Tag - nuclear-energy

 
 

NUCLEAR ENERGY

Six months have passed since Japan started releasing treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2024
Fukushima water release still vexing China-Japan ties
China-bound exports of Japanese fishery products in 2023 plunged by some 30% from the previous year in value terms.
Solar panels on display at PV Expo in Tokyo on Wednesday. Japan's "transition bonds" will cover cutting-edge solar cells, as well as more controversial projects.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Mar 3, 2024
Japan wants cash for its green transition. But what are investors actually backing?
"Transition bonds" are intended to fund a wide variety of net-zero projects, but it's not clear all of them will actually help with decarbonization.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Feb 21, 2024
How to reinvent yourself at 50: An IEA guide
It would be an understatement to say that the energy industry has gone through a lot of change.
Demonstrators hold Iranian flags and a huge inflated figure representing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei holding a nuclear bomb as they protest against the Iranian regime on Friday in Munich.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Iran's nuclear enrichment exceeds commercial needs, says IAEA chief
The IAEA warned at the end of 2023 that Tehran already had enough material to make three nuclear bombs if it enriches material now at 60% to beyond 60%.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 14, 2024
Hokkaido areas named for second-stage survey on nuclear waste disposal
The town of Suttsu and the area off its coast will be surveyed, as well as the area within the village of Kamoenai excluding a zone around a volcano.
The location of the water leak (left) and a close-up of the vent where the water was released at part of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 8, 2024
Tepco reports leak at Fukushima but says no contamination detected
The nuclear plant operator plans to remove soil from around the area that may have been contaminated by the 5,500 liters of radioactive water that leaked.
The Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 4, three days after a major earthquake struck the area.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2024
Nuclear emergency guidelines to be reviewed after Noto quake
Of the 11 national or prefectural roads in Ishikawa that would be used as evacuation routes in the area, seven suffered significant damage.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2024
Noto quake exceeded projections of nuclear plant operator
The quake caused a transformer for the No. 1 reactor and another for the No. 2 reactor to stop functioning due to issues that included oil leakage.
The Shika nuclear plant in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 4
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024
Three-meter tsunami recorded at Japan nuclear plant after quake
The plant is 11 meters above sea level and protected by a 4-meter seawall built after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024
Japan's nuclear power plants largely undamaged following quake
While the plants escaped serious damage, the tremor could once again spark public concern about the safety of nuclear energy.
Though ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, it was really in 2023 that we started to get a sense of what large language models could do, including diagnosing complex medical issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023
The 10 most intriguing science breakthroughs over the past year
As 2023 has drawn to a close, let’s look back on some of the astounding breakthroughs we’ve seen in the last 12 months.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2023
NRA lifts ban on operations at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant
When the plant will be reactivated remains uncertain as Tepco, the operator, needs to gain consent from local governments as well.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023
Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 victim compensation costs set to rise
Factors in the increase includes pay outs to fishery operators due to the releases into the ocean of tritium-containing treated wastewater from the plant.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2023
Radioactivity detected in Fukushima worker's nose
Radioactive materials may have touched the worker's face on Monday as he took off a full-face mask after finishing his work.
Eiko Takeuchi talks about a traffic jam during last winter’s heavy snow along National Route 8 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Sept. 18.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 11, 2023
Evacuation plans for nuclear incidents called into question
Effectiveness of preparations as a “last line of defense” to save residents in the event of a nuclear disaster are in doubt.
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 7, 2023
Feeling anxious? Wastewater, heat and Japan’s year in climate
In a year that saw Japan release 24,000 tons of wastewater (so far) from Fukushima No. 1 as the planet smashed heat records, it’s no wonder climate anxiety is on the rise. Mara Budgen joins us to break down the year in environment news, where we could see hope, and what we should be worried about....
Godzilla is presented with a certificate after being selected for Hollywood's Walk of Fame during a news conference in Tokyo in October 2004.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023
New 'Godzilla' flick deftly tackles postwar Japan in cinematic triumph
Godzilla strikes again: New 'Minus One' movie is a visual spectacle that challenges Hollywood's big budget norms.
The Idaho National Laboratory, Materials and Fuels Complex. Researchers there were the first to generate electricity from splitting the atom back in 1951, and countless scientists have since visited the remote site to test reactor designs.
WORLD
Dec 3, 2023
The future of nuclear energy will be decided in Idaho
It’s been 50 years since the last reactor was switched on there, which speaks to the challenges of harnessing a fission reaction.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry speaks during a session at COP28 on Saturday where over 20 nations called for the tripling of nuclear energy by 2050.
WORLD
Dec 2, 2023
Over 20 nations, including Japan, call for tripling of nuclear energy
A declaration endorsed by the nations said nuclear energy plays a "key role" in reaching the goal of carbon neutrality.
The JT-60SA, the world's biggest nuclear fusion reactor constructed to date, before its planned inauguration in the city of Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Friday
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2023
Japanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inaugurated
Fusion technology is still in its infancy but is billed by some as the answer to humanity's future energy needs.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan