NewsTrust - Japan - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

Atomic Cover-Up: The Hidden Story Behind the U.S. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, George Weller - Aug. 09 (Special Report) - As radiation readings in Japan reach their highest levels since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdowns, we look at the beginning of the atomic age. Today is the 66th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki, which killed some 75,000 people and left another 75,000 seriously wounded. It came just three days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing around 80,000 people and injuring some 70,000. By official Japanese estimates, nearly 300,000 people died from the bombings, including those who lost their lives in the ensuing months and years from related injuries and illnesses. Other researchers estimate a much higher death toll.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Japan Nuclear Plant A 'Ticking Time Bomb,' Says Physicist

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Jun. 22 (News Report) - Though global fears about radiation emissions from the heavily damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility have calmed in the weeks since Japan's devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, famed physicist Michio Kaku insists the situation remains a "ticking time bomb." A professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and the City College of New York, Kaku discussed some recent revelations about the disaster's impact, and noted that Japanese officials still don't yet have control at the site.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

As Japan Nuclear Crisis Worsens Citizen-led Radiation Monitors Pressure Govt to Increase Evacuations

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 10 (News Report) - Almost three months after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear disaster in Japan, new radiation "hot spots" may require the evacuation of more areas further from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency recently admitted for the first time that full nuclear meltdowns occurred at three of the plant’s reactors, and more than doubled its estimate for the amount of radiation that leaked from the plant in the first week of the disaster in March. “What they failed to mention is that they discharged an equally large amount into the ocean,” says our guest Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. “As [the radiation] goes up the food chain, it accumulates, and by the time it reaches people who consume this food, the levels are higher than they originally were when they entered the environment.” We also go to Tokyo to speak with Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of the group Green Action. She says citizens are leading their own monitoring efforts and calling for additional evacuations, especially for young children and pregnant women.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

fairewinds.com - By Arnie Gundersen - May. 26 (Special Report) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) held a special ACRS meeting Thursday May 26, 2011 on the current status of Fukushima. Arnie Gundersen was invited to speak for 5 minutes concerning the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident as it pertains to the 23 Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR's) in the US and containment integrity.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

TEPCO 'failed to heed warnings about tsunami risks'

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

todayonline.com - May. 16 (News Report) - A government body conducted analyses on the damage tsunamis of various scale would inflict on a nuclear power plant, according to documents made public yesterday, adding to allegations that Japan and its largest utility failed to heed warnings.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fukushima - One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

fairewinds.com - May. 13 (News Analysis) - Gundersen says Fukushima's gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Nuclear Adviser to Japanese President Resigns Over Radiation Levels

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

infowars.com - May. 02 (News Report) - During an emotional and teary news conference, Toshiso Kosako, a professor at the University of Tokyo, announced his resignation as senior nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan...Kosako said he could not stay on while the government set inappropriate radiation limits for elementary schools near the plant. “Japanese authorities have set a 20-millisievert limit for radiation exposure as safe. Kosako said that is 20 times too high, especially for children, who are more vulnerable to radiation than adults.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Second Nuclear Plant May Be Leaking in Japan

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - May. 02 (News) - 'Radioactive substances may be leaking from fuel rods at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, the Fukui prefectural government said Monday, noting a rise in the level of radioactive substances in the reactor's coolant water. Japan Atomic Power Co., the utility firm that operates the Tsuruga nuclear plant on the Sea of Japan coast, acknowledged 'technical difficulties' at the Unit 2 reactor and confirmed a possible leak of radioactive iodine from the reactor's nuclear fuel rods into the coolant system.' Environment News Service

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fukushima Reactors Are a "Ticking Time Bomb," Japanese Govt in Denial

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 14 (News Analysis) - radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors. The situation is not stable at all. So, you’re looking at basically a ticking time bomb. It appears stable, but the slightest disturbance—a secondary earthquake, a pipe break, evacuation of the crew at Fukushima—could set off a full-scale meltdown at three nuclear power stations, far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Thomas Breuer, Amy Goodman - Apr. 12 (News Analysis) - Japan has raised the severity rating of its nuclear crisis from 5 to 7, the highest level, matching the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. We go to Tokyo for an update from Thomas Breuer, head of the Climate and Energy Unit for Greenpeace Germany and part of a field of radiation monitors in Japan. He notes that unlike Chernobyl, the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is in a densely populated area. “We warned the government that there are a lot of cities and villages outside the 20-kilometers evacuation zone where the radiation levels are so high that people need urgently to be evacuated, especially children and pregnant women, because they are the most vulnerable part of the population to radiation,” says Breuer. [includes rush transcript]

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Japan Earthquake 2011: Magnitude 7.4 Temblor Causes Tsunami Warning

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Apr. 07 (News) - Japan's meteorological agency says it has lifted a tsunami warning for the northeastern coast 90 minutes after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck offshore. The quake hit about 11:30 p.m. Thursday Japan time. It has rattled nerves nearly a month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that flattened the northeastern coast.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Japan Releases Radioactive Water Several Million Times the Legal Limit into Ocean

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 05 (News Report) - Radiation at the shoreline of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility has measured several million times the legal limit, just four weeks after the earthquake and tsunami and days after workers discovered a crack where highly contaminated water was spilling directly into the Pacific Ocean. Experts say radiation dissipates quickly in the vast ocean, but they are unclear what will be the long-term effects of large amounts of contamination. The new levels prompted the Japanese government on Tuesday to create an acceptable radiation standard for fish for the first time. We're joined by Philip White of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center in Tokyo. “Cancers from this sort of level of radioactivity will not appear in the first few months or year; they will be late-onset phenomena,” White says. “So, it'll require a lot of monitoring of health to actually see what the impact of this is.” [includes rush transcript]

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Waking Up to a Nuclear Nightmare

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

TruthOut - By Barbara Rose Johnston - Apr. 04 (News Analysis) - As Japan's nuclear disaster continues to unfold, a growing number of its citizens and residents are beginning their transition, becoming the newest members of the world's radiogenic community. Like the hibakusha, downwinders, uranium miners, atomic vets and the many who live in towns and cities that hosted the nuclear enterprise, they find their lives profoundly altered by a hazardous, invisible threat, where the fear of nuclear contamination and the personal health and intergenerational effects from exposure colors all aspects of social, cultural, economic and psychological well-being.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

'Worse Than Chernobyl'

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Tom Burnett - Apr. 04 (News Analysis) - 'Fukushima is going to dwarf Chenobyl. The Japanese government has had a level 7 nuclear disaster going for almost a week but won't admit it. The disaster is occurring the opposite way than Chernobyl, which exploded and stopped the reaction. At Fukushima, the reactions are getting worse. I suspect three nuclear piles are in meltdown and we will probably get some of it.' Tom Burnett, Hawaii News Daily

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Concrete Fails to Plug leak at Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Julie Makinen - Apr. 03 (News) - 'Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it had detected an 8-inch crack in the concrete pit holding power cables near reactor No. 2 and was working to seal the fracture. Tepco said the water was coming directly from the reactor and the radiation level was 1,000 millisieverts an hour. The annual limit of radiation exposure allowed for Fukushima workers is 250 millisieverts.' Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Gov't aware of possibility of reactor core's meltdown before quake

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

english.kyodonews.jp - Apr. 03 (News Report) - Nobuaki Terasaka, who heads the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said on May 26, ''It is logically possible for a reactor core to melt down if all outer electricity sources were lost, leading the plant's cooling functions to be lost for many hours,'' according to the minutes of a House of Representatives committee.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Emergency worker relates his experience at radioactive Fukushima plant

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

mdn.mainichi.jp - Apr. 02 (News Report) - the man said that he had worked on the premises of the plant for several days. He had not carried a radiation dosimeter. He wore a full-face gasmask, rubber gloves, long boots, and he wore a white outfit made of a gauze-like material over regular work clothes. He joined with several other workers to try to connect the outside power grid to the nuclear power plant.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Groundwater at Fukushima Plant "Highly" Radiation-Contaminated

