By arevamirpal::laprimavera 30 November 2011 In the first post on the subject, I translated what NHK reported: 東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故で、メルトダウンが起きた1号機の燃料は、鋼鉄の原子炉の底を突き破って相当の量が格納容器に落下し、容器の底のコンクリートを溶かして最大で65センチ浸食していると推定されることが、東京電力の解析結果から分かりました。 It has been discovered by TEPCO’s analysis that the significant amount of Reactor 1’s melted fuel pierced through the steel Reactor Pressure Vessel and dropped onto the Containment Vessel, then melted the concrete at the bottom of […]
November 30 (Reuters) – Canada’s failure to deny reports that it is about to ditch the Kyoto Protocol is “setting a bad example” to other developed nations as global climate change talks enter their third day, China’s official news agency said on Wednesday. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said on Monday that Kyoto was “the […]
By TOMOHIRO IWATA, Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA24 November 2011 During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances. “Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear […]
Editor’s note: Of the world’s 50,000 edible plant species, only a few hundred find their way to menus around the globe. Of those, just three — rice, wheat and maize — make up two-thirds of the human food supply. And only rice is responsible for feeding half the world, or more than 3.5 billion people. […]
November 12 – About three dozen journalists sat on two buses. They wore protective suits, double gloves, double layers of clear plastic booties over shoes, hair covers, respirator masks, and carried radiation detectors. As they drove to the Fukushima plant, they passed through a police checkpoint, and saw three towns – Naraha, Tomioka, Okuma – […]
Based on a pooled dispatch from Martin Fackler of the New York Times13 November 2011 About three dozen journalists sat on two buses. We wore protective suits, double gloves, double layers of clear plastic booties over shoes, hair covers, respirator masks, and carried radiation detectors. As we drove to the Fukushima plant, we passed through […]
By Michelle Esteban 11 November 2011 SEATTLE – Debris the size of California is headed for the U.S. coast. The materials were swept out to sea after a massive earthquake and a tsunami hit Japan last March. A local oceanographer says while the bulk of the debris will take several years to arrive, items that […]
By Greg PalastNovember 10, 2011 I’ve seen a lot of sick stuff in my career, but this was sick on a new level. Here was the handwritten log kept by a senior engineer at the nuclear power plant: Wiesel was very upset. He seemed very nervous. Very agitated. … In fact, the plant was riddled […]
By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada4 November 2011 Tokyo Electric Power Co. won approval for a 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) bailout from the government after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe to avert bankruptcy and start paying compensation for the crisis. Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the support after the company known as Tepco […]
By Jake Ellison 3 November 2011 Calling it an “emerging threat,” Sen. Maria Cantwell testified in congress yesterday that a floating debris field five-times the size of the state of Washington is heading for the West Coast and could disrupt the state’s economy when it lands in 2014. “After the tragic tsunami that struck Japan, […]