| 2008. 3.25 | [U.S.A.] Pentagon admits mistaken nuclear arms shipment. Shipping by mistake electrical fuses for an intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan.Four of the cone-shaped fuses were shipped to Taiwanese officials in fall 2006 instead of the helicopter batteries they had ordered.
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| 2008. 4.25 | [U.S.A.]U.S. government sources say that Israel's decision to attack Syria on Sept. 6, bombing a suspected nuclear site set up in apparent collaboration with North Korea, came after Israel shared intelligence with President Bush this summer indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria.
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| 2008. 5.20 | [China]Earthquake in Sichuan province, nuclear sites damaged. Two nuclear fuel production sites and two atomic weapons sites, between 40 and 90 miles from the epicentre.
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| 2008. 5.22 | [U.S.A.]Fire onboard nuclear powered Nimitz class US Aircraft Carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). Fire was detected in the morning near aft air conditioning and refrigeration space and auxiliary boiler room, spread to more places through electrical cable way. Ships crew as a team extinguished the fire after several hours of fire fighting. 23 crew members were treated for heat stress and one crew was treated for first degree burns.
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| 2008. 6.15 | [U.S.A.]Blueprints for a sophisticated nuclear bomb may have been passed in recent years to Iran or North Korea ? or even to terrorist groups. The bomb blueprints were discovered in 2006, but their existence has only now been made public. They were found on computers belonging to three Swiss businessmen under investigation for their ties to the smuggling ring directed by Khan, who is under house arrest for having sold nuclear secrets to Libya and other countries.
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| 2008. 6.27 | [DPRK] Destroys cooling tower at nuclear plant. Almost simultaneously, President George W. Bush announced that Washington was removing North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, and issued a proclamation lifting some sanctions under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
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| 2008. 7. 8 | [France] An accidental spillage of waste containing uranium occured at one of France's top nuclear plants. Some 30 cubic metres (over 1,000 cubic feet) of effluents containing 12 grammes (easily less than half an ounce) of uranium per litre spilled out at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Centre in Bollene in southern France.
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| 2008. 7. 9 | [Iran] Nine missiles had been fired in total, including a new Shahab-3, with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles).
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| 2008. 7.9 | [Japan-Australia]The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments. It aims to reinvigorate international efforts on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, in the context of both the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and beyond. Prime Minister Rudd and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed to establish the Commission.
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| 2008. 7.17 | [U.S.A.] Possible Nuclear Leak by U.S. Submarine. Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was informed by the U.S. Navy that a small amount of radiation might have leaked from the nuclear-powered USS Houston as it traveled around the Pacific.
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| 2008. 7.18 | [France] Another "Incident" at French Nuclear Plant. A security incident has occurred at a French nuclear site already under scrutiny due to other scares this summer. Two fuel units became snagged in a reactor at Tricastin in southern France when site workers were removing them for maintenance. The reactor building was evacuated.
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| 2008. 7.26 | [Iran]Remark by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran possesses more than 5,000 centrifuges, which can produce nuclear material suitable for a power plant or, if highly enriched, an atomic bomb.
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| 2008. 8.9 | [U.S.A.]Democratic Party Platform on Nuke and Nonproliferation Issues, approved.
Preventing the Spread and Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction:
A World Without Nuclear Weapons:America will seek a world with no nuclear weapons and take concrete actions to move in this direction. We face the growing threat of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons or the materials to make them, as more countries seek nuclear weapons and nuclear materials remain unsecured in too many places. We will maintain a strong and reliable deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist, but America will be safer in a world that is reducing reliance on nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminates all of them. We will make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of U.S. nuclear weapons policy.
Secure Nuclear Weapons and the Materials to Make Them:We will work with other nations to secure, eliminate, and stop the spread of nuclear weapons and materials to dramatically reduce the dangers to our nation and the world. We will convene a summit in and regularly thereafter) of leaders of Permanent Members of the U.N. Security Council and other key countries to agree on implementing many of these measures on a global basis.
