Ready for the Sarcophagus

SUBHEAD: The developed industrial nations providing help to bury Fukushima Dai Ichi Nuclear Plant.By Staff on 31 April 2011 for MSNBC News - (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42359020/ns/world_news-asiapacific)Image above: A truck carrying a cement pump that can extend nearly 200 feet is loaded onto an Antonov 124 plane in Stuttgart, Germany headed for Japan. From original article.Some of the world's

Fukushima reactors reach criticality

SUBHEAD: Fukushima workers threatened by heat bursts from chain reactions as sea radiation rises.By Jonathan Tirone, Sachiko Sakamaki & Yuriy Humber on 31 March 2011 -(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/record-high-levels-of-radiation-found-in-sea-near-crippled-nuclear-reactor.html)Image above: Possible photo of blue flash during "criticality" event at Fukushima Dia Ichi Nuclear Plant. From

Fukushima Non-Containment

SUBHEAD: Tepco has indicated that three Fukushima Dai Ichi reactor containment vessels may have "holes".By Ex-Skf on 28 March 2011 for Ex-Skf Blogspot -(http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-reactor-pressure.html)Image above: Diagram from Asahi Shinbun News story apparently showing flooded space below turbine room separated from reactor containment by duct.From a story in

Fukushima Meltdown

SUBHEAD: A nuclear meltdown is a self-sustaining reaction. Nothing can stop it except stopping the reaction.By Dr. Tom Burnett on 27 March 2011 in Hawaii News Daily - (http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/03/when-the-fukushima-meltdown-hits-groundwater)Image above: What people's attention in Fukushima should be turning to this spring - cherry blossoms. From (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19750114).

Fukushima Water Blessing & Curse

SUBHEAD: Deadly radiation in water detected outside Fukushima nuclear reactor.By Michio Nakayama on 28 March 2011 for Bloomberg News - (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-28/hazardous-radiation-levels-stall-efforts-to-cool-reactors-prevent-leaks.html)Image above: Suicide mission? Workers at Fukushima Dai Ichi Nuclear Power Station maneuver police water cannon truck normally used to spray

Earthquake & Tsunami hit Tourism

SUBHEAD: Shocked Hawaii tourism reps scramble as Japanese visits drop sharply.By Martin Barillas on 21 March 2011 for The Cutting Edge - (http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=51612&pageid=37&pagename=Page+One)Image above: Waikiki tourist hotels blot out the landscape. This is the epicenter for Japanese tourism to Hawaii. The area would be devastated if that tourism collapses as a

Radioactivity in Seawater Soars

SUBHEAD: Radioactivity levels in ocean water soars near Fukushima Dai Ichi as U.S. rushes fresh water to nuclear site.By staff on 25 March 2011 on MSNBC -(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42280076/ns/world_news-asiapacific)Image above: Wrecked reactor buildings #3 and #4 at Fukushima Dai Ichi. From (http://liberalironist.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/meltdown-at-fukushima-i-nuclear-power-plant).Japan's

Japan's Electric Bottleneck

SUBHEAD: Brownouts will continue. It is unlikely TEPCO can meet the power demand for Tokyo for several years.By John Ydstie on 24 March 2011 for National Public Radio - (http://www.npr.org/2011/03/24/134828205/a-country-divided-japans-electric-bottleneck)Image above: Buildings are seen without illumination in Tokyo's Shibuya district. Rolling blackouts are crippling the town. From original

This is the Big One

SUBHEAD: Japan Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear crisis could dwarf the Chernobyl disaster.By Jan Lundberg on 24 March 2011 in Culture Change -(http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/715/1)Image above: Chernobyl nuclear power station after explosion of reactor. From (http://www.our-energy.com/gallery/chernobyl_nuclear_reactor_after_explosion.html).Alex Smith of Radio Ecoshock has just produced a

China on Nukes - Build Baby Build!

