Nuclear Power & Radiation

"The U.S. has 31 reactors just like Japan’s — but regulators are ignoring the risks and boosting industry profits."

"One day after deadly tornadoes knocked out power to nuclear reactors in Alabama, the head of the U.S. nuclear safety regulator expressed concern whether backup batteries at sites across the United States have the staying power in a prolonged emergency."

"In an effort to encourage nuclear power, Congress voted in 2005 to authorize $17.5 billion in loan guarantees for new reactors. Now, six years later, with the industry stalled by poor market conditions and the Fukushima disaster, nearly half of the fund remains unclaimed. And yet Congress, at the request of the Obama administration, is preparing to add $36 billion in nuclear loan guarantees to next year’s budget."

"Most Americans fear that the United States someday could face the kind of nuclear emergency that's plagued Japan in recent weeks, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll."

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. started the unprecedented and potentially risky measure of allowing water to flood the containment vessels of three troubled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, company sources said."

As the 25th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine arrives, its lessons may remain unlearned.

"The 83-year-old man spoke with tears in his eyes. 'It's all over. It is better to just die.' He had just learned his small farm would be sealed off at midnight April 21 inside the government's no-entry zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

"As he prepared to visit Chernobyl 25 years after the world's worst nuclear disaster, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined a five-step plan to strengthen global nuclear safety."

"The Japanese government is considering whether to impose legal controls on access to an evacuated area around a damaged nuclear power plant, a senior official said on Wednesday."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission exists to police, not promote, the domestic nuclear industry -- but diplomatic cables show that it is sometimes used as a sales tool to help push American technology to foreign governments."