End the Production of Fissile Material:We will negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and work to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
End Cold War Nuclear Postures:We will work with Russia to take as many weapons as possible off Cold War, quick-launch status, and extend key provisions of the START Treaty, including its essential monitoring and verification requirements. We will not develop new nuclear weapons, and will work to create a bipartisan consensus to support ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which will strengthen the NPT and aid international monitoring of nuclear activities.
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| 2008. 9. 6 | [NSG] Approving by 45 members of The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to carry out nuclear commerce, ending 34 years of isolation of India.
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| 2008. 9.25 | [U.S.A.] U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington deployed in Yokosuka, 50 miles from metropolitan area of Tokyo.
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| 2008. 9.25 | [China] Launches 3-man crew into space China. Carries out first space walk.
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| 2008. 9.30 | [France-India] Signed a agreement for civil nuclear cooperation with France. With this pact, France became the first country to enter into a formal understanding with India after the Nuclear Suppliers Group exempted India from its guidelines earlier this month.
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| 2008.10.10 | [U.S.A.-India]US-India Nuclear treaty. The U.S. Senate ratified the deal 86 to 13 a week after the House passed it on 10.2.
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| 2008.10.11 | [U.S.A.]US removes North Korea from terrorism blacklist.@
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| 2008.10.18 | [Pakistan-China] China-Pakistan nuclear power plant deal. China to provide help to build two new nuclear power plants.
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| 2008.10.22 | [India]Satellite orbiting Moon unmanned.
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| 2008.11.4 | [U.S.A.] Barack Obama wins presidential election,pledging to move toward a nuclear free world.
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| 2008.11. 8 | [Russia]Accident on a Russian nuclear submarine. At least 20 people died in when a fire extinguishing system was activated by mistake.The dead are reported to be six sailors and 14 civilians.
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| 2008.11.12 | [Iran]Tests of new anti-ship missile in Gulf of Oman.
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| 2008.12. 2 | [United Nations]Resolution, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, adopted by the General Assembly.
175 in favour to 1 against(United States), 3 abstentions(India, Mauritius, Syria),and 14 absents (Angola, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Peoplefs Republic of Korea, Gambia, Haiti, Kiribati, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tuvalu).
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| 2008.12. 5 | [Russia-India]India-Russia nuclear deal signed. |
| 2009. 2.13 | [China]
Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, China's intention to build aircraft carriers.Reports state that two 50,000-60,000 ton aircraft carriers are due to be finished by 2015. |
| 2009. 2.3 | [UK- France]
Two British and French nuclear submarines collision in heavy seas in the Atlantic. Each carries 16 M45 ballistic missiles, weighs 35 tons each, carries six warheads and has a range of around 5,000 miles. |
| 2009. 2.25 | [Iran]
The first test of nuclear power plant. Tests were carried out at the Bushehr nuclear power plant using "dummy" fuel rods, loaded with lead in place of enriched uranium to simulate nuclear fuel. |
| 2009. 3.7 | [U.S.A.- Russia]
Russia and U.S.A. set out demands for a comprehensive new nuclear weapons agreement to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start I) of 1991. On June 6 President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev began talks toward reducing their nuclear arsenals by nearly a third. |
| 2009. 3.24 | [France]
FRANCE: The French government to compensate victims of nuclear tests for the first time. A draft bill to be submitted to parliament. On December .23 French lawmakers approved legislation to compensate victims of atomic tests carried out over almost 40 years in the Algerian Sahara and French Polynesia. |
| 2009. 4. 6 | [DPRK] Llaunching the rocket at 11:30 a.m. local time, or 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Early reports from the Japanese prime ministerfs office indicated that the three-stage rocket appeared to launch successfully, with the first stage falling into the Sea of Japan and the second stage into the Pacific. South Korea vowed a gstern and resoluteh response to the Northfs greckless act.h North Korean officials confirmed on February 24 that their country is making preparations to launch a communications satellite, a move that would also constitute a new test of North Korean missile capabilities. |
| 2009. 4. 6 | [U.S.A.]
