nuclear meltdown

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Radioactive Milk a Threat —if You Drink 58K Cups

Heath officials blowing things way out of proportion in Japan: researcher

(Newser) - Japan is finding elevated radiation levels in milk, spinach, and water —scary, right? Richard Knox at NPR sits down with RPI health physicist Peter Caracappa to crunch some numbers about what those levels mean. The gist:
  • The max radiation a US nuclear worker is allowed to be exposed to
...

Regulators Ignored Warning Signs at Fukushima

Despite noted problems, an extension was granted for oldest reactor

(Newser) - Government regulators were concerned about the oldest reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant—but still approved a 10-year extension for reactor No. 1, just a month before the devastating earthquake and tsunami that landed the country in its current nuclear crisis. A report from the regulatory committee noted...

Japan Nuclear Pool Near Boiling Point

Work resumes at stricken plant

(Newser) - Workers resumed efforts to bring Japan's Fukushima nuclear complex under control today but a pool for storing spent fuel at the plant has presented yet another problem, AP reports. A nuclear safety official says the pool is heating up and temperatures are at or near the boiling point. The pool...

Japan Finds Radiation in Water, Milk, Spinach

But official cautions that levels not high enough to affects humans

(Newser) - Japan has detected elevated radiation levels in spinach and milk in the prefecture containing its foundering Fukushima nuclear plant and a neighboring prefecture, reports the Wall Street Journal . Milk produced roughly 30 miles away from the plant had around five times the normal amount of radioactive material iodine-131, while spinach...

Chernobyl Victims Still Face Greater Cancer Risk

Study's timing amid Japan nuclear crisis pure coincidence

(Newser) - It’s been almost a quarter of a century, but kids who consumed contaminated milk or affected cheese soon after the Chernobyl crisis still face a heightened thyroid cancer risk, a study finds. Researchers have kept tabs on 12,500 subjects who were under 18 and lived near Chernobyl when...

Fukushima Plant Worker: 'Please Stop Attacking Us'

My coworkers are putting their lives on the line, she says

(Newser) - Michiko Otsuki is sick of people ripping on Tokyo Electric Power Co. Otsuki is one of the workers who evacuated from the Fukushima nuclear plant on Monday, and afterward she took to her blog to give the people she left behind there a voice. “People have been flaming Tepco,...

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'


 '48 Hours to Worse 
 Than Chernobyl' 
UPDATED
Mar 17, 2011 7:54 AM CDT

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'

The Japanese have lost control, officials warn

(Newser) - Officials around the world are increasingly concerned that Japan's mounting nuclear disaster is out of control. "It would be hard to describe how alarming this is right now," an American official tells ABC News . He warns that unless Japan can get all of its crippled nuclear plants under...

Traces of Radiation to Reach US Friday

UN charts radiation plume

(Newser) - A plume of radiation from stricken Japanese nuclear reactors is crossing the Pacific and will be detectable in southern California by tomorrow, according to a United Nations forecast. Experts stress that the radiation in the plume will be extremely diluted and will, at worst, have very minor health consequences for...

Japan Nuclear Power Plant Crisis: Government Was Warned of Safety Issues in 2008, WikiLeaks Cables Reveal
 Japan Was Warned 
 About Nuke Safety in '08 
wikileaks reveal
Mar 16, 2011 7:54 AM CDT

Japan Was Warned About Nuke Safety in '08

WikiLeaks cables also reveal a number of other past concerns

(Newser) - The Japanese government was warned in 2008 that a strong earthquake would be a “serious problem” for the country’s nuclear power stations, WikiLeaks cables reveal. An International Atomic Energy Agency official declared twin concerns at a meeting of the G8’s Nuclear Safety and Security Group: that safety...

Scared Americans Stock Up on Anti-Radiation Pills

Potassium iodide, Geiger counters flying off the shelves

(Newser) - An ocean away from the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, worried Americans are stocking up on Geiger counters and supplements that can block one effect of radiation exposure. Pharmacies around the country are rapidly running out of potassium iodide, which can protect the thyroid gland from radiation damage, the AP...

Germany Shuts Down 7 Nuclear Reactors

Older reactors will cease operations for at least 3 months

(Newser) - Japan’s growing nuclear crisis has led Germany to shut down seven of its nuclear power plants for at least three months, the New York Times reports. Plants that began operating before the close of 1980 will temporarily close while officials complete a safety review for all 17 of the...

Radiation Spreading From Japan's Nuke Plant
 Radiation Spreading  
 From Japan's Nuke Plant  
TOKYO LEVELS ON THE RISE
Mar 15, 2011 1:58 AM CDT

Radiation Spreading From Japan's Nuke Plant

Residents ordered to stay inside after latest blast, fire

(Newser) - An alarming level of radiation is leaking from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo after an explosion and fire today , and nearby residents have been warned to stay indoors to avoid exposure, AP reports. Radiation around the plant is now high enough to be a health risk,...

New Explosion Rocks Japanese Nuclear Plant

Suppression pool found to have a defect

(Newser) - A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country's nuclear safety agency said. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the explosion occurred near the suppression pool in the reactor's containment vessel. The pool was later found to...

Japan's Nuclear Crisis: Let's Not Freak Out
Let's Not Freak Out Over Japan's Nuclear Crisis 

OPINION
Mar 14, 2011 12:45 PM CDT

Let's Not Freak Out Over Japan's Nuclear Crisis

It's far from another Chernobyl

(Newser) - America is positively freaking out over the state of Japan’s nuclear reactors, with some calling for a halt to the development of new nuclear plants. But that’s a wild overreaction, opines a Wall Street Journal editorial. The media’s done a poor job of putting the tragedy in...

US Carrier Crew Exposed to Radiation From Japan

Officials say crew received a month's radiation in just one hour

(Newser) - The US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, sailing 100 miles off the east coast of Japan, passed through a cloud of radiation spawned by the country's crippled nuclear reactors , delivering a month's worth of radiation to the crew in just one hour, reports the New York Times . Officials stressed that the...

Radioactive Steam Could Be Pumped Into Air for Months

Seawater cooling nuclear cores needs to be released periodically

(Newser) - Japan's attempts to avert a full-scale meltdown in its damaged nuclear reactors by flooding them with seawater has an ugly byproduct: radioactive steam, which may continue to be pumped into the air for weeks or even months, reports the New York Times . Operators periodically flood the cores with seawater, which...

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