‘Rather than using conventional fuel rod assemblies of the sort leaking radiation in Japan, each packed with nearly 400 pounds of uranium, the Chinese reactors will use hundreds of thousands of billiard-ball-size fuel elements, each cloaked in its own protective layer of graphite.’

via China Building Nuclear Reactors With Radically Different Design – NYTimes.com.

Graphic of reactor.

‘TOKYO — Efforts to stabilize the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima stalled on Monday when engineers found that crucial machinery at one reactor required repair, a process that will take two to three days, government officials said.’

via Need for Repairs Stalls Work at Nuclear Plant in Japan – NYTimes.com.

‘FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Officials are racing to restore electricity to Japan’s leaking nuclear plant, but getting the power flowing will hardly be the end of their battle: With its mangled machinery and partly melted reactor cores, bringing the complex under control is a monstrous job.’

via No quick fix seen at Japan’s nuclear plant – Yahoo! News.

‘BRUSSELS — The French energy minister on Tuesday strongly defended the use of nuclear energy, highlighting a widening rift in Europe over the future of the technology since the crisis at reactors in Japan.’

via France Widens European Nuclear Energy Debate – NYTimes.com.

‘A female worker at the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) plant wrote a blog post about the battle to keep the reactors from overheating, saying the brave workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant were risking their lives to keep the situation under control.’

via Worker at Japanese nuclear plant: We’re putting our lives on the line – Yahoo! News.

‘Japan has raised the alert level at a stricken nuclear plant from four to five on a seven-point international scale for atomic accidents.’

via BBC News – Japan earthquake: Fukushima nuclear alert level raised.

‘Fire has again broken out at the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan.

The blaze has struck reactor four, where spent fuel rods are kept. The plant has already been hit by four explosions, triggering radiation leaks and sparking health concerns.’

via BBC News – Japan earthquake: New fire at Fukushima nuclear plant.

‘Japan’s government and nuclear industry, with assistance from the U.S. military, is in a desperate race to stave off multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns — as well as potential fires in pools of spent fuel.’

via Robert Alvarez: Meltdowns Grow More Likely at the Fukushima Reactors.

‘Technicians have been battling to control the pressure and temperature in the reactors for days, pumping in seawater and releasing vapour containing radioactive elements.’

via BBC News – Japan quake: Fukushima plant alarming, says Naoto Kan.