Fukushima

IWAKI, Japan—Fish auction prices at a port south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were mixed amid uncertainty over how seafood consumers will respond to the release of treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the ocean. The plant, which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, began sending the treated water into the […]

TOKYO—Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a polarising move that prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan. The Japanese government signed off on the plan two years ago and it was given a green light […]

TOKYO—Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing into the sea more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, going ahead with a plan heavily criticized by China. The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government as crucial to decommissioning the […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded that Japan’s plans to release radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean are consistent with international safety standards. In a report published on July 4 (pdf), the IAEA, a United Nations body, said that the findings followed a comprehensive assessment and safety review of […]

Washington is okaying a new $440 million arms sale to Taiwan—part of an even greater effort to boost its defenses, with over a billion dollars in deals greenlit this year. What’s driving the urgency? And are the actions turning Taiwan into a dangerous “powder keg” as Beijing claims? Topics in this episode: ‘Powder Keg’ Vs. […]

Japan is set to dump treated water from its Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific ocean. A Chinese media outlet was quick to take a swipe at the plan. But that attempt quickly stalled after information came out that Chinese nuclear power plants release water even more polluted than the Japanese plant proposed.  

Nuclear-powered submarines are the focus of the latest deal between the United States and Australia. Australia is set to get up to five from America, and sooner than expected. But China isn’t happy, with its officials slamming the news as a “cold war mentality.” President Joe Biden, meanwhile, says the deal will boost stability in […]

More than ten years after a tsunami caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, a tiny section of the town of Futaba in Japan has reopened. It’s the first time people have been able to return, since all 7,000 residents were forced to flee. The town has been entirely empty of residents since March 2011.

TOKYO—Japan’s government decided Tuesday to start releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in two years—an option fiercely opposed by local fishermen and residents. The decision, long speculated but delayed for years due to safety concerns and protests, came at a meeting of Cabinet ministers […]

Tokyo Court Clears Former Tepco Executives of Negligence Over Fukushima Disaster.

A Japanese nuclear energy station is relying on emergency back up power after a powerful earthquake knocked out electricity on the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, Sept. 6, a stark reminder of the Fukushima disaster more than seven years ago. The three-reactor Tomari nuclear plant, operated by Hokkaido Electric Power and in shutdown since […]

TOKYO—Japan has acknowledged for the first time that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami more than seven years ago, died from radiation exposure. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck in March 2011, triggering a tsunami that killed some 18,000 people and the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl […]

Japan commemorates March 11 quake and tsunami disaster, which triggered the ongoing nuclear crisis at Fukushima six years ago. Japan on Saturday (March 11) marked six years since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis at a national memorial in Tokyo. At 2:46 p.m. (0546 GMT), the moment the quake hit, bells rang out in […]

Towns set to reopen six years after the Fukushima nuclear crisis hire hunters to kill wild boars seen roaming vacant neighborhoods, having moved in after residents fled. The ongoing scourge of Japan’s Fukushima meltdown—radiation—is now roaming the disaster-hit area on four legs. Hundreds of radioactive wild boars moved into towns deserted after the nuclear crisis. […]