5/10/2011 | Browns Ferry, Alabama Nuclear Plant Cited For Safety

Source: Huffpost GREEN/Associated Press
Date: 05/10/11 11:20 AM ET
by: RAY HENRY

ATLANTA -- Federal regulators ordered in-depth inspections Tuesday at a nuclear power plant run by the Tennessee Valley Authority in northern Alabama after deciding the failure of an emergency cooling system there could have been a serious safety problem.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a rare red finding against the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant near Athens, Ala., after it investigated how a valve on a residual heat removal system became stuck shut. Safety regulators said only five red findings – the most severe ranking the agency gives to problems uncovered in its inspections – have been issued nationwide in the past decade.
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5/10/2011 | Nuclear collapse looms? Fukushima No. 4 reactor 'leaning'

Source: Russia Today
Date: 5/10/2011


A small group of evacuees have briefly been allowed inside the exclusion zone around Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. For the first time, the government gave permission for short visits so people could gather belongings and check on their properties. Meanwhile, a recent map of contamination released by Japan shows high levels of radiation well outside the evacuation zone. Dr Robert Jacobs can help shed more light on this. He's a Research Associate Professor of Nuclear History and Culture at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.

5/9/2011 | Chain Reactions Reignited At Fukushima After Tsunami, Says New Study

Source: The Physics arXiv Blog
Date: 5/9/2011

Chain Reactions Reignited At Fukushima After Tsunami, Says New Study 

Radioactive byproducts indicate that nuclear chain reactions must have been burning at the damaged nuclear reactors long after the disaster unfolded

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Nuclear reactors produce radioactive by-products that decay at different rates. One common by-product is iodine-131 which has a half life of about 8 days while another is cesium-137 with a half life of about 30 years.
When a reactor switches off, the iodine decays more quickly so the ratio between these two isotopes changes rapidly over a period of days. That's why measuring this ratio is a good way to work out when the nuclear reactions terminated.
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5/9/2011 | Japan Crisis: Entering the Radiation Zone

Source: Discovery News
Date: Mon May 9, 2011 07:58 AM ET
by:  Ian O'Neill
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5/10/2011 | The Newest Nuclear Plants Sprout in the U.S. South

Source: Scientific American
Date: May 10, 2011
by: David Biello

The first new nuclear reactor in the U.S. in nearly three decades is taking shape outside Augusta, Ga. Southern Company has dug up a patch of red clay down to bedrock for the foundation of a new AP-1000—a new generation of reactor with passive safety features that keep working even when the power goes out. Southern plans to build two such AP-1000s in the next six years, and other utilities have plans for 12 more, along with another six new reactors of various designs, all of them with passive safety features.
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5/10/2011 - NEW video Destroyed Spent Fuel Pool SFP3 of Reactor Unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi 8 May 2011

Status of the Spent Fuel Pool of Unit 3 of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
(video on May 8th, 2011)

It's a mess - after seeing the relatively intact SFP4, 3 is destroyed! So, where is are the fuel rods?

5/10/2011 - Hamaoka impact will be far-flung

Source: The Japan Times
Date: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

By KANAKO TAKAHARA and JUN HONGO
Staff writers

The decision by Chubu Electric Power Co. to shut down the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture is testament to the long-lasting and far-reaching impact of the March 11 megaquake.

In fact, the shutdown, decided Monday, may signal an inevitable shift away from a policy of nuclear dependence. Financially speaking, the move affects not only the utility company but also Japan's core manufacturing sector.
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5/10/2011 - Evacuees briefly return home in no-go zone

Source: The Japan Times
Date: Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Town residents allowed quick visit to collect belongings
Kyodo

FUKUSHIMA — Residents of the village of Kawauchi, designated as part of a no-go zone due to the ongoing crisis at the nearby nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, briefly returned home Tuesday to pick up personal belongings.

The evacuees were the first among residents of nine municipalities located in the legally binding no-entry zone, which covers areas within a 20-km radius of the radiation-leaking Fukushima No. 1 plant, to be allowed to visit their homes since the government designated the area off-limits on April 22.

A total of 92 evacuees, aged between 21 and 85, from 54 households made the two-hour trip and were allowed to retrieve items that could be put into plastic bags measuring 70 cm in both length and width, according to Kawauchi village officials.

The evacuees wore protective suits, masks, goggles and gloves for protection against radiation exposure and returned home on government-chartered buses.
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