radioactive leaks

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We're Just Now Hearing About a Nuke Plant's November Leak

Minnesota officials say they wanted to gather more info on tritium-tinged water from Xcel Energy site

(Newser) - The public is just getting word on a leak at a Minnesota nuclear power plant—a leak first reported to state and federal agencies in November. CBS News reports that the 400,000 gallons of water laced with tritium broke out of a water pipe connecting two buildings at Xcel...

Russia Denies It, but Research Traces 2017 Radiation Release

Scientists say cloud could only have come from one place

(Newser) - When a radioactive cloud drifted over parts of Europe in September 2017, Russia denied being the source. Maybe it was caused by a satellite burning up at re-entry, Russian officials said. And again Tuesday, Russia's government-owned nuclear energy corporation said in a statement obtained by the Washington Post , "...

A Body Was Cremated. Then the Radiation Was Detected

Cancer patient's body contaminated crematorium

(Newser) - Radiation has been found all over a crematorium in Arizona, following the incineration of a man who'd recently received cancer treatment. Though the potential risks of cremating patients treated with "radiopharmaceuticals" have long been known by the medical community, the contamination of an entire facility hasn't been...

Barrel of Radioactive Sludge Ruptures at Idaho Nuclear Site

Officials say there is no risk to the public

(Newser) - Federal officials say three firefighters got a small amount of radioactive material on their skin and were taken to medical facilities as a precaution after a barrel containing radioactive sludge ruptured at an Idaho Nuclear site, the AP reports. The US Department of Energy said Thursday that the 55-gallon barrel...

Radioactive Material Found in Groundwater Near New York City

The contamination was found under the Indian Point Energy Center

(Newser) - A radioactive material has been detected in the groundwater below a nuclear power plant north of New York City. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that water contaminated by tritium leaked into the groundwater at the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, 40 miles north of Manhattan. Officials say the contamination...

Japan Moves to Fund 'Ice Wall' Around Fukushima

Government to invest $473M in project

(Newser) - With dangerous radioactivity continuing to plague Fukushima Dai-ichi, Japan is preparing to make good on plans to build a wall of ice around the plant. The country will spend some $473 million on the project, which involves piping coolant through walls of frozen soil surrounding the plant. That should keep...

Radiation Soars to Lethal Levels at Fukushima

18 times worse than previously thought

(Newser) - New tests at Fukushima have found radiation levels around its tanks are up to 18 times worse than previously thought—high enough to kill someone within four hours of exposure, reports the BBC . What's caused the alarming spike? More accurate measuring equipment, says plant operator TEPCO. The previous equipment...

Fukushima Leak Now an 'Emergency'

Underground barriers not working, radioactive water now rising to ground level

(Newser) - Just weeks after TEPCO finally acknowledged that radioactive water is leaking from its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the head of Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority has called the situation an "emergency." Shinji Kinjo tells Reuters that TEPCO's "sense of crisis is weak" and the country can'...

More Bad Fukushima News
 More Bad Fukushima News 
Jun 19, 2013 12:54 PM CDT

More Bad Fukushima News

Radioactive substances found in groundwater

(Newser) - The fallout from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant disaster continues . The latest: Tests found that groundwater there contained 30 times the legal level of the radioactive substance Strontium-90, and eight times the legal amount of the radioactive isotope tritium, reports the BBC . A TEPCO official says the working theory is...

Canister of Radioactive Material Stolen in Britain

Police say it's safe ... if it stays in its lead container

(Newser) - Police in Lancashire are asking the public for help and urging them to be careful after a canister containing a small amount of Iridium 192 was stolen from a van there this weekend. The pilfered material—which is housed in a foot-long yellow canister and is used in cancer-fighting radiotherapy,...

New Leak Found at Fukushima
 New Leak Found at Fukushima 
Dec 5, 2011 5:49 AM CST

New Leak Found at Fukushima

Radioactive water may have already leaked into Pacific

(Newser) - A significant new leak of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Japan's crippled Fukushima power plant, and has possibly already oozed radiation into the Pacific Ocean. Some 12,000 gallons of contaminated water were discovered yesterday morning around a condensation unit of a water purification system, according to...

