Earthquake And Remembrance: The Tsunami Of 2004
A new National Geographic documentary depicts the human struggle following the killer earthquake and tsunami of 2004.
tsunami
The Nuclear Industry’s Really Bad Safety Analysis
I have never seen the nuclear industry address the question of why their safety analysis calculations are off by an order of magnitude. Until they do, and I think it should include a gigantic mia culpa, my own choice would be not to allow any of their fantastical designs to be built.
Fukushima’s Final Costs Will Approach A Trillion Dollars Just For Nuclear Disaster
There’s a reasonable case for an identifiable $800 billion in costs for the nuclear portion of the Fukushima disaster. It’s not hard to see that a 40-year recovery period along with costs excluded from this could add 25% to that without breaking a sweat.
Minister Obuchi Quits, + Japan Feed-In Tariff & Energy Update (In Depth)
March 2011—when the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami devastated four reactors and endangered two others at Fukushima 1—forced a radical rethinking of Japan’s energy picture that continues today with a Japan feed-in tariff program. In the latest round, the utilities are pushing back against the feed-in tariffs and the fruitful development … [continued]
New Leak At Fukushima Unit 5, Previously Thought Safe (VIDEO)
(Reactor unit locations highlighted on TEPCO’s website map.) The Tokyo Electric Power Company nuclear power complex at Fukushima 1 has suffered a new and dangerous leak. The flaw is in the fifth reactor unit, not in one of the four originally wrecked in March 2011 in what might still become the … [continued]
23 Nuclear Plants Vulnerable to Tsunamis
It’s a nightmare scenario: 74 reactors at 23 nuclear power plants are in “potentially dangerous” areas for large tsunamis, according to a study published in the journal Natural Hazards. The study outlines 23 nuclear power plants with 74 reactors in high-risk areas. Not all of the reactors are active; … [continued]
Japan’s Hot Springs Could Be a Significant Source of Geothermal Energy
Japan’s very nature of geological instability (it is a volcanic island chain, after all) might give it an edge in geothermal power. It’s sitting right in […]
Disaster Zone Dutro — Hino Motors Sends Hybrids North for Rebuilding
Hino Motors, best known for producing light trucks and cars (called kei trucks and kei cars in Japan), has more or less donated nearly 60 little trucks to the disaster relief efforts. The trucks they sent up there are their fairly new Dutro Hybrid […]
Shut It Down — Mayor Calls to Decommission Tokaimura Reactor
In the wake of public protests opposing nuclear energy, at least one elected official has joined the cause. Tokaimura Mayor Tatsuya Murakami called on the federal government to decommission the nuclear reactor in his town 68 miles northeast of Tokyo. The reactor, which has had some problems in the past, has been shut down for routine maintenance since the tsunami and resulting nuclear incidents of March 11 this year.
Japanese Public Protests Plan to Reopen Nuclear Reactors
Japan has long had strong feelings on the subject of nuclear energy, only heightened by the tsunami and subsequent meltdown in Fukushima last spring. The prospect of returning to nuclear power sparked a show of public opposition on Monday in Tokyo, with at least 20,000 participants (according to the police) and perhaps as many as 60,000 (according to various media reports).
