Fukushima

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Japan increased the use of fossil fuels for power generation 21% in 2012, following the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.[read more]

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My first reaction to the aerial photos of Fukushima was: why did they put the auxiliary transformers, that provide power to the plant, and the emergency diesel-generators, that provide power to the auxiliary transformers, on the OCEAN side?[read more]

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Image SourceThe Treasury sure is in a pickle right now, of that there is no doubt. EDF is playing the hardest ball they’ve likely dealt with in quite some time over the increasingly controversial and murky Hinkley nuclear reactor, a project set with such promise coming into the new year, that many, myself included, heralded this as the...[read more]

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Japan’s national energy strategy experienced a 9.0 quake of its own in 2011 as a result of the twin incidents of the March 11 tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident. It rattled many assumptions about energy sources and electrical grid configurations. A recent Silicon Valley Technology Forum hosted by Fujitsu served as an excellent opportunity to hear how these large-scale events have shaped thinking and R&D in the leading information and communications (ICT) company in Japan[read more]

Since the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, and which resulted in one of the worst nuclear accidents in recent history, Japan has signaled its intentions to transition towards clean, alternative energy.[read more]

On a global scale the nuclear industry had its share of pluses and minuses in 2012. Japan’s Fukushima crisis continues to dominate any list of the top ten nuclear energy issues for the year. (See more below on Japan’s mighty mission at Fukushima.) In the United States, while the first new nuclear reactor licenses in three decades were issued to four reactors, the regulatory agency that approved them had a management meltdown.[read more]

Tepco has recently released measurements that provide convincing evidence that virtually all of the corium in Fukushima Daiichi unit #1 remains safely stored inside an intact reactor pressure vessel. Despite all claims to the contrary, no substantial quantities of that material have melted through the pressure vessel to fall onto the...[read more]

The Fukushima crisis sparked protests and prompted a move away from nuclear energy for JapanBelow is an essay I co-wrote with one of my current Ph.D. students, Sanghuyn Hong. In it, we take a critical look at the current national energy policy of Japan, and highlight the unfortunate implications of a strategy that preferences fossil...[read more]

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A friend shared a link to a prize winning essay titled The path to reconstruction in Fukushima as seen through fieldwork in Eastern Japan. It was written by Jun Takada, Doctor of Science Professor, Sapporo Medical University. Here is a sample quote:Following the nuclear accident in Fukushima that occurred as a result of the Great East...[read more]

Personal accountability trumps organizational loyaltyU.S. President Harry S. Truman's famous motto: "The buck stops here."In a fiery essay published in the Financial Times July 10, Columbia University Professor Gerald Curtis makes the point that what people do matters. Organizations may come and go, but the actions of individuals are...[read more]

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  Dr. Kiyohiko Sakamoto was one of the presenters at the American Nuclear Society 2012 Annual Meeting President’s Special Session on Low Level Radiation and Its Implications For Fukushima Recovery. The session organizers thought that his work on using whole body and half body radiation treatments to cure cancer and prevent...[read more]

I remember going to bed one night when I was 11, seriously afraid I would not be alive in the morning. It was October, 1962, and the frightening cold war between the U.S. and Soviet Union had becoming terrifyingly real.[read more]

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In the wake of Fukishima, Japan enacted a radical move: shutting down all of it's nuclear energy based facilities down. Whilst Japan's prime minister has recently ordered two nuclear reactors to be switched back online (amid concerns of power shortages this summer), it is also launching a very generous program to support the uptake of renewable energy.[read more]

In a nationwide speech he tells the country they are "indispensible" Prime Minister NodaThe message of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda about restarting the nation's nuclear reactors is as clear as the sound of temple bells at noontime.  In a stark appeal on national television, he said the loss of energy from the closed power...[read more]

The country's economy has taken a beating in terms of exports and the cost of importing fossil fuels cannot be sustained much longerJapan PM Yoshihiko NodaJapan's prime minister Yoshihiko Noda got some wind in his sails in efforts to restart the nation's shut down nuclear reactors this week. Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, a high profile...[read more]