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Nuclear Crisis in Japan
Your donations make our monitoring of the situation in Japan and our work for a nuclear-free carbon-free future possible.
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July 23, 2012: Summary of Japan Cabinet report on Fukushima and aftermath. Both Tepco and government are still stumbling.
July 18, 2012: 43 organizations tell National Academy of Sciences that unbalanced composition of committee to examine Fukushima disaster violates federal law.
July 5, 2012: Executive summary of Japan's Parliamentary Inquiry into the Fukushima disaster that concluded that while it was triggered by the earthquake, it was a "profoundly man-made" disaster rooted in industry/government collusion.
Briefing paper: Health at a Glance in Post-Earthquake Japan, 02-22-2012 by Olson, Chou, Chang and Ito.
February 28, 2012: Lessons from Fukushima. New report from Greenpeace International prepared for the first anniversary of Fukushima disaster.
pdf of NIRS Factsheet on
Nuclear Crisis in Japan
Protective Measures from Radioactivity in North America
August 17, 2011: Nuclear Power After Fukushima. Report and recommendations to improve safety & security at U.S. reactor sites, from Union of Concerned Scientists.
45 organizations, including NIRS, submit legal petitions to NRC to suspend all U.S. reactor licensing and re-licensing proceedings pending review of Fukushima implications.
Actions for a nuclear-free world Find an action near you, tell us about your plans.
Union of Concerned Scientists releases internal NRC e-mails and documents indicating dispute among NRC staff about whether U.S. GE Mark I reactors could withstand a Fukushima-style station blackout accident.
Statement of Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Fukushima and "safety" of U.S. reactors; reveals NRC e-mail that states core may have melted through pressure vessel at Unit 2.
Letter from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to President Obama calling for moratorium on licensing, end to nuclear loan guarantee program, reconsideration of Price-Anderson Act, and more.
April 1, 2011: FDA's Comparison of Radiation in Milk to Everyday Exposures Called 'Improper'. Press Release.
Greenpeace video of campaign to stop shipment of plutonium-based MOX fuel to Fukushima in 1999. Updated March 2011 to point out that anti-nuclear activists kept MOX out of the Fukushima reactors for more than ten years. If they hadn't done that, the situation at Fukushima would be even worse.
March 29, 2011: Rep. Ed Markey introduces new nuclear safety bill calling for moratorium on new reactor licensing and license renewals until safety lessons of Fukushima are implemented. Markey statement and text of bill.
Statement of Michael Mariotte, NIRS executive director, at Friends of the Earth media briefing on implications of Fukushima on new U.S. reactor program. March 24, 2011. Statement of Anna Aurilio, Environment America.
Long, but excellent paper on radiation and impacts of Fukushima accident on U.S. from Physicians for Social Responsibility.
March 22, 2011: New public opinion poll. More than half want moratorium on new reactors in U.S. 3/4 oppose taxpayer loan guarantees for new reactors.
Letter from Dr. Rosalie Bertell on Japan disaster. Dr. Bertell is founder of International Institute of Concern for Public Health and author of No Immediate Danger?: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth and the Handbook For Estimating Health Effects From Exposure To Ionizing Radiation.
30-minute Interview with Michael Mariotte of NIRS on Voice of America, aired worldwide March 19-20, 2011. Available in mp3 and Windows Media.
Amory Lovins: Learning from Japan's Nuclear Disaster. A must-read.
Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen of Fairewind Associates has been doing terrific commentary, especially on CNN, on the Fukushima disaster. You can keep up with this commentary here.
Demand permanent shutdown of GE Mark I reactors in U.S. Take action here.
There are currently 23 General Electric Mark I reactors in the U.S.--the design that exploded at Fukushima. A top Atomic Energy Commission official first proposed banning this design nearly 40 years ago. List/fact sheet. Updated, includes license renewal information.
Updated fact sheet on problems with BWR reactors generally and Mark I reactors in particular
Three critical Atomic Energy Commission memos on the GE Mark I reactor design:
November 11, 1971: Outlines problems with the design and pressure suppression system containment.
September 20, 1971: Memo from Steven Hanauer recommends that U.S. stop licensing reactors using pressure suppression system
September 25, 1972: memo from Joseph Hendrie (top safety official at AEC) agrees with recommendation but rejects it saying it "could well mean the end of nuclear power..."
Excel spreadsheet showing radiation levels in several towns in northern Japan, March 13-March 18
Document showing condition of Units 1, 2 & 3 reactors, March 13-17
Satellite photo of Fukushima site, March 18, 10:20 am Tokyo time.
Audio of Physicians for Social Responsibility news briefing on radiation and health, with three experts, March 16, 2011
Letter from Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to NRC chair Greg Jaczko: If citizens of US and world cannot be protected from nuclear power, it should not exist.
Financial analysts downgrade nuclear power in wake of Japan crisis.
Amazing photo of Unit 3 immediately after explosion.
Link to video of press conference in Japan by Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (in Japanese with English translation), March 13, 2011.
Radiation Measurements Conversion Table: how to convert MicroSievert into Millirems, etc.
Statement of Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, March 12, 2011
Green Action blog on Japan nuclear crisis, includes updates, video links.
TMI Alert piece on similarities/differences between Fukushima and Three Mile Island events.
2002 report from Citizens' Nuclear Information Center on cover-ups of safety problems by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
November 2010 presentation from Tokyo Electric Power on how high-level radioactive waste is stored at Fukushima (including pool inventory and dry cask info).
Note: Major Fukushima-related information is periodically covered in NIRS' blog GreenWorld, at www.safeenergy.org. In addition, SimplyInfo.org is the best site for regularly updated information on the Fukushima aftermath and continuing technical and safety issues. This Fukushima crisis page will focus on studies, reports and other in-depth information.
April 16, 2015. Informal English translation of April 14 Japanese court decision barring restart of Takahama nuclear reactors. Decision challenges Japan's entire nuclear regulatory scheme, finding it inadequate to assure public safety. Prepared by Green Action in Japan.