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19 Jun 2011 11:35

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World: Fukushima: Complications mar plant cleanup process

  • We’re at a point where merely opening a door can cause a radiation leak of some kind. That’s what plant operators had to deal with today, as they opened the doors to Fukushima’s No. 2 plant to cool things off and let some air inside. They hope to install a cooling system to prevent an explosion in the plant. Meanwhile, they hope to restart the cleanup process quickly, which was recently stalled. To give you an idea of what they need to clean up, let’s put it this way: 110,000 tons of highly-radioactive water, enough to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools which absolutely nobody should swim in. Officials fear that things could get really bad — think water overflowing all over the place — if they don’t act soon to deal with the water. source

05 May 2011 11:08

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World: Workers reenter Fukushima’s damaged No. 1 reactor for first time

  • Things were so dangerous after a blast at Fukushima Daiichi reactor No. 1 that workers didn’t enter the building at all afterwards. Until today. Nearly two months after the hydrogen explosion that greatly damaged the plant on March 11th, NHK reports that workers re-entered the building housing the reactor for the first time since the initial blast. The workers plan to install an air purifier in the plant, reportedly “aimed at preventing workers from suffering internal radiation exposure when they work on setting up a new cooling system at the No. 1 reactor.” That must be a really good air purifier. (Above: A pic of a robot working in the plant, via TEPCO) source