Free Republic

Rising above the scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident is the spectacular sight of the largest moveable structure ever created on land. The complex of nuclear power plants at Chernobyl has dominated this corner of northwest Ukraine for decades but the new construction towers over it all. The project is to build what is called a New Safe Confinement – in effect, a giant cover, a kind of dome, to fit over the building that houses the reactor that exploded on 26 April, 1986. The radiation immediately above the reactor is still far too intense for the new enclosure...

About 140 barrels were filled with items taken from the unit at the Ivy apartments on Fair Oaks. Most of the material will be destroyed.

A very well-written article from New York Times by Martin Fackler, on December 6, 2011. I translated this article and posted on my Japanese blog, but the futility of so-called "decontamination" is best summarized, to me, by the photo that the New York Times put at the top of the article: Even the ardent supporter for the residents' return by decontaminating the towns and cities, Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama of Tokyo University, has this to say: “I believe it is possible to save Fukushima,” said the supporter, Tatsuhiko Kodama, director of the Radioisotope Center at the University of Tokyo. “But many...

TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us By TOMOHIRO IWATA / Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer "owned" the radioactive substances. “Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said. That argument did not sit well with the companies that own and operate the Sunfield Nihonmatsu Golf Club, just 45 kilometers west of the stricken TEPCO plant...

Estimated 13,000 square km eligible for decontamination The central government will be responsible for decontaminating about 13,000 square kilometers across eight prefecture, or about 3 percent of Japan's total landmass, under new standards for cleaning up radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to Asahi Shimbun estimates. The Environment Ministry on Oct. 10 endorsed a basic policy to make the government responsible for decontaminating all areas with radiation levels exceeding 1 millisievert per year. Based on an earlier annual threshold of 5 millisieverts, the ministry initially said about 1,800 square km of land in Fukushima Prefecture would...

True radiation decontamination still a long way away Though the government last month lifted the "emergency evacuation preparation zone" designation of some areas greatly affected by the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, radiation decontamination efforts are still taking place in areas with high levels of radiation. The three main decontamination methods that have been highly publicized through media reports are: the stripping away of surface soil from school playgrounds and athletic fields, the removal of mud accumulated in gutters, and the washing of roofs using high-pressure water cleaners. While the first method is considered effective,...

Fukushima soil decontamination zone may be larger than expected Topic: Global consequences of Japanese quake The Japanese government said it would lay down new soil pollution standards for the area around the stricken Fukushima nuclear power station, expanding the soil decontamination zone to neighboring prefectures, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said on Tuesday. "Our goal is to reduce radiation levels to under 1 millisievert. Those areas with radiation levels between 1 millisievert and 5 millisieverts will naturally be covered," said Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of the Fukushima nuclear accident. According to a preliminary decontamination plan made last month,...

Decontamination system stops at Fukushima Daiichi The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is facing yet another problem with its wastewater filtering system. The system came to a halt again on Sunday. Tokyo Electric Power Company has been filtering highly contaminated water in basements to remove radioactive material and then pump the water back into the reactors as coolant. Shortly after 7 AM on Sunday, some of the pumps in a US decontamination device stopped and could not be restarted. The equipment is used to remove radioactive cesium. About an hour later, a pump in a French device also...

FNC broke in with a story that a post office in Gilbert, AZ has been closed due to a "suspicious substance" that is "yellow and crystallized" leaking from a package. Employees have been evacuated, some to medical facilities after they complained of vision and breathing problems. No story yet at the link. Developing...

<p>WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration Friday approved a new lotion that blocks the action of chemical weapons on skin for use by the U.S. military.</p> <p>The lotion, called Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion or RSDL, "rapidly" neutralizes chemical weapons agents and renders them non-toxic, the FDA said.</p>

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Monday, February 17, 2003 Joseph Giordono / S&S Marines with scrub brushes wait their turn to decontaminate vehicles during a chemical weapons drill in the Kuwaiti desert. Joseph Giordono / S&S A Marine decontaminates a forklift. Joseph Giordono / S&S A Marine decontaminates a piece of equipment during a chemical weapons drill at a camp in the Kuwaiti desert. CAMP TARAWA, Kuwait — As the echo of live-fire exercises rumbles across the desert, mobile Marine Corps decontamination units are practicing for a job none of them hopes to do. Just outside a Marine...