9/19/2013 Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake hits near Fukushima I Nuclear Plant Area

Source(s): ENENews, USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Date: 2013-09-19 17:25:09 UTC (2013-09-19 11:25:09 CST)

M5.3 - 19km ESE of Ishikawa, Japan 2013-09-19 17:25:09 UTC

I grabbed the earthquake report off of the ENENews feed which collates several articles together, which are available here from ENENews. In summary TEPCO has been checking for earthquake damage and leaks but state they have not found anything (yet). Below is a map of the M5.8 Earthquake.

9/17/2013 Russia Warns of 'Catastrophe' If N. Korea Restarts Reactor

Source: The Jewish Voice 
Date: Tuesday, 17 September 2013 20:35
by: Anna Malpas

Commercial satellite images taken in recent months had indicated preparations for restarting the reactor were progressing rapidly Photo: IHS JANE'S/DIGITALGLOBE

On Thursday, September 12, Russia warned of a potential “man-made catastrophe” if North Korea restarts an aging plutonium reactor to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, after US experts spotted steam rising from the Yongbyon facility.
...
Read full article here.

Editor's Note:  See also articles by AFP, AP and Bloomberg.  
Map of Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center appears below.

9/16/2013 Typhoon hits Japan as Fukushima operator releases water into sea

Source: AFP via Yahoo News
Date: 9/16/2013 ~5 PM CST

Typhoon Man-Yi in Kyoto overturns sightseeing boat on Katsura River which is now stuck on a bridge.  Photo Credit: AP/Kyodo News

Typhoon Man-yi hit Japan Monday, leaving three people dead and forcing the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to release rainwater with low levels of radiation into the ocean.
...
Read full article here.

Editor's Note: More details from NHK World on the Rainwater released from Fukushima plant into sea caused by Typhoon Man-Yi.  Maps of Typhoon Man-Yi's progress appear below.

9/14/2013 Japan to switch off nuclear power, may be some time before it's on again

Source: Reuters
Date: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:17pm EDT
by:  Osamu Tsukimori

Fukushima prefecture panel examines leaking radioactive water tank (C in back) at Fukushima Daiichi, photo released Septermber 13, 2013  Credit: Reuters/Kyodo

(Reuters) - Japan is set to be nuclear power-free, for just the third time in more than four decades, and with no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy.

...
Read full article here.

Editor's Note: Map of Ohi Nuclear Power Plant appears below.

9/13/2013 Dealing With Air Travel Radiation Exposure

Source: Care2.com
Date: 9/13/2013 9:30 am
by: Dr. Michael Greger

Doctors appear to be causing tens of thousands of cancers with CT scans and dentists may be causing a few brain tumors with dental X-rays (see my last two videos Cancer Risk from CT Scan Radiation and Do Dental X-Rays Cause Brain Tumors?), but what about these new-fangled airport full-body scanners that use so-called backscatter technology to reduce X-ray exposure? A thousand times less radiation exposure than a chest X-ray, though they’re still being phased out. In fact, flight passengers may get 100 times more radiation during the flight every hour, because they’re so high up in the atmosphere and exposed to more cosmic rays. Does that mean a round-trip cross-country flight is almost like getting a chest X-ray? Yes. Anyone who’s seen my speaking schedule knows I’m totally screwed. But what can you do? As is the answer to so many health questions, you can eat healthily.

9/11/2013 Russia to build second nuclear plant for Iran, deliver S-300

Source: Israel Hayom
Date: 9/11/2013
by: Amir Mizroch

The Bushehr nuclear plant.  Photo credit: AP

Russia will supply Iran with a modified version of the vaunted S-300 anti-aircraft system as well as build a new nuclear reactor for the Ayatollah's regime, the Russian daily Kommersant business newspaper reported Wednesday.
...
Read the rest here.

9/6/2013 IAEA is looking into Russian warning on Syria nuclear site

Source: Reuters via Jerusalem Post
Date: 9/6/2013
Moscow calls on UN nuclear watchdog to assess risk of hit to Syrian research reactor that contains radioactive uranium.

The N. Korea reactor in Yongbyon, the Syrian site. Photo: REUTERS

VIENNA - The UN nuclear watchdog has received a request from Russia to assess the impact if a missile were to hit a small Syrian reactor and is considering the issue, the Vienna-based agency said on Friday.
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Read the rest here

Editor's Note:  Map of the Syria SRR-1 MNSR (Miniature Neutron Source Reactor) research reactor

9/5/2013 Rep. Sarah Roberts Speaks out Against the Proposed Nuclear Waste Repository

Source: Michigan State Democratic Representative Sarah Roberts
Date: 9/5/2013 upload date

Video Description
Rep. Sarah Roberts speaks out against a proposed Canadian underground radioactive nuclear waste repository near the shore of Lake Huron, and urges citizens to get involved. Visit www.stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.com to learn more.

Editor's Note: Please see also this important article and map posted by Beyond Nuclear, showing existing nuclear facilities. Quoting verbatim from Beyond Nuclear's article Great Lakes Region Nuclear Hotspots Map:

[...]
The map includes all aspects of nuclear power production in the Great Lakes region, including the 38 operating nuclear power plants, 12 closed plants, and four new plants proposed in Canada. It also includes the facilities that process uranium ore and manufacture the pellets, as well as tailings sites from uranium mining and milling, and facilities that store, and dispose of radioactive waste. Every site on the map is a radioactive waste site, whether operating or not.
[...]

This proposed nuclear waste dump site is known officially as the OPG (Ontario Power Generation) Deep Geologic Repository and is to be built at the existing Bruce Nuclear Generating Station complex, the world's largest nuclear facility.  See map below.

9/3/2013 How Japan's ice barrier will seal off Fukushima's nuclear ruins

Source: NBC News, Science
Date: 9/3/2013
by: Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News

SoilFreeze's chillers and brine lines connected to the refrigerator pipes are lined up at a remediation site in Tacoma, Wash. Credit: NBC News, Science

 Japan’s government gave the go-ahead on Tuesday to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create a underground barrier of frozen earth around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. It's a seemingly crazy idea that's based on solid engineering — but this wall of ice would have to be built on an unprecedented scale, and would require tremendous energy to stay frosty.
...
Read the rest here, and for video.

9/2/2013 Insulation fire reported at Palo Verde Nuclear Plant

Source: Associated Press via azfamily.com
Date: September 2, 2013 at 10:25 PM

Aeriel view of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Credit: Wikipedia

WINTERSBURG, Ariz -- The operator of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona declared an unusual event late Monday when insulation behind a pump caught fire.
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Read the rest here.

Editor's Note:  For further details, see the NRC Event Notification Report 49317.