Asia Pacific May 23, 2018
In power-hungry Philippines, some advocate a nuclear revival
by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Enrico Dela Cruz
Filipino Wilfredo Torres was hired as a technician for Southeast Asia's only nuclear power plant in the 1980s but has spent the past decade giving guided tours at the never-used facility. The Philippines splashed out $2.3 billion on the 621-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant but ...
National / History Dec 20, 2017
Japan downplayed Chernobyl concerns at G-7 for energy policy's sake: declassified documents
Eager to maintain its energy policy in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Japan made sure concerns about nuclear technology were downplayed at the 12th Group of Seven summit it chaired in Tokyo days after the disaster, according to Japanese diplomatic records declassified ...
National / Social Issues May 4, 2017
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko visited the site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine on Thursday to learn lessons Japan could find useful in scrapping the nuclear reactors wrecked by the triple core meltdown in Fukushima Prefecture in 2011. The gutted ...
Film Mar 8, 2017
A dystopian future set in the present aftermath
by Giovanni Fazio
With "Homo Sapiens", director Nikolaus Geyrhalter paints a haunting dystopian vision of civilization minus its creators. This unique documentary consists of nothing but steady, perfectly framed wide-shots of abandoned structures and wastelands. Imagine Wes Anderson doing location shots for "The Walking Dead" and you'll ...
National Jan 30, 2017
Ukraine bestows honor on Japanese woman who helped sick Chernobyl kids
The Ukraine government on Thursday awarded the Order of Princess Olga to a Japanese woman to recognize her efforts helping children who fell ill in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Mari Sasaki, 52-year-old head of the Chernobyl Children's Fund, Japan, accepted the ...
Business Jan 14, 2017
Chinese, Germans seek to turn Chernobyl wasteland into solar park
Chinese and Germans are among dozens of investors taking Ukraine up on its offer to turn the grounds of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters into a massive solar park. Thirteen international investors are among the 39 groups seeking Ukrainian permission to install about ...
National Nov 27, 2016
by Tai Kawabata
Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, called the nuclear catastrophes at Chernobyl and Fukushima events that people cannot yet fully fathom and warned against the hubris that humans have the power to conquer nature. The 68-year-old Belarusian writer was in Tokyo ...
National Jul 4, 2016
Japanese photojournalist documents nuclear crises in Chernobyl, Fukushima
by Satoshi Fujiwara
Ryuichi Hirokawa, a Japanese photojournalist, has documented the world's two worst nuclear crises — in Chernobyl three decades ago, and the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. With this year marking the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Hirokawa, 72, has released ...
Commentary / World Apr 28, 2016
The next nuclear disaster may be intentional
by Bennett Ramberg
Nuclear reactors are likely terrorist targets and not enough is being done to protect them.
National / Science & Health Apr 27, 2016
The International Atomic Energy Agency will continue to provide assistance for member countries to prevent nuclear disasters such as those seen in Chernobyl and Fukushima, its chief said Tuesday. IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano made the pledge in a statement issued to mark the 30th anniversary ...
World / Science & Health Apr 26, 2016
Three decades later, Chernobyl residue still being found in Belarus milk
On the edge of Belarus' Chernobyl exclusion zone, down the road from the signs warning "Stop! Radiation," a dairy farmer offers his visitors a glass of freshly drawn milk. Associated Press reporters politely decline the drink but pass on a bottled sample to a ...