Obama's speach of the nuclear weapons-free world. He told a crowd of tens of thousands gathered in morning sunshine in Prague that America, as the sole country ever to fire a nuclear weapon in anger, bore the moral responsibility for launching a new era of nuclear disarmament aimed at eliminating nuclear stockpiles. His presidency, Obama declared, would see "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons".Obama said he would downgrade the role ascribed to nuclear weapons in the US's national security doctrines. He pledged he would press the US Senate "immediately and aggressively" to ratify the comprehensive test ban treaty never fully endorsed by the Americans. "It is time for the testing of nuclear weapons to be banned," said the president. |
| 2009. 4.13 | [UN]
The Security Council condemnation for North Korea's missile tests. It said it will punish them with tougher sanctions.Although all 15 council members agreed, the statement was a weaker response than Japan and the US wanted - Russia and China opposed their attempt to go tougher on the communist state. |
| 2009. 4.15 | [DPRK]
Withdrawal from six-party talks, in response to UN condemnation of its launch of a rocket on April 5. The U.S. State Department confirmed that its inspection team, completely separate from the IAEA mission, had also been told to leave.International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, who monitored the disablement of a nuclear facility in North Korea, have left the site with surveillance cameras switched off on Pyongyang's demand. |
| 2009. 4.24 | [EU]
European Parliament approves with a majority of 177 votes against 130 an amendment introducing the "Model Nuclear Weapons Convention" and the "Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol" as concrete tools to achieve a nuclear weapons free world by 2020. |
| 2009. 5. 6 | [UN]
Recommendation by The third PrepCom for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. Reaffirm the commitments of States parties under Article VI relating the nuclear disarmament. |
| 2009. 5.13 | [Russia]
New national security strategy, an updated version of its 1997 policy, outlines major threats to the country's national security and defines its national interests. The strategy paper, "a comprehensive and fundamental document" intended to last until 2020, was approved by President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday and released by the Kremlin on Wednesday.
the United States' plan to deploy a missile defense system in Central Europe has remarkably reduced the possibility of safeguarding the global and regional stability. Therefore, Russia will pursue a "rational and pragmatic" foreign policy, avoiding costly confrontation and a new arms race, the document said. Russia will actively participate in multilateral cooperation and make its cooperation with Commonwealth of Independent States members a priority, the paper said. |
| 2009. 5.25 | [DPRK]
The second nuclear test. North Korea insists it has a right to nuclear weapons, it has staged a "successful" underground nuclear test.The state says it was more powerful than the previous one in October 2006. The North Korea gave no details of the test location, but South Korean officials said that a seismic tremor was detected in the north-eastern part around the town of Kilju - the site of North Korea's first nuclear test. The US Geological Survey said a 4.7-magnitude quake was detected at 0054 GMT, 10km (six miles) underground. |
| 2009. 6.13 | [DPRK]
Says it will start enriching uranium. A few hours after the U.N. Security Council slapped it with tough new sanctions for detonating a second nuclear device, the government of Kim Jong Il changed its tune, vowing that it would start enriching uranium to make more nuclear weapons.
Declaring that it would meet sanctions with "retaliation," North Korea also pledged to "weaponize" all the plutonium it could extract from used fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear plant, which was partially disabled last year as part of the North's agreement to win food, fuel and diplomatic concessions in return for a promise to end its nuclear program. |
| 2009. 7.2 | [IAEA]
Japan's Yukiya Amano chosen as the next head. He touched on the devastation U.S. atom bombs wreaked on his country in pledging to do his utmost to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.The decision by the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board ended a tug of war on who should succeed Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who saw his agency vaulted into prominence during a high-profile 12-year tenure. |
| 2009. 7. 6 | [U.S.A.-Russia]
The US and Russia agreement to work towards cutting deployed nuclear warheads to as few as 1,500 each.U.S.A President Obama and the Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a framework deal aimed at cutting warheads to a maximum of 1,675 within seven years of a nuclear arms reduction treaty coming into force.
