Reindeer farms and grazing Holstein cows dot a vast stretch of rolling green pasture here on Japan’s northern tip. Underground it’s a different story. Workers and scientists have carved a sprawling laboratory deep below this sleep dairy town that, despite government reassurances, some of Horonobe’s 2,500 residents fear could turn their neighborhood into a nuclear […]
Countries agree on stealth technology deal
Japan and Australia agreed Wednesday to jointly develop stealth submarine technology, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes his country toward a more assertive global military role. The submarine technology was a top item at talks among the nations’ foreign and defense ministers in Tokyo and was included in an agreement to step up cooperation […]
Experts Question Plans at Japan Nuclear Plant
Experts on Friday expressed skepticism about a plan to build a costly underground frozen wall at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, a development that could delay the start of construction on the project. The experts and Japanese nuclear regulatory officials said during a meeting in Tokyo that they weren’t convinced the project can resolve a serious […]
Contaminated Water Still Troubles Japan Nuke Plant
The radioactive water that has accumulated at Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant remains the biggest problem hampering the cleanup process three years after the disaster. The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has stabilized substantially since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami destroyed its power and cooling system, triggering meltdowns. Massive amounts of water are being used […]
Japan Sees Future Business in Fukushima Cleanup
There is something surprising in the radioactive wreck that is the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: opportunity. To clean it up, Japan will have to develop technology and expertise that any nation with a nuclear reactor will one day need. Eyeing dozens of aging reactors at home and hundreds of others worldwide that eventually need […]
Japanese Plan Keeps Nuclear as Key Energy Source
Japan unveiled its first draft energy policy since the Fukushima meltdowns three years ago, saying nuclear power remains an important source of electricity for the country. The draft presented Tuesday to the Cabinet for approval expected in March, said Japan’s nuclear energy dependency will be reduced as much as possible, but that reactors meeting new […]
Japan launches new, cheaper rocket
TOKYO (AP) — Japan successfully launched a new rocket Saturday that it hopes will be a cheaper and more efficient way of sending satellites into space. The three-stage Epsilon lifted off from a space center on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, following a two-week postponement. An earlier launch last month was aborted 19 seconds […]
Japan Nuke Plant Investigates Leak from New Tank
Workers at a tsunami-crippled Japanese nuclear plant are scrambling to find the cause of a highly radioactive water leak from a brand-new storage tank amid concerns that the problem is hampering cleanup efforts. The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant suffered multiple meltdowns after the March 2011 tsunami knocked out power and is still on a fragile makeshift […]
Japan Watchdog: Nuclear Plant Sits on Active Fault
Japan’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday endorsed a panel’s conclusion that a seismic fault running underneath one of two reactors at an atomic plant in western Japan is active, making the reactor’s restart virtually impossible. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it agreed with the panel of experts that the fault underneath the Tsuruga No. 2 reactor […]
IAEA: Japan Nuke Cleanup May Take More Than 40 Yrs
A U.N. nuclear watchdog team said Japan may need longer than the projected 40 years to decommission its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and urged its operator to improve plant stability. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, Juan Carlos Lentijo, said Monday that damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is so complex that it […]