Tokyo Electric Power Co.

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Fukushima Watchdog Doing Crummy Job: Experts

Regulators routinely approve TEPCO plans: investigators

(Newser) - Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority was launched in September to keep a closer watch on the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and TEPCO's work there—but what was supposed to be a more independent, tougher regulator is simply running "the same old routine," says an investigator. The NRA...

Japan Restarts Nuke Reactor
 Japan Restarts Nuke Reactor 

Japan Restarts Nuke Reactor

Protests break out as public safety concerns persist

(Newser) - Japan re-entered the nuclear business today for the first time since the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdown more than a year ago, reports Reuters . Kansai Electric Power Co fired up the No. 3 reactor at its Ohi plant, and will add its No. 4 reactor later this month. The move comes as...

New Leak Found at Fukushima
 New Leak Found at Fukushima 

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...

New Trouble for Fukushima Reactor

Officials detect radioactive xenon, but reactor is stable

(Newser) - A potential new setback for Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: Utility officials have detected radioactive xenon particles inside the No. 2 reactor, suggesting unexpected nuclear fission may have taken place. Boric acid, which can counteract nuclear fission, was injected as a precaution, but Tokyo Electric Power says that...

Typhoon Rams Japan, Heads for Fukushima

5 killed as powerful storm makes landfall

(Newser) - A powerful typhoon made landfall in Japan today, bringing winds of up to 100 miles per hour and causing floods that have killed at least five people . Typhoon Roke is on course to hit Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeastern coast, and flooding there may cause radioactive water from the Fukushima plant...

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Stabilized

Workers on track for cold shutdown within six months

(Newser) - Some good news from Japan: The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is stabilized and a cold shutdown should be achieved within six months. Even so, Tokyo Electric Power Co. warns that final cleanup—which will involve encasing the plant in concrete—could take more than 10 years. Engineers have recently...

Tepco Knew of Fukushima Design Flaw, Did Nothing

Electric switcher swamped by tsunami, killing plant's cooling system

(Newser) - Senior Tepco engineers were aware of design flaws at five of its Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors for decades, but complacency and cost-consciousness prevented the company from fixing those problems, reports the Wall Street Journal . While newer reactors have backup diesel generators and electrical switchers placed securely in the well-protected reactor building,...

Japan's Tepco Rebuffs Push to Exit Nuclear Biz

But shareholders urge bosses to 'jump in a reactor'

(Newser) - Despite insults from a huge crowd of fuming shareholders, Tokyo Electric Power Co. voted down a motion to end the company’s stricken nuclear business. At its biggest-ever shareholder meeting, attended by more than 9,000, the firm also managed to appoint 17 board members, the New York Times reports....

Tepco Halts Water Filtering at Fukushima

Power company running out of room to store contaminated water

(Newser) - Tokyo Electric launched its much-hyped water filtration system yesterday at its foundering Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant—only to shut it down a mere five hours later. The setback is very serious, notes the New York Times, with Tepco in grave danger of running out of room for the tens of...

Inside Fukushima Cleanup: Willy-Nilly Safety, Training

Many workers lack training, equipment needed

(Newser) - Three months after the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant began, the Wall Street Journal takes a look at safety measures in interviews with seven of the people they're designed to protect. One contractor had just a 30-minute briefing before stepping onto the grounds in the...

Fukushima's Tsunami Plan: One Page

Nuclear plant thought it was immune to waves, thanks to decade-old memo

(Newser) - Nuclear officials in Japan thought the Fukushima reactors were safe from the biggest waves a quake could hurl at them—thanks to a decade-old, one-page memo from the plant operator, reports the AP . Granted, it’s a double-size page, but it gives few details to back its claim that no...

TEPCO Head Resigns Amid Huge Losses

Masataka Shimizu steps down in disgrace over Fukushima disaster

(Newser) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Masataka Shimizu said today he was stepping down in disgrace after reporting the biggest financial losses in company history. Shimizu, criticized for his low profile during the early days of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant disaster, said he was resigning to take "responsibility" but...

New Photos Show Tsunami Slamming Fukushima

Tokyo Electric Power Co. releases dramatic pictures

(Newser) - As Japanese workers today entered the last of the three Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor buildings suffering from nuclear meltdowns, Tokyo Electric Power Company released dramatic new pictures of the March 11 tsunami hitting the plant. Workers entered the No. 3 reactor building today for the first time since the earthquake and...

US Reactors Have Same Flaw as Fukushima

Venting system is same as one that failed at Japan plant

(Newser) - US officials have long insisted that American nuclear plants are safe from the kind of crisis that hit Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, because they have a newer, better venting system. But Tokyo Electric has now revealed that it installed the exact same vents years ago, the New York Times...

What Really Happened When Quake Hit Fukushima

Nuclear crisis was more desperate than the world realized

(Newser) - The first 24 hours of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi were more chaotic and dangerous than the outside world ever dreamed. When the tsunami hit and knocked out the plant’s backup generators, workers turned into scavengers, searching nearby homes for flashlights and ripping the batteries out of...

Workers Venture Back Into Exploded Reactor

They're attempting to use ventilation system to clear radioactive air

(Newser) - Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant today for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said. They'll attempt to connect ventilation equipment in Unit...

Livid Parents Give Officials Bag of Radioactive Dirt

Fukushima parents angered by decision to raise radiation exposure levels

(Newser) - Parents outraged by the Japanese government's decision to raise the acceptable radiation exposure for children 20-fold presented government ministers in Tokyo with a bag of radioactive dirt from a school playground. The government says the move to increase the safety level from one to 20 millisieverts per year is...

Reactor Basement Losing Its Radioactive Water

In three-week process it will be removed then ultimately purified

(Newser) - Tokyo Electric began the painstaking process of pumping radioactive water out of the basement of a turbine building at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station today, dumping it into a special storage building. It’ll be a frustratingly slow process, the New York Times reports, with technicians daring only to extract...

Tepco: Fukushima Crisis Over in 6-9 Months

Plant operator outlines plans to shut down reactors

(Newser) - Tepco today laid out a plan to have the nuclear crisis at Fukushima Dai-ichi contained within six to nine months. "We sincerely apologize for causing troubles," said Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata in unveiling the plan. "We are doing our utmost to prevent the crisis from further worsening."...

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...

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