Japan Doubles Estimate of Radioactive Fallout at Fukushima Dai-ichi Plant
 Japan Doubles Fallout Estimate 
Jun 7, 2011 12:51 PM CDT

Japan Doubles Fallout Estimate

Government promises to create independent watchdog

(Newser) - The closer investigators look, the worse the news gets out of Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. A new government report doubles the estimated radioactive fallout from 370,000 to 770,000 terabecquerels so far, reports the BBC . If a terabecquerel sounds a little obscure, it may be easier to fathom...

Robot Detects Radiation Still Too High for Japan Workers

But Tepco officials say this will not affect their reactor shutdown plans

(Newser) - An American robot sent into the crippled nuclear reactor buildings at Fukushima Dai-ichi has detected radiation levels too high for workers to enter, more than a month after a quake and tsunami crippled the plant, reports the AP . Reactor Unit 1 measured 49 millisieverts per hour, and Unit 3 reached...

Radioactivity Spikes Again in Sea Near Fukushima Plant

It could be a sign of more leaks

(Newser) - Radioactivity has been rising in the seawater around the Fukushima nuclear plant in recent days, which could mean that the plant has new leaks, reports AP . Japanese authorities today reported increased levels of iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium-137. "We want to determine the origin and contain the leak, but I...

To Plug Nuke Leak, Workers Try Newspaper, Sawdust

Workers still struggling to trace, plug leak

(Newser) - Desperate workers continued to stuff sawdust and newspapers mixed with resin and concrete into a major fissure at a Fukushima nuclear reactor as the breach threatened to continue pumping radioactive water into the ocean from months to come. Meanwhile, workers used powdered bath salts to turn the water a milky...

Concrete Pit Leaking Radioactive Water Into Ocean

Japan trying to plug newly found crack at Fukushima plant

(Newser) - Japan might have figured out why seawater near the Fukushima plant has been showing such high levels of radioactivity: a cracked concrete maintenance pit. The newly discovered crack may have been allowing radioactive water to leak directly into the ocean since the earthquake, and workers are trying to plug it...

Japan Evacuees: Clinics Deny Care Over Contagion Fears

Worries are groundless—but unsurprising, says expert

(Newser) - Fearing contagion from exposure to radioactivity, Japanese shelters and clinics are rejecting hundreds of evacuees from near the Fukushima nuclear plant, reports the Telegraph . The institutions are requiring certificates from evacuees that show they haven’t faced exposure. Such concerns, however, are “completely irrational,” says a British expert...

Japan Radiation Hits Las Vegas
 Japan Radiation Hits Las Vegas 
Mar 27, 2011 5:59 AM CDT

Japan Radiation Hits Las Vegas

What happens in Fukushima does not stay in Fukushima at all

(Newser) - The amounts are tiny, but radiation from Japan's crippled nuclear plant has reached all the way to Las Vegas, reports the AP. Minuscule amounts of iodine-131 and xenon-133 reached a monitoring station in Sin City, though scientists emphasized it posed no health risks. "Unless you have an accident like...

Radiation in Fukushima, Nearby Waters Spikes

Radioactive iodine hits 10 million times normal level, forcing evacuation

(Newser) - Radiation is spiking both in and around the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, forcing workers to evacuate the plant. Radioactive iodine in water leaking from the No. 2 reactor's turbine housing unit soared to 10 million times the usual limit, said Tokyo Electric Power Co., where workers had been struggling...

US Carrier Crew Exposed to Radiation From Japan

Officials say crew received a month's radiation in just one hour

(Newser) - The US aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, sailing 100 miles off the east coast of Japan, passed through a cloud of radiation spawned by the country's crippled nuclear reactors , delivering a month's worth of radiation to the crew in just one hour, reports the New York Times . Officials stressed that the...

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