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - Mar. 31 (News Report) - More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

radiation doses - what do they mean for you and for Japanese

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Heart of America - By Gerry Pollet - Mar. 30 (Special Report) - 5.8 % of adults would get cancer if reported current radiation levels at 20 kilometers, 13 miles, from reactor persist when people return to live

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Fresh coolant injected, high-radiation water leaks in nuke crisis

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Mainichi Daily News - Mar. 26 (News Report) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it has begun injecting freshwater into the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor cores at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to enhance cooling efficiency, although highly radioactive water was found leaking possibly from both reactors as well as the No. 2 reactor.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 7 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Radioactivity in Food, Water Sparks Fears of Widespread Contamination in Japan

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman - Mar. 24 (News Report) - Japan is facing growing fears as radiation leaking from the badly-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station has contaminated food and water supplies. Bottled water was in short supply across Tokyo after Japanese authorities warned that tap water is too dangerous for consumption by infants. Thousands of people remain without potable water in areas of northern Japan ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami. We speak with Aileen Mioko Smith of Kyoto-based Green Action, one of Japan's leading voices challenging the production, commerce and transport of nuclear material, and calling for sustainable energy policies.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Reflections on Fukushima: A time to mourn, to learn, and to teach

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

thebulletin.org - By Robert Socolow - Mar. 21 (News Analysis) - As a physicist, I have spent my life hoping that nuclear power could realize its potential. My teachers were scientists who had penetrated the nuclear world for the first time. They told those of us who were studying physics in the pre-1960s era that we could have all the fun they had had, as the domain of analysis moved down in scale from the nucleus to the hadrons and leptons of the sub-nuclear zoo. But, with that fun, came a second assignment: Our generation had to ensure there was no further use of nuclear weapons. My contemporaries and I were socialized to believe that nuclear physics could bring humankind amazing insights into our past via precise dating and powerful tools of diagnostic and therapeutic medicine -- but nuclear physics, we were taught, also could bring attractive energy sources. The triad of nuclear power weaknesses -- safety, waste management, and couplings to weapons -- was a surmountable challenge.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Understanding Japan's nuclear crisis

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Ars Technica - By John Timmer - Mar. 18 (News Analysis) - Following the events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japan has been challenging. At best, even those present at the site have a limited view of what's going on inside the reactors themselves, and the situation has changed rapidly over the last several days. Meanwhile, the terminology involved is somewhat confusing—some fuel rods have almost certainly melted, but we have not seen a meltdown; radioactive material has been released from the reactors, but the radioactive fuel currently remains contained. Over time, the situation has become a bit less confused, as cooler heads have explained more about the reactor and the events that have occurred within it. What we'll attempt to do here is aggregate the most reliable information we can find, using material provided by multiple credible sources. We've attempted to confirm some of this information with groups like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy but, so far, these organizations are not making their staff available to talk to the press.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Japan Raises Severity Of Nuclear Accident

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Ap - Mar. 18 (News) - Japan's nuclear safety agency raised the severity rating of the country's nuclear crisis Friday from Level 4 to Level 5 on a seven-level...

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

“Serious Danger of a Full Core Meltdown”: Update on Japan’s Nuclear Catastrophe

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez - Mar. 17 (News Analysis) - Fears of a full-scale nuclear reactor meltdown are increasing as Japanese authorities use military helicopters to dump water on the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. The water appears to have missed its target and failed to cool the plant's reactors and spent fuel rods. “The walls of defense are falling with the melting of the cores, the collapsing—we expect the collapsing of the vessel. And with these damaged containments, these are all open windows to the atmosphere,” says Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear. Some experts say U.S. reactors are safer than those in Japan. But investigative journalist, Karl Grossman, notes a 1985 report by the National Regulatory Commission acknowledged a 50 percent chance of a severe core accident among the more than 100 nuclear power plants in the United States over a 20-year period.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer