Fukushima: flooding of reactors halted on groundwater contamination fears

Engineers at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant abandoned attempts to stabilize reactors by flooding them with water, finding that melting fuel rods have created holes in the chambers, allowing contaminated water to leak out.

Japan abandons nuclear development plans as Fukushima crisis goes on

Japan will abandon plans to expand its nuclear power industry and instead focus on renewable energy, Prime Minister, Naoto Kan announced—following weeks of the country’s biggest public protests in 40 years.

Decommissioning Fukushima reactors could take 20 years

Tokyo Electric Power Company and its corporate partners like General Electric and Bechtel have drawn up a plan for decommissioning the disaster-stricken Fukushima reactors—which they say could take up to 20 years.

Japan’s nuclear crisis could last nine months

Tokyo Electric Power Company issued a plan for cooling down the reactors and reducing radiation leaks within six to nine months at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant on Japan’s Pacific coast.

Fukushima: continued radiation spikes raise fear of new leaks

Radioactivity levels skyrocketed in the sea surrounding the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan late last week, raising fears that a new leak in the facility needs to be sealed.

Anti-nuclear protests in Tokyo —and around the planet

As experts now say the area around Fukushima will be uninhabitable for a generation, protests against nuclear development mobilized in Tokyo, Taiwan, India, California and the Northeast US.

China: where is Ai Weiwei —and his website?

Dissident artist Ai Weiwei is being held incommunicado by Chinese authorities after posting a coded protest image to his website. The website remains online, but practically devoid of content—suggesting it has been heavily censored.

Fukushima nuclear alert goes to level seven —on par with Chernobyl

Japan raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis to seven—putting it on par with the Chernobyl disaster—as stricken reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex continue to release large amounts of radioactive substances.

Fukushima: aftershock raises fear of deepening crisis

A magnitude 7.4 aftershock hit northeastern Japan—raising fears of a deepening of the crisis at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, which is now vulnerable to any further destabilization.

Fukushima: “no safe dose” of radiation

As engineers at Fukushima resort to building silt mounds around the leaking reactor to filter radioactive particles, public advocates insist there is no safe dose of radiation—despite official assurances.

Japan’s Movement for Democratic Socialism demands abolition of nuclear power

Japan’s Movement for Democratic Socialism asserts: “The Fukushima disaster is not a natural disaster, but one that is politically generated by global capitalism’s promotion of nuclear energy and militarization.”

South Koreans protest nuclear development plans on TMI anniversary

South Korean environmental activists staged an anti-nuclear rally in Seoul, marking the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania—and two weeks of the ongoing Fukushima disaster.