SUBHEAD: Fukushima has put nuclear power on the radar for a populace that was previously focused on enjoying its benefits.By Kari Huus on 24 March 2011 for MSNBC -(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42219006/ns/world_news-asiapacific/#)Image above: Qinshan nuclear power plant starts expansion near Hangzhou Bay, Zhejiang Province in 2008. Two reactors operational by 2014. From (http://www.china.org.cn/

Nothing Is Happening

SUBHEAD: Instead of Hello Kitty they have to think Chernobyl, and then marshal tens of thousands of 'volunteers'.By Steve Ludlum on 23 March 2011 in Economic Undertow -(http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/03/nothing-is-happening.html)Image above: Hello Kitty fabricated with a Hello Kitty Biker tattoo patterned fabric. From (http://www.kittyhell.com/2009/11/06/hello-kitty-tattoo-plush).The

Radioactive seawater enters ocean

SUBHEAD: Radioactive runoff from damaged nuclear fuel rods leaking back into sea from reactor buildings.By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada on 22 march 2011 in Bloomberg - (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-22/nuclear-plant-s-fuel-rods-damaged-leaking-into-sea-tokyo-electric-says.html)[Editor's Note: It has become obvious that sea water pumped over damaged radioactive fuel rods are is making

Nuclear Meltdowns 101

SUBHEAD: If it turns out that the way you've been generating electricity is criminally negligent, then you shut it all down.By Dmitry Orlov on 18 March 2011 in ClubOrlov - (http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/03/nuclear-meltdowns-101.html)Image above: The A. C. Gilbert Atomic Energt Lab play set that included 3 very low-level radioactive sources and 4 samples of uranium-bearing ores. From (http://

Radiation found in Japanese food

SUBHEAD: Contamination from Japan's stricken nuclear complex had seeped into the food chain.By Shino Yuasa & Eric Talmage on 19 March 2011 for Huffington Post -(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/19/japan-elevated-radiation-_n_837919.html)Image above: Children in Kawamata, Japan, taking preventative doses of potassium iodide on 3/14/11. From (http://wwe.wgbh.org/News/Articles/2011/3/14/

Japan nukes faked reports

SUBHEAD: Japan nuclear disaster caps decades unreported accidents and faked safety reports to regulatory agencies.By Jason Clenfield on 18 March 2011 for Bloomberg News - (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/japan-s-nuclear-disaster-caps-decades-of-faked-safety-reports-accidents.html)Image above: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station showing damaged reactors #1, #3, and #4. Exterior of #2

Meltdowns In Progress

SUBHEAD: It's better to be a year early than a day late. So get out there and prepare responsibly.By Chris Martenson on 16 March 2011 in Chris Martenson.com - (http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/alert-nuclear-economic-meltdown-in-progress)Image above: A well stocked root cellar in the basement. From (http://blog.siffordsojournal.com/2008/11/root-cellar-update.html).It is with a heavy heart that

Radioactive Bitz and Piecez

SUBHEAD: What happens over the next 24 hours is likely to be critical.By Steve Ludlum on 16 March 2011 in Economic Undertow - (http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/03/radioactive-bitz-and-piecesz.html)Image above: Uranium pellets on assembly line for use as nuclear fuel. From video below.The pitiful, inexorable slide of the Japanese nuclear station at Kurushima continues as radioactive

Limits to Complexity

SUBHEAD: It seems we are witnessing the time when increasing technological complexity is obviously costing more than we gain.By George Mobus on 14 March 2011 in Question Everything -(http://questioneverything.typepad.com/question_everything/2011/03/limits-to-complexity.html) Image above: Computer devise as doorstop. From (http://craze001.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/computers-a-lifetime).Three Mile

Not Chernobyl or China Syndrome

SUBHEAD: What the Japanese, and the world, face is a long and protracted struggle to minimize the health risks posed by escaping radioactive materials from Fukushima.By Juan Wilson on 15 March 2011 for Island Breath - Image above: The Fukushima nuclear power station after multiple hydrogen gas explosions. Note Reactor buildings #1 and #3 destroyed with smoke being emitted from #4. The wind blows

Nuclear Nightmare Gets Worse

SUBHEAD: The evacuation of the plant leaves open to question whether the manpower exists to fight the fire and reduce the radiation hazard.By Steve Ludlum on 15 March 2011 in Economic Undertow -(http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/03/nuclear-nightmare-gets-worse.html)Image above: Stock shot of perator at controls at Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant No. 3. From (http://www.oregonlive.com/today/