Japan earthquake

Worse Than We Thought

Apparently, the Japanese nuclear crisis was worse than we thought.  The Guardian reports: Molten nuclear fuel in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is likely to have burned through pressure vessels, not just the cores, Japan has said in a report in which it also acknowledges it was unprepared for an accident of …

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Political Fallout from Japan Hits Germany

According to HuffPo, BERLIN — German chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have suffered a historic defeat in a state ballot after almost six decades in power there, partial results showed Sunday, in an election that amounted to a referendum on the party’s stance on nuclear power. The opposition anti-nuclear Greens doubled their voter share in Baden-Wuerttemberg …

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Japan Update

Not good, on a number of fronts: The official death count is now past 7000, as reported by CNN. Another ten thousand are still missing. The NY Times reports that the Japanese government has finally raised the level of the event to 5, the same level as Three Mile Island. Here’s a really scary statement …

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Japan Nuclear Crisis — Another Worry

As at many plants in the U.S. and around the world, the Japanese plants have on-site storage for spent fuel rods.  The reason is that no one has come up with a working permanent storage solution.  These spent fuel rods are now beginning to pose a serious risk at the Japanese plants, according to the …

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Today in Japan

According to CNN, in addition to the loss of life (now confirmed at over 15oo but likely to rise considerably), the economic costs are huge: Losses from the quake, tsunami and fires will total at least $100 billion, including $20 billion in damage to residences and $40 billion in damage to infrastructure such as roads, …

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Japan Nuclear Update

The situation is continuing to deteriorate. The Washington Post’s coverage seems to be exceptionally good.  Here’s their summary of the current situation: Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant haven’t found a way to stabilize overheated reactors and feared the possibility of partial nuclear meltdown, which could potentially cause a further release of radioactive material, …

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