Current treaties allow for a maximum of 2,200 warheads, though both sides are thought to have more than that deployed, or capable of launch. According to some expert estimates of current numbers, the new commitment would mean each side scrapping almost 1,000 warheads.
The pact signed also calls for the number of strategic delivery systems to be reduced to between 500 and 1,100 on each side, from 1,600 under current treaties. Such systems include intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles and heavy bombers. |
| 2009. 9.17 | [U.S.A.]
US withdrawal of Central Europe Missile Defense Shield. The Obama administration quietly announced it. |
| 2009. 9.24 | [UN]
UN security council votes unanimously for a resolution on disarmament and non-proliferation.
The summit in New York represented the first time the security council had met to focus on the elimination of nuclear weapons. Barack Obama, who at the same time became the first US president to chair a council session, described the resolution as "historic", saying it "enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons".
The resolution calls for states with nuclear weapons to continue disarming, to ratify a ban on testing them and to agree a treaty stopping the production of fissile material. In return, non weapons states should accept stronger safeguards designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.The resolution, however, is non-binding, and there are many obstacles to its aspirations becoming reality. |
| 2009. 9.24 | [UK]
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown signales at the U.N. General Assembly that he is prepared to scale back the country's Trident submarine nuclear deterrent as part of a "global bargain" to reduce the world's nuclear arsenal. |
| 2009. 9.24 | [UN]
Conference on Facilitating the Entry Into Force of the CTBT ). U.S.A. joined. |
| 2009. 9.25 | [Iran]
Iran admits secret uranium enrichment plant, sending. a letter to Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it had established a second pilot uranium enrichment plant, parallel to the one monitored by the IAEA in Natanz. November 30 Iran authorizes 10 new uranium plants |
| 2009.10.14 | [France]
Reports of discovery of kilos of plutonium at a plant in Cadarache in the south of France which was closed in 2003. The discovery has brought to a halt the dismantling of the plant and raised questions over when the discovery was made.The plant at Cadarache produced MOX for nuclear reactors. It was shut down in 2003 and was in the process of being dismantled since March this year. |
| 2009.11. 6 | [Germany]
Agreement of the new German CDU (Christian Democrat) and FDP (Liberals) coalition on a policy of withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Germany. |
| 2009.12. 2 | [UN]
U.N. General Assembly's adoption of a Japan-initiated resolution on abolishing nuclear arms that the United States joined as one of the proposing nations for the first time. Similar resolutions have been passed annually for the past 16 years, and this year was the first time in nine years for the United States to declare its support. While North Korea and India voted against, and eight other countries including China, France and Iran abstained, the resolution passed the assembly with 171 votes. |
| 2009.12. 5 | [U.S.A.- Russia]
Expiration of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on July 31, 1991, five months before the U.S.S.R. collapsed. |
| 2009.12.10 | [Norway- U.S.A.]
Barack Obama's Nobel Prize Acceptance. "Still, we are at war, and I am responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill. Some will be killed.War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man." " At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease - the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences. Over time, as codes of law sought to control violence within groups, so did philosophers, clerics, and statesmen seek to regulate the destructive power of war." " The concept of a "just war" emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when it meets certain preconditions: if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the forced used is proportional, and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence. So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly irreconcilable truths - that war is sometimes necessary, and war is at some level an expression of human feelings." |
| 2010. 1.24 | [Iran] Enriching(20%) uranium suggested. |
| 2010. 2. 5 | [Russia] New Strategy Doctrine employing nuclear weapons, approved. |
| 2010. 2.16 | [U.S.A.] A new nuclear power plant in Burke County, Georgia to be built. Announced by President Obama. |
| 2010. 2.22 | [Belgium] Five NATO states, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Luxembourg plan to call for the removal of all remaining US nuclear weapons on European soil in a move intended to spur global disarmament, Belgium officials said. |
| 2010. 3.26 | [U.S.A.,Russia] New START agreement, each 1550 nuclear heads, 800 vehicles. |
| 2010. 4. 6 | [U.S.A.] No nuclear use against non-nuclear states complying NPT, declared by President Obama. |
| 2010. 4. 8 | [U.S.A.,Russia] New START signed in Plague. Presidents Obama and Medvedev.
