Archive | March, 2011

  • Cesium and Radioactive Iodide in Fukushima City Tap Water

    The emergency response headquarters of Fukushima Prefecture announced, on 16 March 2011, that abnormal radioactive elements have been found in Fukushima City tap water: radioactive iodide, at the level of 177 becquerel per kilogram; cesium, 58 becquerel per kilogram.  They are still below the national safety standards for food and water intakes during a nuclear […]

  • Monday Update on Fukushima Reactors

      As of 11:30 pm EDT Monday 3/14/11 Three of the six reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear facility were operating at the time of the earthquake — Units 1, 2, and 3.  The reactors shut down when the earthquake hit, but even after they stopped producing power, the reactor cores were very hot and […]

  • Japan Raises Radiation Dose Safety Limit for Nuclear Emergency Workers

    Even in the best case scenario available at this point, all workers at Fukushima 1 and 2 battling to save the lives of others must have already suffered great harm to their health, and the harm is about to become greater. — Ed. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has determined that the existing […]

  • Turning Japan into the Land of the Burning Sun

    “Economic and Financial Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano, at a post-cabinet-meeting press conference on the 15th of March, said this about Japan’s nuclear power policy: ‘There is no alternative energy source if we want to secure a lot of energy.  To support the Japanese economy, we have no choice but to use nuclear power.  The people […]

  • The disasters threatening the world

    IF the speed of light didn’t exist, if the closest star to our sun weren’t four light years away from Earth, the only inhabited planet in our solar system, if UFOs truly existed, imaginary visitors to the planet would continue their journey without understanding much of anything about our long-suffering human race. Just a few […]

  • Nuclear Accident ABCs

    In reporting on the nuclear situation in Japan, terms describing the possible state of the reactors have been used by Japanese officials and international experts.  Unfortunately, these terms are not always used consistently.  We discuss some of them below. The reactor core containing nuclear fuel is the “engine” of a nuclear power reactor.  The reactor […]

  • Fukushima 1: Reactor Container Building Collapses

    Note: The image, captured by NHK on 12 March 2011, around 4:30 PM, shows that the outer walls of the container building of Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant have completely disappeared. The document above is an extra published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on 12 March 2011.  Cf. “福島第1原発1号機で爆発、天井崩落 炉心溶融か” (Nikkei, 12 […]

  • Fukushima 1: Unit 2 Fuel Rods Again Fully Exposed

    15 March 2011, 01:05 Tokyo Electric Power announced that, at around 11 PM on the 14th, it became impossible to inject cooling water into the Unit 2 reactor of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in a precipitous decline of the water level, so Unit 2’s fuel rods probably became fully exposed again.  Also, […]

  • Japan: Race against Time to Avert Complete Meltdown

    “Pray for Japan.” — Carlos Latuff Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. Nuclear Information and Resource Service, “Fact Sheet on Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant” (11 March 2011); Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear Crisis in Japan: What We Know” (11 March 2011); Philip White, “On the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan” (12 March […]

  • 原発事故の恐怖

    抜粋: 核反応が止まった後も崩壊熱つまり膨大な熱が出続けるので、長時間”冷やす”ことをしていないと炉心が溶けてしまう。・・・ 一部で、チェルノブイリ事故の後、”日本の原発は格納容器があるから安全だ”ということがいわれたが、それは間違いだ。シビアアクシデントでは、格納容器も破壊されてしまう。・・・ 原子炉の事故では、気象などに左右され高濃度の放射能汚染地帯であるホットスポットが数百キロ先まで点在する。 全文: 「原発事故の恐怖」は『徹底検証:21世紀の全技術』(現代技術史研究会編, ISBN-13: 9784894347632, 藤原書店、2010)からの抄本。原子力資料情報室のウェブサイトからダウンロードできる。市民に緊急情報を伝えるためにMRZineに非営利で再版した。 | Print

  • An Appeal to All Foreign Embassy Personnel and International Media Present in Japan, regarding the Nuclear Disaster

    You have seen the Japanese government’s response to the nuclear disaster unfolding in Japan.  Top officials have been slow to expand the exclusion zone around the Fukushima 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants.  They have been less than forthcoming in providing information about exactly in what state the reactors in trouble are.  By failing in […]

  • Fukushima 1: Water Level Failing to Rise, Unit 2 Fuel Rods Remain Exposed

    15 March 2011, 04:59 Around 11 PM on the 14th, Unit 2 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant had suffered a breakdown of its cooling water injection system, and its fuel rods became fully exposed.  At 1 AM on the 15th, Tokyo Electric Power recovered its ability to inject seawater into the Unit 2 […]

  • Update on Fukushima Reactor

    Update at 11pm EST Saturday 3/12/11: On Saturday March 12 at 3:36 pm local time (1:36 am EST) an explosion occurred in the Unit 1 reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.  (Original reports suggested that the explosion took place in an adjacent turbine building, but we no longer believe this is the case.) […]

  • Sunday Update on Fukushima Reactors

    As of 7 pm EDT Sunday 3/13/11 We reported earlier about the situation at Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor Unit 1.  The nuclear crisis in Japan took a turn for the worse as serious problems developed in reactor Unit 3. Officials from Tokyo Electric reported that after multiple cooling system failures, the water level in the Unit […]

  • Slouching towards Fukushima

    Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  | Print

  • On the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan

      The Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) is deeply concerned for the health and safety of the people affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis that have struck Japan over the last two days.  We are particularly concerned for the people in the vicinity of nuclear power plants, including workers who are trying to minimize the […]

  • On the Blast at the Fukushima Plant Seen on YouTube

      Corrected Comments on Fukushima Please note that my comments on 3/12, yesterday, were significantly in error as noted below: 1. The gases released in the YouTube video are steam. 2. This steam is not from a secondary water loop because these plants are not designed as pressurized water but are the boiling water type. […]

  • Fukushima 1: Reactor Container Building Collapses

    Note: The image, captured by NHK on 12 March 2011, around 4:30 PM, shows that the outer walls of the container building of Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant have completely disappeared. The document above is an extra published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on 12 March 2011.  Cf. “福島第1原発1号機で爆発、天井崩落 炉心溶融か” (Nikkei, 12 […]

  • 福島原発: チェルノブイリなら、20キロ圏では不十分

      日本政府は「10キロ圏出れば大丈夫」だと今日まで言いはっていた。日本のマスコミもそう報道していた。政府とマスコミは、今になってやっと「20キロ圏」と言いはじめている。国際メディアでは、科学者たちは福島原発の安全策不発の報道後直ちにスリーマイルや チェルノブイリのような事故の可能性を指摘していた。日本国民はどっちを信じるべきか? 世界の科学者? それとも金権主義の政治家と官僚と彼らの言いなりになる日本のマスコミ? チェルノブイリなら、20キロ圏では不十分。ソ連は30キロ圏の住人を避難させたが、それでも不十分だったのだ。 「ソビエトの科学者の報告によると、28,000km2が185kBq/m2を超えるセシウム-137に汚染した。約83万人がこの区域に住んでいた。約10,500km2が555kBq/m2を越えるセシウム-137に汚染した。このうち、ベラルーシに7,000km2、ロシア連邦に2,000km2、ウクライナに1,500km2が属する。約25万人がこの区域に住んでいた。これらの報告データは国際チェルノブイリプロジェクトにより裏付けられた。」 福島はチェルノブイリよりも危険だろうという声もある。 日本政府と日本のマスコミが言ってることを丸呑みにしないで。チェルノブイリを考えて、市民で助け合って、避難したほうがいい。 古橋芳恵はMRZineの編集長。  Cf. Nuclear Information and Resource Service, “Fact Sheet on Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant” (11 March 2011); Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear Crisis in Japan: What We Know” (11 March 2011); Philip White, “On the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan” (12 March 2011); Edwin […]

  • Fukushima 1: Fuel Meltdown Begins

    12 March 2011, 14:00 The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy and Industry (MITI) has just announced that near Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, a radioactive element called “cesium,” which results from nuclear fission, has been detected, so it believes that a part of the nuclear […]