nuclear

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday. The final tally was 293 against the motion and 152 for it. The opposition Liberal Democratic Party filed the no-confidence motion Wednesday, and needed a simple majority for it to pass in...

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Two of the damaged reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan may be riddled with holes, according to the facility's owner. The holes may be as big as 7 to 10 centimeters ( 2.8- 3.9 inches), Tokyo Electric Power Co. said in a 225-page document...

Tokyo (CNN) -- Worse-than-expected damage in one reactor is forcing a change of plans at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but its owners say they still expect to end the 2-month-old crisis by January. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it will have to change its plans for cooling...

EHRAN, Iran – An Iranian spokesman says the country has received a new shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia for its only nuclear power plant. Hamid Khadem Qaemi, from Iran's nuclear agency, says Russia delivered a total of 33 tons (30 metric tons) by plane over the last week for the...

TOKYO – Japan will scrap a plan to obtain half of its electricity from nuclear power and will instead promote renewable energy and conservation as a result of its ongoing nuclear crisis, the prime minister said Tuesday. Naoto Kan said Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy...

SENDAI, Japan – A big aftershock rocked quake-weary Japan late Thursday, rattling nerves as it knocked out power to the northern part of the country and prompted tsunami warnings that were later canceled. The quake was initially measured at magnitude-7.4, though the U.S. Geological Survey in...

Japan called on the world not to impose "unjustifiable" import curbs on its goods as French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to arrive on Thursday, the first leader to visit since an earthquake and tsunami damaged a nuclear plant, sparking the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. In a...

WASHINGTON – The Japanese nuclear crisis has reignited a debate in the U.S. over the government's role in distributing a cheap anti-cancer drug to people living around nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission currently makes the drug, potassium iodide, available to states for...

TOKYO – Japan's prime minister insisted Tuesday that the country was on "maximum alert" to bring its nuclear crisis under control, but the spread of radiation raised concerns about the ability of experts to stabilize the crippled reactor complex. Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament that...

TOKYO – A suspected breach in the reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination, Japanese officials revealed Friday, as the prime minister called the country's ongoing fight to stabilize the plant "very grave and serious." A somber Prime...

The World Health Organization said on Monday that radiation in food after an earthquake damaged a Japanese nuclear plant was more serious than previously thought, eclipsing signs of progress in a battle to avert a catastrophic meltdown in its reactors. Engineers managed to rig power cables to...

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Gray smoke rose from two reactor units Monday, temporarily stalling critical work to reconnect power lines and restore cooling systems to stabilize Japan's radiation-leaking nuclear complex. Workers are racing to bring the nuclear plant under control, but the process is...

SAN FRANCISCO – Federal and state officials sought Friday to dispel fears of a wider danger from radioactivity spewing from Japan's crippled nuclear reactors, saying testing indicated there were no health threats along the West Coast of the U.S. Driven by winds over the Pacific Ocean, a...

Exhausted engineers attached a power cable to the outside of Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant on Saturday in a desperate attempt to get water pumps going that would cool down overheated fuel rods and prevent the deadly spread of radiation. Hopes were dashed of miracle survivors when it...

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Emergency workers racing to cool dangerously overheated uranium fuel scrambled Saturday to connect Japan's crippled reactors to a new power line, with electricians fighting tsunami-shattered equipment to restart the complex's cooling systems. Though the power line reached the...

Europe's energy chief warned on Wednesday of a further catastrophe at Japan's nuclear site "in the coming hours" but his spokeswoman said he had no specific or privileged information on the situation. "In the coming hours there could be further catastrophic events which could pose a threat to...

Operators of a quake-crippled nuclear plant in Japan said they would try again on Thursday to use military helicopters to douse overheating reactors and avert a disaster, but U.S. officials warned that radiation levels may be too high to allow repairs. While officials scrambled to contain the...

Panic selling hit the US stock market Tuesday as traders worried that a nuclear meltdown in quake-hit Japan could threaten the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell around 1.8 percent by midday in New York, losing over 200 points. The New York Stock Exchange invoked a rarely...

Area residents are told to stay inside during the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl Dangerous levels of radiation leaking from a crippled nuclear plant forced Japan to order 140,000 people to seal themselves indoors Tuesday after an explosion and a fire dramatically escalated the crisis...

The European Union will discuss Tuesday whether to conduct "stress tests" on atomic power plants to check their safety in light of Japan's nuclear crisis, a European Commission spokeswoman said. The possible tests on nuclear plants will be debated at a meeting of ministers, national nuclear...