In a decision that sparked condemnation from environmental advocates, fisherfolk, and neighboring countries, Japan announced Tuesday a plan to dump over 1.2 million tons of stored contaminated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The decision made by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet gives Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) the green light […]
Venus flytrap for nuclear waste: New material finds ‘needle in a haystack,’ shows promise for clean-up
Not every object is food to a Venus flytrap. Like the carnivorous plant, a new material developed at Northwestern University permanently traps only its desired prey, the radioactive ion cesium, and not other harmless ions like sodium. The synthetic material, made from layers of a gallium, sulfur and antimony compound, is very selective. The Northwestern […]
The Toxic Pigs of Fukushima Documentary
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 triggered a tsunami, nuclear meltdown and mass evacuations in Fukushima Prefecture. Today, as part of a Government push to encourage resettlement, local hunters have been enlisted to dispose of radiated Wild Boars that now roam the abandoned streets and buildings. This short film follows a lone hunter into […]
Particulate plutonium released from the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns
Small amounts of plutonium (Pu) were released from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) reactors into the environment during the site’s 2011 nuclear disaster. However, the physical, chemical, and isotopic form of the released Pu has remained unknown. Now, recent work published in the journal Science of the Total Environment has shown that Pu was […]
Fukushima radioactive particle release was significant, says new research
Scientists say there was a significant release of radioactive particles during the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident. The researchers identified the contamination using a new method and say if the particles are inhaled they could pose long-term health risks to humans. The new method allows scientists to quickly count the number of caesium-rich micro-particles in Fukushima soils […]
Hot particles in Japan: what does this mean for the Olympics and beyond?
Hundreds of thousands of people – athletes and spectators – will flood into Japan for the 2020 Olympics. But exposure dangers from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe have not ended since the meltdowns and explosions spread radioactive contamination over large areas reaching down to Tokyo and beyond. Soon after the start of the meltdowns, experts began […]
Expert says 2020 Tokyo Olympics unsafe due to Fukushima
The Japanese government announced in 2015 that it would communicate to the whole world at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 that Japan has recovered from the 2011 disaster by regarding the event as a symbol of Japan’s recovery. Plans for lifting evacuation orders and decommissioning activities are scheduled around the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games […]
Broken RadNet monitors and late filter changes impaired critical Fukushima data
Broken RadNet monitors and late filter changes impaired critical infrastructure assets at the U.S. EPA. On March 11, 2011, at the time of the Japan nuclear incident, 25 of the 124 installed RadNet monitors, or 20 percent, were out of service for an average of 130 days. The service contractor completed repairs for all monitors […]
TEPCO Plans To Release Radioactive Fukushima Wastewater Into Pacific Ocean
The far-reaching dangers of nuclear power were on full display Tuesday as Japan’s environmental minister recommended releasing more than one million tons of radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi plant into the Pacific Ocean nearly a decade after a tsunami caused a meltdown at the coastal facility. “There are no other options” other than dumping […]
Fukushima Disaster Puts Japan in ‘Nuclear Limbo’ Ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics
On 10 September, Japanese authorities announced that Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant which in 2011 experienced the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, currently has no technology to clear its wastewater from radioactive waste, and is instead discharging it into the sea. More than a million tonnes of wastewater […]