11/18/2013 Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [Uranium Enrichment Facility] Hit by Tornado, Damage Reported

Sources: MsMilkytheclown1, ENENews
Date: 11/18/2013

Damaged Cooling Tower at Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Credit: USEC Twitter Feed

I spotted this initially on MsMilkytheclown1's YouTube feed.  There is a lot of profanity in this video, so be warned.

See  ENENews Tornado hits U.S. nuclear facility – Uranium enrichment building damaged — Parts of cooling towers destroyed — Alert declared for ‘emergency condition’ (PHOTOS) for their usual good collation of articles.

A map of Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant appears below.

Video Summary of Fuel Transfer in Reactor 4 Spent Fuel Pool at #Fukushima I NPP on 11/18/2013

Source: EX-SKF Blog
Date: 11/18/2013
In this, I don't blame TEPCO for not having posted a video of the entire work (9 to 10 hours) on November 18, 2013.

The preparation for submerging the cask started in the morning, with the cask submerged completely at 12:30PM. The removal of unused (new) fuel assemblies into the cask started at 3:18PM, and by 6:45PM 4 unused fuel assemblies were transferred into the cask.

The names of the companies and the names of the workers are blurred in the video. They could be TEPCO workers, but most likely from one of the primary contractors.

From TEPCO's photos and videos library (11/19/2013):

...
Read the rest of this great blog here.

11/18/2013 Removal of nuclear fuel rods begins at Fukushima I

Fukushima I Unit 4, Spent Fuel Rod Removal Training  Photo Credit: NHK World

Removal of the unit 4 spent fuel pool nuclear fuel rods has begun today (11/18/2013) at Fukushima I. The process will take more than a year to complete. See NHK's Removal of nuclear fuel begins at Fukushima article for video and Asian Gazette Blog by Joël Legendre-Koizumi for further details.

8/9/2013 Taiwan says nuclear plant may have leaked toxic water

Source: Reuters
Date: Fri Aug 9, 2013 2:09am EDT

An employee inspects a water-gate, which is designed to block a tsunami, during a safety drill at the First Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen, northern Taiwan in this September 4, 2012 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Pichi Chuang/Filers

(Reuters) - A nuclear power plant in Taiwan may have been leaking radioactive water for three years, according to a report published by the government's watchdog, adding to uncertainty over the fate of a new fourth nuclear power plant.
...
Read the rest here.

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

11/10/2013 What You Should Be Doing NOW to Protect Yourself from Radiation

Source:

Washington's Blog

[Editor's Note: Great financial blog with many insightful Fukushima articles as well.]
Date: 11/10/2013

Easy, Inexpensive Ways to Help Protect Your Family from Radiation

It is well-known that potassium iodide works to protect against damage from radioactive iodine by saturating our body (the thyroid gland, specifically) with harmless iodine, so that our bodies are unable to absorb radioactive iodine from nuclear accidents.
For example, the World Health Organization notes:

The thyroid gland is at particular risk from irradiation from radioactive iodine because the thyroid uses iodine to produce hormones that regulate the body’s metabolism.  The thyroid gland does not differentiate between non-radioactive and radioactive iodine.
***
When taken at the appropriate dosage and within the correct time interval around exposure to radioactive iodine, KI [i.e. potassium iodide] saturates the thyroid gland with stable (non-radioactive) iodine. As a result, radioactive iodine will not be taken up and stored by the thyroid gland.

11/11/2013 Radioactive water leak shuts down SC reactor.

Source: Reuters via The State
Date: November 11, 2013

Oconee Nuclear Station, Seneca (Oconee County, South Carolina)  Credit:Wikipedia

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A small radioactive water leak prompted Duke Energy to shut down a reactor Monday at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina.

Utility officials said the leak in Unit 1 poses no danger, but it is the second time in less than three weeks a problem has shut down a reactor at the nuclear plant near Seneca built 40 years ago.

Engineers first noticed the possibility of the leak Friday in the airtight, steel-lined concrete containment building designed to prevent any radiation from leaking into the air or ground. They spent the weekend trying to pinpoint its location and severity, Duke Energy spokeswoman Valerie Patterson said.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/11/11/3092094/radioactive-water-leak-shuts-down.html#storylink=cpy

...
Read the rest here.

11/7/2013 Saudi Arabia said to have bought nukes from Pakistan

Source: The Times of Israel via TruNews
Date: November 7, 2013, 10:10 am

Test launch of a Pakistan-made Shaheen ballistic missile (screen capture: Youtube/Al Jazeera English)

Saudi Arabia may be prepared to field nuclear bombs it has purchased from Pakistan in response to Iran’s alleged military nuclear program, and may already have deployed missile systems capable of delivering the bombs, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
...
Read the rest here. 

Editor's Note: Infowars also had an article from the BBC linked on their site titled Saudi nuclear weapons 'on order' from Pakistan.  

11/4/2013 Island of debris the size of TEXAS from 2011 Japanese tsunami is headed straight for the U.S.

Source: MailOnline via TruNews 
Date: 22:41 EST, 4 November 2013 | UPDATED: 05:32 EST, 5 November 2013

Gigantic: A floating island of debris the size of Texas is floating toward California coast after washing into the Pacific in Japan's horrific 2011 tsunami  Photo Credit: MailOnline

• Part of the over one million tons of debris dispersed in the Pacific, the trash island is located northeast of the Hawaiian Islands
• The first documented tsunami debris to reach California arrived in April 2013
• Boats, a dock, a soccer ball, and motorcycle have all been identified on the West Coast as confirmed tsunami debris

A floating island of debris the size of Texas has been crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to the western shores of the Americas since a devastating tsunami inundated Japan in 2011, says a new study.
 
Five million tons of wreckage - the remains of homes, boats, and other remnants of shattered lives in eastern Japan - were swallowed by the ocean that day in March, and more than one million tons of flotsam continues to head towards the west coast of the US.
 
While the first documented debris from the tragedy has already been found in California, scientists fear these new findings mean there could be a lot more to come and it might arrive all at once.
...
Read the rest here.

10/17/2013 Toxic flush: Typhoon causes radioactive leaks at Fukushima

Source: Russia Today 
Date: 10/17/2013 15:34

AFP Photo / Japan Pool via JIJI Press Japan out

A powerful typhoon which swept through Japan led to highly radioactive water near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant being released into a nearby drainage ditch, increasing the risk of it flowing into the sea.
On Wednesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the plant’s operator, said it had detected high levels of radiation in a ditch leading to the Pacific Ocean, and that it suspected heavy rains had lifted contaminated soil.

Workers say that Strontium-90 – a radioactive isotope of the alkaline earth metal strontium produced by nuclear fission – along with other isotopes that emit beta rays measuring 1,400 becquerels (Bq) per liter were detected in the ditch, which is located about 150 meters from the ocean, The Asahi Shimbun reported.
...
Read the rest here.

Editor's Note: See more video reporting below concerning Typhoon Wipha and the radioactive water.

10/8/2013 S. Korea confirms North's Yongbyon plutonium reactor restart

Source: AFP (Agence France-Presse) via Infowars.com 
Date: October 8, 2013 08:53

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament that the five megawatt reactor at the North's Yongbyon nuclear complex had resumed operations, according to a joint briefing by ruling and opposition party lawmakers. South Korea's spy agency confirmed Tuesday that the North has restarted an aging plutonium reactor that could help boost its nuclear weapons programme. Read the rest here from AFP.

The 5 MWe experimental reactor (Credit Wikipedia)

Editor's Note: Map of Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center appears below.

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.