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Japan to raise severity rating for Fukushima leaks to level 3

Japan will raise the severity rating of a recent toxic water leak at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant to level 3, or "serious incident", on an international scale for radiological releases, underlining the deepening sense of crisis at the site.Contaminated water with dangerously ( Read more... )

Japanese Nuclear Plant May Have Been Leaking for Two Years

The stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima has probably been leaking contaminated water into the ocean for two years, ever since an earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant, Japan’s chief nuclear regulator said on Wednesday.In unusually candid comments, Shunichi Tanaka, the head ( Read more... )

TEPCO rejects ministry's demand to pay 10.5 billion yen for decontamination work

Tokyo Electric Power Co. refuses to pay 10.55 billion yen ($106 million) for decontamination work around its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, saying it is under no legal obligation to do so.“We don’t know whether those costs are covered by the special measures ( Read more... )

Why Japan's 'Fukushima 50' remain unknownEntering the exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is an unnerving experience ( Read more... )

In Japan, a Painfully Slow Sweep

The decontamination crews at a deserted elementary school here are at the forefront of what Japan says is the most ambitious radiological cleanup the world has seen, one that promised to draw on cutting-edge technology from across the globe.

But much of the work at the Naraha-Minami Elementary School, about 12 ( Read more... )

TEPCO terminates damages payments for emotional distress to women that marry

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has terminated damages payments to multiple women, who got married while taking shelter, for their emotional distress caused by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, arguing that their livelihoods were restored through ( Read more... )

Fukushima Operator Admits Nuclear Crisis Was Avoidable

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Friday admitted it had played down the risks to the facility of a tsunami for fear of the political, financial and reputational cost.The admission is one of the starkest yet by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which has been ( Read more... )

Nuclear Power Protests Find Wide Support in Japan

A broad coalition of protesters opposes the re-opening of nuclear power plants in Japan, a country unaccustomed to social protest, writes Jake Adelstein and Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky.

It’s hard to ignore more than 20,000 anti-nuclear protesters at your front door. It’s even harder in a country like Japan ( Read more... )

TEPCO subcontractor used lead to fake dosimeter readings at Fukushima plant

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned.

Some refused the orders. Others raised questions ( Read more... )