot) tsunami … Continued
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Tech NewsNewsRemote-Controlled Probe Picks up Radioactive Debris at Fukushima for the First Time
Tepco, the state-owned operator of the badly damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, has conducted an important test in which a remote-controlled probe managed to grasp several small grains of radioactive debris, AFP reports. The successful operation marked an important achievement for the company as it prepares for a cleanup operation that could take decades. In March … Continued
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EartherEnergy
Japanese Nuclear Plant on Emergency Power After Quake, But Little Risk of Fukushima-Type Event
A Japanese nuclear power station in Hokkaido is operating on emergency power after the region was hit by a 6.7-magnitude quake in the early hours of Thursday morning, Reuters reported. However, though the event carries unsettling overtones of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, authorities say there is currently no danger of any similar … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Scientists Have No Idea Why This Enriched Uranium Particle Was Floating Above Alaska
On August 3, 2016, seven kilometers above Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, a research plane captured something mysterious: an atmospheric aerosol particle enriched with the kind of uranium used in nuclear fuel and bombs. It’s the first time scientists have detected such a particle just floating along in the atmosphere in 20 years of plane-based observations. Uranium … Continued
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Tech News
Snake-Like Probe to Get Deepest View Yet Into Damaged Fukushima Reactor
A new probe designed specifically to take a deep view of a damaged nuclear reactor at the Fukushima plant was unveiled by Toshiba earlier today. Regrettably, it looks too cute to die. As the Associated Press reports, Toshiba’s energy systems unit developed the 42-foot-long, snake-like probe with help from the International Research Institute for Nuclear … Continued
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Tech NewsNews
The Fukushima Cleanup Is Progressing, But at a Painstaking Pace
Earlier this year, remotely piloted robots transmitted what officials believe was a direct view of melted radioactive fuel inside Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s destroyed reactors—a major discovery, but one that took a long and painful six years to achieve. In the meantime, the program to clean up the destroyed reactors has seen numerous setbacks … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
Fukushima’s Radioactive Waste Is Leaking From an Unexpected Source
A new and unexpected source of radioactive material left over from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has been found up to 60 miles away along coastlines near the beleaguered plant. The discovery shows that damaged nuclear reactors are capable of spreading radiation far from the meltdown site, and in some surprising ways. New research published … Continued
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Tech News
Suspected Bomb From WW2 Found at Fukushima Nuclear Site
In a classic case of adding insult to injury, workers at the beleaguered Fukushima nuclear power plant have uncovered what appears to be an undetonated bomb dating back to the Second World War. As reported in The Mainichi, a Fukushima excavation worker uncovered the device while performing maintenance work on a parking lot located about … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
A Robot Captured Photos of What Might Be Melted Nuclear Fuel Inside Fukushima’s Reactor No. 3
One of the several brave robots to make one-way trips into Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s severely damaged reactors has accomplished what its less fortunate compatriots did not, sending back photos of what appears to be melted nuclear fuel from the interior of the ruined facility. The remotely controlled Toshiba robot, which is similar in … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsWild Boars Remain at Radiation-Hit Fukushima as Residents Prepare to Return
In just a few weeks, the residents of a Fukushima city will finally be allowed to return to their homes. Trouble is, the place has been overrun by hundreds of belligerent and potentially radioactive wild boars, prompting public safety concerns. At the end of March, the six-year-long evacuation order will be lifted for Namie, a … Continued
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Tech News
Excessive Radiation Inside Fukushima Fries Clean-up Robot
A remotely-controlled robot sent to inspect and clean a damaged reactor at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant had to be pulled early when its onboard camera went dark, the result of excess radiation. The abbreviated mission suggests that radiation levels inside the reactor are even higher than was reported last week—and that robots are going to … Continued
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SciencePhysics & Chemistry
A Promising New Method For Cleaning Up the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive water remain sitting around the site of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. But scientists can’t simply dump the liquid into the ocean, and if it continues sitting around, it could seep into the soil. A team of scientists from Rice University in Texas and Kazan … Continued
