japan

Japan's nuclear power fleet has sat idle since a powerful earthquake struck the nation in March 2011, driving a sharp increase in fossil fuel imports and a spike in the nation's carbon intensity, new data shows. Together, these changes have battered Japan's trade balance, increased the carbon intensity of its energy supply, and raised...[read more]

Interim Fukushima report lists lapses 27 Dec 2011 (NucNet): Japan’s response to the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant was flawed by poor communication and delays in releasing data on dangerous radiation leaks at the facility, a government-appointed investigative committee has found. A 507-page interim report released...[read more]

Another fearless look ahead Each year this blog posts its fearless outlook for the coming year.  For 2012 I will add the caveat that while no one can predict the future, there are plenty of pointers to how things might work themselves out over time.  That's what this blog is reporting here.  Japan    A...[read more]

Once an after-thought in solar development, the latest data shows the Asia-Pacific region is becoming the industry's biggest market for photovoltaic solar power. According the research performed by Solarbuzz, and presented in its Asia Pacific Major PV Markets report, Asia's PV market is forecast to increase 39% in the final quarter of 2011. Looking at the numbers annually, between Q4 2010 and Q4 2011, the region's market will have grown 130%.[read more]

This began as an answer to one letter writer in Friends Journal, and grew. The information that surprised me most is the answer to this question: How does the danger from the Fukushima Daiichi reactors compare to other health dangers, such as Tokyo pollution? ************** There were a number of responses to Earthquake, Tsunami, and...[read more]

NY Times OP ED asks if nuclear power has a future? An interesting question is posed by a guest opinion piece published in the New York Times on October 10. Stephanie Cooke, a respected nuclear industry analyst and book author, asks whether there is a future for nuclear energy in the post-Fukushima era. Ms. Cooke, who is an editor at...[read more]

Pinning its hopes on a sustainable recovery from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan’s Upper House of the Diet has enacted feed-in tariffs that take effect July 1, 2012 requiring utilities to purchase electricity generated by commercially available sources of renewable energy for a set price and period. Reuters reports a ruling party...[read more]

Image via Wikipedia Greenpeace provided an update for August 26th-29th on the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and this blog extracted the section of the report on contamination (including human exposure). Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said that the amount of radioactive cesium-137 released into the air as a result of the...[read more]

The hunt is on in Vietnam, Turkey, and elsewhereYoshihiko Noda, new prime minister of Japan (Photo: Wikipedia) The Japanese government, in close cooperation with some of the nation’s largest heavy industrial manufacturers, is seeking to export Japan’s nuclear technologies, products, and services despite the loss of six reactors on...[read more]

Does nuclear energy have a future, in light of the events at Fukushima? Fukushima Daiichi is the six-unit nuclear-power station on the northeast coast of Japan that was hit by a powerful tsunami, preceded by one of the strongest earthquakes on record. The extent of the damage is considerable: The three reactors that were operating at the...[read more]

Grief was our first reaction when a civilized nation so prepared for earthquakes was devastated. Those of us who live in earthquake country found it hard to tamp down the fear that we can't protect ourselves from nature. Japan, so much better prepared than the West Coast, actually did quite well with the once-in-a-millennium earthquake (the previous largest in that area was M8.3, in 869 CE), but the tsunami killed thousands, left hundreds of thousands homeless, and may have a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars.[read more]

Life in the post-Fukushima era for nuclear regulatory agencies in Japan and the United States is not easy. In Japan, the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) is in hot water over revelations that it stacked the deck at public meetings with employees of the nuclear utilities it is supposed to regulate. Two utilities told the...[read more]

    TEPCO, the Japanese power company who own the Fukushima nuclear power plant, are in an unenviable position. Their Fukushima nuclear power plant is the site of one of the world’s worst industrial accidents, they have been accused of not just incompetence but of falsifying safety records and yet they have to continue to...[read more]

This is a guest post by NNadir.David Mabb, British, 2002.(Cross posted from Daily Kos, along with an amusing poll and with references to diaries therein. Link to the Kos Diary.)A news item in the June 2, 2011 issue of Nature, (page 10) which may be the most prestigious scientific journal in the world, reports that 2010 carbon emissions...[read more]

Meltdowns in Japan drive an ambitious agenda in the U.S.The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has released a "Near Term Report" ( full text ) this week that calls for a wide range of safety improvements for the U.S. fleet of 104 nuclear reactors.The report ominously calls for "redefining the level of protection that is regarded as...[read more]