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Fukushima and the coming Tokyo Earthquake Logo
15 Apr2021

The clock that stopped

April 15, 2021. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

Interesting story from Miyagi, the prefecture north of Fukushima that was also hit by the devastating tsunamis in 2011. It seems that the head monk at a temple there had bought an old second-hand Seiko clock, more than 100 years old, which he hung in the temple building. 

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10 Mar2021

Thoughts on the 10th anniversary of the tsunami and meltdowns of March 2011

March 10, 2021. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

March 11th marks the 10th anniversary of the Tōhoku tsunami and consequent Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear meltdowns. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade already. 

My memories of that time include the quake itself rocking our Tokyo apartment – the strongest one I have ever experienced, a 5.8 on the Richter scale, as household goods came crashing down around me. Of the many images broadcast on Japanese TV in the hours after the tsunami hit, the one that really stayed with me was an image of an entire house on fire being carried inland, across rice fields, by the tsunami. 

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17 Oct2020

What are the dangers in the planned release of water from the Fukushima site?

October 17, 2020. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

Very little, other than the damage to the reputation of Fukushima fish (which is completely unwarranted) and to sales for Fukushima fishermen. This is based in fear rather than science.

Your question mentions contaminated water, as if the water was being pumped straight out of the reactor basements. This will not be the case. It is first treated to remove most radioactive contaminants.

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09 Aug2020

Update on progress in food and water safety in Fukushima

August 9, 2020. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

After the explosions at Fukushima Dai-ichi scattered radiation in much of the prefecture, more than 40 countries refused to import food items from Japan, dealing a grievous blow to the famers and fishermen of the prefecture. In addition, many within Japan would also not buy food or fish products from Fukushima and neighbouring prefectures.

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08 Feb2020

Japan to build new coal-burning power plants, despite the climate risks

February 8, 2020. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

One unintended consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster almost a decade ago is that Japan now plans to build as many as 22 new coal-burning power plants — one of the dirtiest sources of electricity — at 17 different sites over the next five years. This is at a time when the world needs to slash carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming. Together, the 22 power plants would emit almost as much carbon dioxide annually as all the passenger cars sold each year in the United States.

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Water storage tanks at Fukushima Dai-ichi
22 Aug2019

Fukushima is running out of space to store its radioactive water

August 22, 2019. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

In just three years the Fukushima Dai-ichi site will have no more room to make the specialised tanks that are used store water that has been used to cool the melted reactors, or has seeped through the site from the surrounding hills. There’s currently over 1.15 million tons of this radioactive water being stored at the facility in 960 tanks and it’s continuing to accumulate at a rate of about 150 tons a day, meaning the tanks could reach full capacity by the summer of 2022.

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Surfer in Fukushima
09 Mar2019

Fukushima gets it first surf shop since the 2011 meltdowns

March 9, 2019. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

It has been eight years now since the meltdowns, and the water just off the Dai-ichi plant still contains contamination that washed there from the plant. But, a little further away, Kitai-izumi Beach is now open again. It is a popular spot for surfers as it gets some of the best waves in Japan, as you can see in the photo.

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24 Apr2018

Cancer rates at Fukushima as of March 2018

April 24, 2018. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

As of January last year a report out of TEPCO and the various parties involved in decommissioning documents that 15 workers from Fukushima Daiichi have developed cancer.

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09 Mar2018

The Fukushima ice wall fails to keep out groundwater

March 9, 2018. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

A major problem at Fukushima Dai-ichi is the flow of groundwater through the plant from the surrounding hills. This water flows into the irradiated debris in the basements of the destroyed reactors and then from there into the sea.

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05 Dec2017

Robots finally find the melted fuel cores

December 5, 2017. Written by Tony Smyth. Posted in Blog

Six years after the Fukushima meltdowns engineers at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have succeeded in guiding a small robot to the heart of the heavily damaged Reactor 3 reactor and located the fuel which melted onto the floor of the reactor building. Earlier robots had failed, getting caught on debris or suffering circuit malfunctions from excess radiation (see previous blog about this).

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Blogs

  • The clock that stopped
  • Thoughts on the 10th anniversary of the tsunami and meltdowns of March 2011
  • What are the dangers in the planned release of water from the Fukushima site?
  • Update on progress in food and water safety in Fukushima
  • Japan to build new coal-burning power plants, despite the climate risks
  • Fukushima is running out of space to store its radioactive water
  • Fukushima gets it first surf shop since the 2011 meltdowns
  • Cancer rates at Fukushima as of March 2018
  • The Fukushima ice wall fails to keep out groundwater
  • Smashwords interview
  • Robots finally find the melted fuel cores
  • Hunters kill radioactive wild boars in Fukushima nuclear disaster zone
  • Cancer among workers at Fukushima Dai-ichi
  • Little radiation off Fukushima six years after meltdown
  • The world with over 1°C temperature rise
  • Radiation levels kill Tepco’s robots

Recent Comments

  • Avatar

    Tony Smyth

    July 16, 2017 | #

    Hey. Yes its just been finished. Hurrah. BUT I’m off to Europe tomorrow so will release it a few days after I get back. Probably round August 9th. A book launch needs many things coordinated to improve publicity and I can’t do that from Dublin/Berlin. Besides which I’ve been incredibly busy these last 10 weeks, not just physically but mentally. A well earned rest and many pints of Guiness sounds good to me. Thanks for the interest.

  • Avatar

    Jonathan L.

    July 16, 2017 | #

    Hello Tony, I’m kind of curious — any news about the editing on your book?

  • Avatar

    Tony Smyth

    April 27, 2017 | #

    Thanks Jonathan. Its been finished for a while, its just the guy doing the final conversion to ebook format is very busy, hence the delay. It will be out on Kindle first then on Smashwords. In print on Amazon a bit later.
    I’m already researching for the sequel to it which will basically argue that the current economic paradigm is broken and that major change is ahead, whether we like it or not. Provisional title is ‘Inverting the pyramid’ plus it will have some subhead which may come to me as I write it. We live in interesting times.

  • Avatar

    Jonathan L. Seagull

    April 27, 2017 | #

    Your book looks really interesting, I hope you release it on Kindle Unlimited!

  • Avatar

    GJS

    April 21, 2017 | #

    Blog up and running. Keep people informed, this stuff is real and a threat. Looking forward to the book as well.

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