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NEWS ABOUT: radioactive leaks

New Leak Found at Fukushima

Radioactive water may have already leaked into Pacific

(Newser) - A significant new leak of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Japan's crippled Fukushima power plant, and has possibly already oozed radiation into the Pacific Ocean. Some 12,000 gallons of contaminated water were discovered yesterday morning around a condensation unit of a water purification system, according to... More »

Japan Doubles Fallout Estimate

Government promises to create independent watchdog

(Newser) - The closer investigators look, the worse the news gets out of Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. A new government report doubles the estimated radioactive fallout from 370,000 to 770,000 terabecquerels so far, reports the BBC . If a terabecquerel sounds a little obscure, it may be easier to fathom... More »

Robot Detects Radiation Still Too High for Japan Workers

But Tepco officials say this will not affect their reactor shutdown plans

(Newser) - An American robot sent into the crippled nuclear reactor buildings at Fukushima Dai-ichi has detected radiation levels too high for workers to enter, more than a month after a quake and tsunami crippled the plant, reports the AP . Reactor Unit 1 measured 49 millisieverts per hour, and Unit 3 reached... More »

Radioactivity Spikes Again in Sea Near Fukushima Plant

It could be a sign of more leaks

(Newser) - Radioactivity has been rising in the seawater around the Fukushima nuclear plant in recent days, which could mean that the plant has new leaks, reports AP . Japanese authorities today reported increased levels of iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium-137. "We want to determine the origin and contain the leak, but I... More »

To Plug Nuke Leak, Workers Try Newspaper, Sawdust

Workers still struggling to trace, plug leak

(Newser) - Desperate workers continued to stuff sawdust and newspapers mixed with resin and concrete into a major fissure at a Fukushima nuclear reactor as the breach threatened to continue pumping radioactive water into the ocean from months to come. Meanwhile, workers used powdered bath salts to turn the water a milky... More »

Concrete Pit Leaking Radioactive Water Into Ocean

Japan trying to plug newly found crack at Fukushima plant

(Newser) - Japan might have figured out why seawater near the Fukushima plant has been showing such high levels of radioactivity: a cracked concrete maintenance pit. The newly discovered crack may have been allowing radioactive water to leak directly into the ocean since the earthquake, and workers are trying to plug it... More »

Japan Evacuees: Clinics Deny Care Over Contagion Fears

Worries are groundless—but unsurprising, says expert

(Newser) - Fearing contagion from exposure to radioactivity, Japanese shelters and clinics are rejecting hundreds of evacuees from near the Fukushima nuclear plant, reports the Telegraph . The institutions are requiring certificates from evacuees that show they haven’t faced exposure. Such concerns, however, are “completely irrational,” says a British expert... More »

Japan Radiation Hits Las Vegas

What happens in Fukushima does not stay in Fukushima at all

(Newser) - The amounts are tiny, but radiation from Japan's crippled nuclear plant has reached all the way to Las Vegas, reports the AP. Minuscule amounts of iodine-131 and xenon-133 reached a monitoring station in Sin City, though scientists emphasized it posed no health risks. "Unless you have an accident like... More »

Radiation in Fukushima, Nearby Waters Spikes

Radioactive iodine hits 10 million times normal level, forcing evacuation

(Newser) - Radiation is spiking both in and around the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, forcing workers to evacuate the plant. Radioactive iodine in water leaking from the No. 2 reactor's turbine housing unit soared to 10 million times the usual limit, said Tokyo Electric Power Co., where workers had been struggling... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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