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12 Sep 2011 10:31

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U.S.: More details on the explosion at a French nuclear plant

  • what On Monday, an explosion of a furnace at at French nuclear plant killed one and injured four others, one seriously. Officials are investigating.
  • where The Marcoule plant, located near the French city of Avignon, is one of the oldest nuclear plants in the country. It doesn’t have any reactors.
  • why The furnace, which handles radioactive waste, exploded. It was an industrial accident in nature, not a nuclear one, officials say. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Apr 2011 14:03

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World: TEPCO begins draining radioactive water, tries to find major leak

  • lesser evil TEPCO has begun releasing thousands of tons of radioactive water into the ocean, freeing up space to store the much more dangerously radioactive water they now have to contend with, a release of which would be much worse.
  • square one Dye was used to determine the location of a leak of highly contaminated water, which TEPCO has fought for days. They didn’t see it in the ocean outside, meaning the leak is not where they’d been trying to plug the past couple days. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Mar 2011 10:48

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World: Fukushima evacuees: Reactor trouble completely unexpected

  • It said we had to go to the town hall to evacuate because there was trouble at reactor No. 1. I left with just my purse and the clothes I was wearing.
  • Fukushima nuclear plant employee Yoshiko Watanabe • Describing what happened when she found out the plant was first having trouble on Saturday. Since then, she and others have been sleeping on the floor at a school in the city of Iwaki.  She and other residents of Narahama are among the 200,000 people who have been forced from their homes by the situation at Fukushima. The town had no plan for anything like this and was caught off-guard. That’s because the reactor was made to withstand a quake, but not a tsunami. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Mar 2011 11:53

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World: Laymen’s terms: Fukushima withstood the quake, not the tsunami

  • Reactors have been designed with such [earthquake] concerns in mind, but preliminary assessments of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents suggested that too little attention was paid to the threat of tsunami. It appeared that the reactors withstood the powerful earthquake, but the ocean waves damaged generators and backup systems, harming the ability to cool the reactors.
  • A piece from the New York Times • Explaining what appears to have happened, calmly and simply, with the current nuclear crisis. Overall, the effect is that Japan’s precautionary methods for nuclear plants were successful in what they were designed to do. The problem is, the design of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant didn’t anticipate something far different. Which is why the current situation has escalated. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Mar 2011 18:37

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U.S.: Fukushima: Dozens of people could’ve been exposed to radiation

  • 160 people are at risk of radiation according to the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
  • nine people have shown signs of radiation so far, based on early tests by multiple authorities source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Mar 2011 15:22

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World: Fukushima update: Some people have tested positive for radiation

  • 50k number of people who officials evacuated to prevent further radiation exposure
  • 90 residents near the Fukushima reactor site tested randomly for radiation exposure
  • three of those people tested positive for very high levels – this could be bad, guys source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Mar 2011 08:34

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World: Fukushima blast: Sea water the coolant of choice for reactor

  • We’ve decided to fill the reactor container with sea water. Trade minister Kaieda has instructed us to do so. By doing this, we will use boric acid to prevent criticality.
  • Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano • Explaining what will happen next in the wake of the Fukushima blast in Japan. For what its worth, Edano says that, although there was an explosion, it didn’t affect the core reactor. “The nuclear reactor is surrounded by a steel reactor container, which is then surrounded by a concrete building,” he said. “The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn’t explode.” Sea water, eh? Interesting coolant choice. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Mar 2011 00:28

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World: Japan quake: Nuclear energy could fall out of favor again, maybe

  • then After a period where nuclear power gained popularity, Three Mile Island, green groups and the movie “The China Syndrome” helped hurt the reputation of the power source.
  • now With a higher focus on safety, the risk of danger is much lower and growth has returned – but trouble in Japan could once again turn popular favor against it. source
  • » Two sides, two arguments: Green groups AND nuclear advocates have their talking points here – groups in favor of nuclear energy say the precaution prevented a much worse situation with the Fukushima reactors. Green groups say any leak of radioactive gas proves the dangers are too high. Of course, if this happens, it kinda throws everything out the window.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Aug 2010 12:37

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World: Big day for Iran: They’ve opened their first nuclear power plant

  • It only took them 36 years, with the help of Russia. But don’t think the plant is entirely in Iran’s hands right now. In part to appease the rest of the world, Russian technicians will be joint-operating (and playing the role of safeguard) of the plant for the next two to three years. The U.S. is concerned about anything with the words “Iran” and “nuclear” in it, but they have no qualms with the plant itself, because it could bring them under compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency regulations. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Oct 2009 01:36

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World: Coming Sunday: The U.N. takes a look at Iran’s nuclear plant

  • 3,000 centrifuge machines are just chilling in Qom source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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