Fukushima’s costly fix: Japan struggles to repair severely damaged nuclear plant – The Verge

Cosmic radiation will finally get us inside the Fukushima reactors

2014-06-18T09:57:58-04:00

Every second of every day, muons - tiny, electron-like particles - are raining down on the planet. Parted from the atmosphere through cosmic radiation, most pass through the earth like ghosts, never being detected. But occasionally, a handful will bounce off a substance, and as the New York Times reports today, that could be the key to safely looking inside the ruined nuclear reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant.

It's still too dangerous to send workers inside Fukushima's reactors

It's still too dangerous to send workers inside Fukushima's reactors; even enlisting a camera could result in another radiation leak. The full extent of t …

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Fukushima cleanup exploits homeless laborers, investigation shows

2013-12-30T14:11:26-05:00

Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (Credit: Tokyo Electric Power)

Reuters is back with more details on the Fukushima labor mess, and this time the focus is on the issues facing homeless laborers being recruited for work. In a follow-up to a wide-ranging report earlier this year, Reuters details how many homeless people are being picked up from train stations and carted out to go clean up nuclear waste and other debris from the 2011 tsunami that wreaked havoc on the region. Many of these people are not being paid even the minimum wage, the report claims, and end up with next to nothing after fees are taken out of their checks to pay for food and lodging by the myriad subcontractors involved in the $35 billi …

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Japan sets aside $1 billion for nuclear fallout storage

2013-12-11T09:47:11-05:00

Fukushima reactor control room, suit (Credit: TEPCO)

The total cost of Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown may never be known, but the country has at least put a number on how much it anticipates storing the radioactive debris will cost it. Asahi Shimbun reports that the 2014 Japanese budget includes a 100 billion yen provision (roughly $970 million) for the purchase and development of land for "intermediate storage facilities." Once construction and operation costs are also included, the total anticipated expense is calculated to be 1 trillion yen, or just under $10 billion. Though Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the disaster-stricken plant, was expected to handle all decontami …

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Watch this: Fukushima engineers perform risky extraction of nuclear fuel rods

2013-11-20T16:54:48-05:00

Fukushima reactor control room, suit (Credit: TEPCO)

A job at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is notoriously dangerous: in the aftermath of a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, reports have emerged of low wages, steep risks, and shoddy management throwing the plant cleanup process into disarray and exacerbating onsite hazards. Now, some employees at Fukushima are encountering yet another precarious scenario, as they begin the gargantuan task of removing radioactive fuel rods from a cooling pool inside one of the plant's reactors.

As shown in the video above, the process of removing one assembly of fuel rods - of which more than 1,500 need to be extracted - is an incredibly sl …

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After Fukushima, Japan backpedals on plans to curb emissions

2013-11-15T11:10:02-05:00

Fukishima

It's now been over two years since a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused critical damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. And as Japan continues to struggle with prolonged and costly repairs, the devastating event has now spurred yet another consequence: officials say they'll no longer be able to meet goals for reduced greenhouse gas emissions as a result.

In an announcement expected to seriously hinder ongoing UN climate change talks in Warsaw this week, Japanese leaders said that in light of the Fukushima disaster, they could no longer rely on nuclear power to curb emissions. The country, one of the biggest polluters …

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Japan to remove nuclear fuel from Fukushima plant

2013-11-02T16:00:04-04:00

Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (Credit: Tokyo Electric Power)

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's operator has gained permission to move forward with a plan that would transfer over 1,000 fuel rods to a new location on the site, potentially preventing massive radiation leaks in the future, reports The Wall Street Journal. Around 1,300 spent fuel rods and 200 new fuel rods have been sitting in a pool inside one of the plant's reactors, Unit 4, since it was damaged in March 2011. The four-meter-long rods (around 13 feet) will be pulled out of the plant one at a time by a crane that still needs to be constructed.

"Handling spent fuels involves huge risks."

"They must be handled one by one," says Shunich …

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At Fukushima, ‘nuclear gypsies’ struggle with low wages and steep risks

2013-10-25T15:24:12-04:00

Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (Credit: Tokyo Electric Power)

The massive 2011 earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan catalyzed meltdowns, explosions, and dangerous radiation leaks at the country's Fukushima power plant complex. More than two years later, the process of cleaning up that mess has become something of a disaster itself: an estimated 50,000 "nuclear gypsies" employed by the project are now grappling with poor wages, risky working conditions, and rampant labor violations.

In a sweeping investigation, Reuters reports that a combination of factors like lax governmental regulations, sketchy contractors, and poor oversight is to blame for the fiasco. Some workers complain of having thei …

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Images of evacuated Fukushima communities reminiscent of Chernobyl

2013-10-04T16:41:21-04:00

Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (Credit: Tokyo Electric Power)

The latest in The Atlantic's wonderful In Focus photo essay series explores the lost communities around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl when it was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. A 20-kilometer exclusion zone set around the facility remains in place, and last month Reuters photographer Damir Sagolj joined a group of residents visiting their lost homes to capture the state of the largely-abandoned area. Even after just two years, the images are all-too-similar to the ghostly shots from Chernobyl.

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Another Fukushima mishap leaks highly radioactive water into Pacific

2013-10-03T04:45:57-04:00

Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant (Credit: Tokyo Electric Power)

Radioactive water leaked out of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant late Wednesday and has likely spilled into the Pacific Ocean, authorities announced today. As Reuters reports, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) discovered that contaminated water was overflowing from a storage tank yesterday, and officials estimate that more than 100 gallons may have leaked into the surrounding harbor.

Today's announcement marks the second leak in less than two months at Fukushima, leading government officials to question whether TEPCO is capable of handling what has proven to be an extremely complex cleanup. The head of Japan's Nuclear Regulati …

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Tokyo to host 2020 Olympics with assurance that Fukushima radiation is ‘completely blocked’

2013-09-07T16:51:21-04:00

japan tokyo shibuya stock

Tokyo, Japan has just edged out Madrid and Istanbul to become the host of the 2020 Olympic games. Although Tokyo was considered to be the frontrunner for the games, many had expressed concerns that lingering radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant would scuttle its chances. Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, directly addressed those issues at length in his pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "Let me assure you the situation is under control. It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo," Abe said in response to IOC questions, "I make the statement to you in the most emphatic and unequivocal way." Japan recently …

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