Duke Energy received a delay Tuesday in pleading guilty to environmental crimes by claiming that bureaucratic red tape could result in power being cut-off for military bases across North Carolina. “U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard approved a one-month delay in Duke’s plea and sentencing hearing for criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, which had… Keep reading →
Three years ago, Beijing residents started hoarding iodine salt. Stores sold out of the commodity within days and those with extra supplies jacked up prices to take advantage of the frantic demand. China had not developed a sudden taste for salty foods. Instead, a frightened populace was trying to protect itself against any radiation blown… Keep reading →
Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Gregory Jaczko delivers remarks at the Regulatory Information Conference on March 13, 2012 in Rockville, Maryland.
US nuclear safety goals are insufficient, and don’t address effects like those seen after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the head of the US nuclear regulator says. Keep reading →
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) staffs watch monitors of real time image of reactor buildings of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant at the emergency operation center of the stricken TEPCO nuclear power plant at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan on February 28, 2012. TEPCO opened up its stricken Fukushima plant to foreign journalists for the third time, ahead of the anniversary of the March 11 disasters, and insisted the crippled complex was in cold shutdown.
Over the past few weeks, Breaking Energy has received and discovered literally dozens of leads to opinions, content, infographics and other kinds of internet content related to the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. As a service to our community as they seek out more information, we wanted to highlight the best of what we’ve seen on the internet related to the Fukushima anniversary. This is an evolving list, and comments on other resources are welcome. Keep reading →
Believers pray for victims of the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami at a memorial in Natori, Miyagi prefecture on March 8, 2012. The earthquake-tsunami disaster, concentrated in the prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, left more than 19,000 people dead or missing.
A year after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, international experts have come to a stark conclusion: the resulting meltdown did not have to happen. Keep reading →
This file picture taken on February 28, 2012 shows workers walking at the emergency operation center of the stricken Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture.
At the first anniversary of the March 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the nuclear industry outside Japan and central Europe is largely continuing as before the accident, says a World Energy Council report. Keep reading →
We have joined the #nuclear industry in implementing post-Fukushima lessons learned. Learn more: ow.ly/9wUDb progressenergy
The first new nuclear plants to be licensed in the US since 1978 will be under a financial and operational microscope as investors, regulators and customers watch for any delay that could add to costs or impact the planned start date.
The nuclear energy industry’s leadership gathered in New York City today for a briefing of financial analysts, but their timing had extra weight as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission met in the afternoon and approved Southern Company’s Vogtle plant project in Georgia in a four to one vote as the first new build nuclear facility in the US in more than 30 years. Keep reading →
Fukushima Anniversary: The Road Ahead
By Peter GardettThere was no way for the nuclear industry to succeed at handling Fukushima. The disastrous and poorly-managed shutdown of a nuclear reactor built too close to shore, hit by an earthquake and an even-more-devestating tsunami, gave birth to a year’s worth of images and heartbreak no normal business could handle in normal ways.
In the days after the Fukushima disaster the US industry dialed up its responsiveness in ways that ranged from a North Carolina-based disaster response center handling technology questions, sending personnel to Japan, and handling a leap in internet traffic to relevant websites. Most of what the general public wanted was information that could reassure, and the US nuclear industry sought to supply that information. Keep reading →