IAEA releases final report on Fukushima accident Nuclear & Energy Aug. 31, 2015 - Updated 23:36 UTC-4 The International Atomic Energy Agency says a major factor behind the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident was a widespread assumption in Japan that nuclear power plants were safe. The IAEA released a final report on Monday on the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. About 180 experts from more than 40 IAEA member countries contributed to the 1,200-page-plus report. The report says that Japan was not sufficiently prepared for a severe nuclear accident due to the assumption that nuclear plants were safe. It says the Fukushima Daiichi plant had weaknesses in design and emergency preparedness. The March 2011 accident came after a major earthquake and tsunami struck Fukushima Prefecture and the surrounding areas of northeastern Japan. The report says the accident demonstrated the need to consider the potential for a combination of natural hazards to occur simultaneously. It says safety standards should also be continuously re-evaluated to consider advances in knowledge. The report says no early radiation-induced health effects were observed among workers or members of the public. It adds that although it can take decades for latent health effects to emerge, no discernible increase in such conditions is expected, given the low levels of radiation exposure among the general public. The report also says thyroid abnormalities found in some children are unlikely to be associated with the nuclear accident, due to low exposure levels. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano says some of the factors that resulted in the Fukushima accident were not unique to Japan. Amano says continuous questioning and openness to learning from experience are key to safety and are essential for everyone working in the industry. The IAEA plans to submit the report to its General Conference this month to share the lessons on a wide scale and help improve the safety of nuclear plants. Sendai reactor output achieves 100% capacity Nuclear & Energy Aug. 30, 2015 - Updated 23:05 UTC-4 The output of Japan's only online nuclear reactor has been raised to full capacity. Kyushu Electric Power Company, which operates the Sendai plant in southwestern Japan, said that the number-one reactor reached 100-percent output on Monday morning. It says that it will undergo final inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority on September 10th. The reactor was the first to have met new safety guidelines that were introduced following the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The utility restarted the reactor on August 11th. The company continued test operations while gradually increasing its output and checking whether the equipment was working properly. The company was forced to temporarily stop increasing the output after a problem was found with one of the reactor's condensers. The work resumed last Thursday. Panel: Delay in decontamination work regrettable Nuclear & Energy Aug. 31, 2015 - Updated 16:36 UTC-4 A panel of Japan's Environment Ministry says the government should reflect on the greatly delayed decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture. A nuclear accident occurred there in 2011. The panel of experts released a draft outline at a meeting in Tokyo on Monday. The panel has been looking into the disposal of contaminated waste from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The draft refers to the government-run decontamination operation in evacuation zones in the prefecture. The projected end of the work was revised to the end of March, 2017 -- about 2 to 3 years later than initially planned. The panel said the government should reflect on the delay caused by difficulties in securing initial storage sites for contaminated soil and debris. Radiation fears growing as govt’ finds strangely deformed trees around Fukushima — Nearly 100% have ‘morphological defects’ — “Trees did not have a top bud, without which its growth cannot continue” — Effects worsening over time — Researchers prevented from doing studies… “so little data” (PHOTOS & VIDEO) http://enenews.com/radiation-fears-growing-strangely-deformed-trees-found-govt-around-fukushima-98-morphological-effects-trees-top-bud-growth-continue-photos-video Cs-134/137 density became the highest reading at 4 points inside and outside Fukushima plant port http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/09/cs-134137-density-became-the-highest-reading-at-4-points-inside-and-outside-fukushima-plant-port/ Air Dose 0.2-0.4 microSv / h, Mizuho housing area of ​​Date city, Aug. 2015 Published on Aug 10, 2015 by birdhairjp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnSt2P7doeA Exelon mulls closure of unprofitable Quad Cities nuke plant http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-exelon-quad-cities-nuclear-plant-20150830-story.html nuclear-news The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry http://nuclear-news.net/

• published: 01 Sep 2015
• views: 2446