Some Progress, but More Worry, at Japanese Plant
Although a stopgap measure has apparently plugged the leak in Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, keeping more radioactive water from spilling into the Pacific, the crisis has shifted over to Reactor 1, which could be headed for a blowup.
Although a stopgap measure has apparently plugged the leak in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, keeping more radioactive water from spilling into the Pacific, the crisis has shifted over to Reactor 1, which could be headed for a blowup. –KA
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...The Irish Times:
Engineers at the plant are also struggling to prevent a potentially catastrophic build-up of hydrogen gas in reactor 1. A similar problem caused a series of explosions that wrecked three of the plant’s reactors after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami knocked out its cooling systems.
The embattled utility has sparked a furious reaction by dumping more than 11,000 tonnes of toxic groundwater from the plant into the sea.
Japan’s national federation of fisheries co-operatives said they were “immeasurably angry” at Tepco and at the government for making the decision without prior consultation.
Analysts say the water is likely to contain iodine, caesium and plutonium 239, in addition to radioactive fuel fragments.
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Books
In the shadow of Fukushima’s failed nuclear reactors, an unlikely group of farmers and expatriates work to rebuild a community.
Environment
Demonstrators are also highlighting the complicity of Australian companies.
The new book "No Immediate Danger" tussles with the comprehension-defying nature of climate change.
It's not humanity alone that threatens life on earth. The bigger culprit is an economic and political system that relies on endless global appropriation of cheap food, energy, raw materials and labor.
On a global scale, in many important ways, this marks the highest-profile step yet toward the death of U.S. nuclear power and a national transition to a "solartopian," green-powered planet.
April 26 marks the 30th anniversary of the catastrophic explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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