TOKYO — The tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has reached a “cold shutdown” and is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation, Japan’s prime minister said Friday. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s announcement marks a milestone nine months after the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. It is a crucial step toward lifting evacuation orders and closing the plant. “Even if unforeseeable incidents happen, the situation is such that radiation levels on the boundary of...

Google has added Google Street View imagery for the areas of Japan most affected by the March tsunami, enabling users to see the effects for themselves. Visit: http://www.miraikioku.com/streetview/en/about [Note at the time of this post, it looks like they have the before and after reversed] From the site: On March 11, 2011 a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan, causing unimaginable damage. Many people lost their lives, their homes, and all their precious memories collected over generations. Among the things lost were precious photos and videos — cherished images of family,...

Blast rocks France nuclear waste site, officials say 1 killed, 4 injured after furnace explodes; no leak of radioactive material, officials say A furnace exploded at the Marcoule nuclear waste treatment site in southern France on Monday, killing one person, but there was no leak of radioactive material outside the furnace, France’s ASN nuclear safety watchdog said. Four other people were injured, one seriously, in the blast at the Centraco site, owned by French power utility EDF and adjacent to the Marcoule nuclear research center. The site does not house any nuclear reactors. The furnace that...

TEPCO to Build Iron Wall to Contain Radioactive Water Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to build an “iron wall” between the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility and the ocean to keep radioactive water out of the sea. Thousands of 24-yard-long iron pipes will be sunk into the earth, extending to below the sea bed, to create a wall around the water intakes for reactors 1-4. Construction of the 875-yard wall is expected to begin by the end of the year and be complete in about two years. The Japan Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has been conducting experiments since May on reducing...

TEPCO admits nuclear meltdown occurred at Fukushima reactor 16 hours after quake Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) admitted for the first time on May 15 that most of the fuel in one of its nuclear reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant had melted only about 16 hours after the March 11 earthquake struck a wide swath of northeastern Japan and triggered a devastating tsunami. According to TEPCO, the operator of the crippled nuclear power plant, the emergency condenser designed to cool the steam inside the pressure vessel of the No. 1 reactor was working properly shortly after the...

  On Monday, 18 April 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan: 1. Current Situation Overall, the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains very serious but there are early signs of recovery in some functions, such as electrical power and instrumentation. On 17th April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that TEPCO had issued a “Roadmap towards Restoration from the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station”. The roadmap outlines 63 measures to be taken in two steps...