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wiredInUSA - August 2013
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Reuters reports that Japan's nuclear
regulator has expressed growing alarm
at contamination at the seafront of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station,
and has urged the plants operators to take
protective measures.
Fukushimas operator, Tokyo Electric Power
Co, has acknowledged that problems are
mounting at the plant, the site of theworld's
worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl in
1986. The company said radiation levels
in groundwater had soared, suggesting
highly toxic materials from the plant were
getting closer to the Pacific more than two
years after three meltdowns triggered by a
massive earthquake and tsunami.
Shunichi Tanaka, head of the new nuclear
regulation authority, told reporters he
believed contamination of the sea had
been continuing since the March 2011
catastrophe.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman
Hua Chunying said she was unaware of
reports of contamination leaking into the
Pacific, but an official at South Korea's
fisheries ministry said regular tests were
run on fish caught off the countrys coast
and any with contamination exceeding
permitted levels banned from sale.
Fukushima contamination
alarm
The West Australian Government has
approved plans to build Western
Australia’s first tidal energy power station.
Tidal Energy Australia proposes to build
the new station at Doctor’s Creek, near
Derby in West Kimberley.
Derby-West Kimberley shire president
Elsia Archer says she is excited about the
extra jobs and power it will bring to West
Kimberley.
However, the member for Mining and
Pastoral Region, Robin Chapple, says he
does not see how the project could be
environmentally or financially viable.
By harnessing the energy in the extreme
tidal movements, the facility is expected to
generate 40MW of electricity – enough to
power up to 15,000 homes. Albert Jacob,
the environment minister, has approved
the project subject to conditions.
Tidal energy power
station approved