Photo gallery: Dry season: the Texas drought of 2011

Photographs by Jay JannerStory by Brenda BellAustin American-Statesman staff The meanest drought in modern Texas history looks different out here, away from the cities. There are no emerald swaths of St. Augustine lawns, no blooming shrubs, no misters cooling bar patrons as the sun goes down on another cloudless, 105-degree day. The disconnect between what […]

Video: Airborne transport of cesium-137 from Fukushima to North America

Movie of the Fukushima-Daichii activity in the air (cesium-137, ground level). The simulation was performed with a specific version of the numerical atmospheric chemistry and transport model Polyphemus/Polair3D. The parametrisations used for the transport and physical removal of the radionuclides are described in [1,2,3,4]. The magnitude of activity concentration field is uncertain and could be […]

Extreme radioactive soil contamination detected near Fukushima plant

August 30 (Asahi Shimbun) – Extreme levels of radiation have been detected in soil within 40 kilometers of the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the science ministry said. The finding emerged in a map published Aug. 29 that for the first time shows contamination levels of areas within a 100-km radius of the […]

Greenpeace: Radiation in Fukushima schools still unsafe after clean-up

By Natalia Konstantinovskaya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Chris Gallagher29 August 2011 TOKYO (Reuters) – The environmental group took samples at and near three schools in Fukushima city, well outside the 20 km exclusion zone from Tokyo Electric Power’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan’s northeast. “No parent should have to choose between radiation […]

Fukushima and Chernobyl compared – ‘It's hard to believe we ever lived here’

By David McNeill 29 August 2011 Soma City (The Independent) – Yoshio Ichida is recalling the worst day of his 53 years: 11 March, when the sea swallowed up his home and killed his friends. The Fukushima fisherman was in the bath when the huge quake hit and barely made it to the open sea […]

Research shows much more radioactive fallout in northern and central Japan than expected

By arevamirpal::laprimavera26 August 2011 The rest was either blown off to the ocean or landed somewhere else in Japan. Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) had their paper published in the electronic version of Geophysical Research Letters published by the American Geophysical Union on August 11, and they announced the result of […]

Japan faces costly, unprecedented radiation cleanup

By Yoko Kubota, with additional reporting by Yuko Takeo; Editing by Ed Lane25 August 2011 TOKYO (Reuters) – Nearly six months after the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan faces the task of cleaning up a sprawling area of radioactivity that could cost tens of billions of dollars, […]

China: Excessive radiation in marine life near Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

August 24 (Xinhua) – Biological samples taken from waters in the Western Pacific region east of Fukushima, Japan show excessive radiation levels, said a statement from China’s State Oceanic Administration on Wednesday. The administration suggested that government agencies intensify radiation testing of marine products from the targeted waters to protect public health in China. According […]

Japan triples airborne radiation checks as ‘hot spots’ spread – ‘Distrust and cynicism of central government is pretty much universal’

By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada23 August 2011 Japan will more than triple the number of regions it checks for airborne radiation as more contaminated “hot spots” are discovered far from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power station. The government said it will increase radiation monitoring by helicopter to 22 prefectures from the […]

More power plant woes likely if Texas drought drags into winter – ‘Cooling reservoirs just aren’t being replenished’

By Tom Fowler24 August 2011 A number of Texas power plants may need to cut back operations or shut down completely if the state’s severe drought continues into the fall, an official with Texas’ main transmission manager told FuelFix. At least one North Texas power plant has had to reduce how much it generates because the […]

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