Category Archives: Japan

Some good news: Japanese court blocks restart of two reactors

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Robert Singleton

Reuters reported today: A Japanese court on Tuesday issued an injunction to prevent the restart of two reactors citing safety concerns, in a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to return to atomic energy four years after the Fukushima … Continue reading →

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Japan to close only nuclear reprocessing facility

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The next time some idiot tells you that the United States should get into the nuclear reprocessing business, tell them this: Japan is closing its only reprocessing facility because it’s too expensive to be done safely. According to an article … Continue reading →

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Japan looking to ‘solar islands’ to replace shuttered nuclear plants

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Robert Singleton

Jon Major, a research fellow at the University of Liverpool wrote in the Ecologist today: Two companies in Japan recently announced they are to begin building two large solar power islands that will float on reservoirs. This follows smartphone maker … Continue reading →

Posted in Japan, Solar power | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Accident at Fukushima: 880 pound piece of unmanned crane falls into spent fuel pool

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Independent Online reported this morning: A 400kg (880pounds) machine part fell into a nuclear fuel pool at Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant on Friday, the operator said. Friday’s incident occurred shortly after noon during a remotely controlled operation to remove … Continue reading →

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Japan to establish interim nuclear storage facility in Fukushima

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Asahi Shimbun reported this morning: Fukushima Prefecture is set to accept the construction of an interim facility to store radioactive waste from cleanup work due to the nuclear disaster, advancing the stalled process of decontaminating the affected areas. Negotiations … Continue reading →

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TEPCO concedes that Fukushima ‘ice plug’ isn’t working

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Robert Singleton

According to an article in today’s issue of The Telegraph: The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has conceded defeat in its effort to create a frozen plug in a tunnel to stop water flowing into the No. 2 … Continue reading →

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Test results are in: Birds, monkeys, butterflies show effects of Fukushima radiation

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Robert Singleton

I previously reported that monkeys and other animals around Fukushima are being tested for effects of exposure to radiation from the accident. Some of those effects are now known. Colorado’s Summit County Citizens Voice reported today:  The disastrous 2011 meltdown … Continue reading →

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South Korea to return cesium-contaminated scrap steel to Japan

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Robert Singleton

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported today: South Korea has found radiation-contaminated metal imports from Japan and will return them, the country’s nuclear safety commission said Monday. The contaminated products were included in a 20-ton shipment of scrap metal that … Continue reading →

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Japanese nuclear utility paid kickbacks to Japanese prime ministers for almost two decades, according to former KEPCO exec

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Asahi Shimbun reported yesterday: A former top official at Kansai Electric Power Co. has come forward to reveal a nearly 20-year history of doling out “top secret” huge donations to Japanese prime ministers, funded on the backs of ratepayers. … Continue reading →

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TEPCO storing radioactive water at Fukushima in used tanks designed for mud storage

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Robert Singleton

The Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported today: Roughly 20 or more of the water tanks holding radioactively contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant are secondhand, it has been learned — a fact that plant owner Tokyo … Continue reading →

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