On March 11, a powerful earthquake set off a tsunam i that swamped the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant , cutting off power and causing nuclear fuel rods to overheat and melt.
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The partial meltdown of nuclear fuel at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has created a crisis in Japan. Nature Video provides a brief summary of events at the plant, and what lies ahead for the damaged reactors
Read More »Robot measures radiation at Fukishima Daiichi site, verdict unclear
After weeks on standby, robots have been called from the sidelines to help inspect reactor buildings at Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Read More »Is Fukushima really as bad as Chernobyl?
One month to the day after the devastating twin blows of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent 15-meter tall tsunami, Japanese officials have reclassified the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at the highest possible level. The partial meltdown of three reactors and at least two spent fuel pools, along with multiple hydrogen explosions at the site now rate a 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale--a level previously affixed only to the meltdown and explosion at Chernobyl
Read More »Radiation Release Will Hit Marine Life
By Quirin Schiermeier of Nature magazine As radioisotopes pour into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, one reassuring message has been heard over and over again: the Pacific Ocean is a big place. That the isotopes will be vastly diluted is not in question
Read More »Japan raises nuclear crisis severity to highest level
TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) - Japan raised the severity of itsnuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to a level [More]
Read More »Radiation Levels Explained: An exposure infographic
There’s been a lot of confusion and concern about radiation in the past few weeks. As part of the Building a Better Explainer project at NYU’s Studio 20 , we decided to create a visual explainer of radiation levels, inspired by some recent presentations over at XKCD and Information is Beautiful .
Read More »Aftershock shakes Japan’s ruined northeast coast
* No damage reported at Fukushima plant * Tsunami warning lifted, workers return [More]
Read More »Magnitude 7.1 aftershock disrupts efforts at Japan nuclear plant to stave off hydrogen explosions
As northeastern Japan copes with Thursday's magnitude-7.1* aftershock, the largest since the disastrous March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami , the injection of nitrogen gas into one of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was interrupted as Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) workers evacuated to a safer site, according to the Japan Broadcasting Corp (JBP) . A tsunami warning had been issued briefly but was later canceled .
Read More »Experts on Japan nuclear crisis answer questions from Nature readers
During the morning of April 6, our colleagues at Nature ran a live, online question-and-answer event about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis . Visitors posted questions for Jim Smith, an environmental physicist from the University of Portsmouth, U.K., and Geoff Brumfiel, Nature’s senior physical sciences correspondent. Brian Owen served as moderator.
Read More »Fukushima Health Risks Scrutinized
By Declan Butler of Nature magazine Even as the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station continue to leak radiation, researchers have begun laying the groundwork for studies that will look for any long-term effects on public health. Academic scientists face major obstacles as they try to collate baseline data on radiation doses in the face of the enormous disruption caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last month.
Read More »Disaster-hit Japan faces protracted nuclear crisis
* Battle to control Fukushima plant seen far from over * Japan crisis helps tip Germany poll against Merkel [More]
Read More »Radiation fears mount again in Japan after plant workers hurt
By Mayumi Negishi and Kazunori Takada TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Radiation fears escalated in Japan on Friday after workers suffered burns as they tried to cool an earthquake-crippled nuclear power station, while the government sowed confusion over whether it was widening an evacuation zone around the plant. Prime Minister Naoto Kan, making his first public statement on the crisis in a week, said the situation at the Fukushima nuclear complex north of Tokyo was "nowhere near the point" of being resolved.
Read More »Injuries to delay work at Japan’s damaged nuclear plant
By Yoko Kubota TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Injuries to workers battling to bring Japan's earthquake-damaged nuclear plant under control will set back efforts to stabilise it, officials said, as fear of radiation from the complex spread both at home and abroad. Engineers are trying to regain control of the six-reactor nuclear power station in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital, two weeks after an earthquake and tsunami battered the plant and devastated northeastern Japan, leaving about 27,400 people dead or missing. Explosions in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station last week made this the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl and raised fears of a catastrophic meltdown
Read More »The Location of Every Single Nuclear Plant in the World
As the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis slowly comes under control, global attention is turning to broader existential questions about nuclear power. Despite providing 6% of the world's power without emissions and fatalities from their nuclear facilities, countries like Germany and China
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