Nuclear Power & Radiation

"Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff recommended Monday that the agency act quickly on recommendations put forward by a federal task force to ensure reactors aren’t vulnerable to major natural disasters."

"PARIS — One person was killed and four were injured Monday afternoon in an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment site in southern France, according to the French Nuclear Safety Authority."

"A divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday allowed the Obama administration to continue plans to close the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada."

"Six months after the nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture, the public's awareness of the threat posed by radiation is entering a new phase: the realization that the biggest danger now and in the future is from contaminated soil."

"KYOTO, Japan — Investigators concluded Thursday that a nuclear plant operator that tried to manipulate public opinion with fake e-mails was acting under instructions from a high-ranking local government official, adding a new twist to a scandal that has hampered Japan's efforts to restart idled nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster."

"Last month's record earthquake in the eastern United States may have shaken a Virginia nuclear plant twice as hard as it was designed to withstand, a spokesman for the U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday."

"SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- The San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California has shut down because of a massive power outage that's affecting millions in California, Arizona and Mexico."

The quiet mining town of Ishikawa in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture is an emblem of the nation's long-buried nuclear past, and the dark side of its nuclear programs. There, during World War II, junior high school boys were forced by soldiers to mine uranium for Japan's secret program to develop a nuclear bomb than could destroy New York.

Martin Fackler reports for the New York Times September 5, 2011.

"The earthquake that shook the East Coast last week rattled casks holding radioactive nuclear waste at a Virginia plant, moving them as much as 4.5 inches from their original position, the plant's operator said.

The 5.8-magnitude quake shifted 25 casks, each 16 feet tall and weighing 115 tons, on a concrete pad at Dominion Resources Inc's North Anna nuclear plant."

Roberta Rampton reports for Reuters September 1, 2011.