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| 2010. 4.12 | [U.S.A.] Nuclear Summit, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Vietnam. 1.Reaffirm the fundamental responsibility of States, consistent with their respective international obligations.2.Call on States to work cooperatively as an international community to advance nuclear security.3.Recognize that highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium require special precautions.4.Endeavor to fully implement all existing nuclear security commitments and work toward acceding to those not yet joined.5.Support the objectives of international nuclear security instruments.6.Reaffirm the essential role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the international nuclear security framework.7.Recognize the role and contributions of the United Nations.8.Acknowledge the need for capacity building for nuclear security and cooperation at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.9.Recognize the need for cooperation among States to effectively prevent and respond to incidents of illicit nuclear trafficking.10.Recognize the continuing role of nuclear industry in nuclear security.11.Support the implementation of strong nuclear security practices.12.Recognize that measures contributing to nuclear material security have value. |
| 2010. 4.20 | [Swiss] ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger appeals to States to bring nuclear weapons to an end. |
| 2010. 5.28 | [UN] NPT Review Conference. Final Document referring to Nuclear Convention, approved. |
| 2010. 5. 3 | [U.S.A.] Obama administration reveals the size of the American nuclear arsenal -- 5,113, statement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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| 2010. 6.9 |
[UN] Security Council imposes additional sanctions on Iran, voting 12 in favor to 2 against, with 1 abstention.
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| 2010. 6.25 |
[Japan, India] Japan, India to start treaty talks for nuclear sales,
though India is not a NPT state.
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| 2010. 6.28 |
[U.S.A.] 10 Russian spies arrested in U.S. They were asked to learn about a wide range of topics, including nuclear weapons, U.S. arms control positions. 7.8. Exchanging with US spies arrested in Russia |
| 2010. 8. 1 | [UN] Bikini Atoll in the Pacific joins UNESCO`s world heritage list.
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| 2010. 8. 6 | [Japan] U.S. ambassador attends Hiroshima A-Bomb Ceremony. |
| 2010. 8.13 | [Iran] Iran begins fuelling first Bushehr Nuclear Plant in the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency inspector. |
| 2010. 9. 2 | [China] Two Chinese satellites rendezvous in orbit, reported. |
| 2010. 9.15 | [U.S.A.] Conducts the subcritical test dubbed Bacchus, the 24th subcritical nuclear experiment 4 years after previous one. |
| 2010.10.26 | [UN] Convention on the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons. The First Committee approved the draft by a recorded vote of 107 in favor to 48 against, with 11 abstentions. |
| 2010.10.26 | [UN] Resolution towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. The first committee approved the draft resolution as a whole by a vote of 154 in favor to 1 against (D.P.R.K.), with 13 abstentions. |
| 2010.11. 2 | [UK, France] Agreement of joint nuclear weapons tests. |
| 2010.11.19 | [UK] The total UK nuclear weapon stockpile is being reduced to no more than 180, in speech by Former Defense Secretary. |
| 2010.11.18 | [D.P.R.K.] Construction of a nuclear power reactor suggested. A 25-or 30-megawatt light-water reactor? |
| 2010.11.20 | [D.P.R.K.]A new uranium-enrichment facility. D.P.R.K. officials said the facility is operating and producing low-enriched uranium, in report posted by Stanford University professor Siegfried S. Hecker of his November 12 visit to the Yongbyon, D.P.R.K., facility. |
| 2010.11.23 | [D.P.R.K.] North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire after the North shelled an island Yeonpyeong near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter. |
| 2010.12. 5 | [Iran] Tehran claims yellow cake breakthrough, it had mastered the uranium-mining process to become "self sufficient" in creating nuclear fuel. |
| 2010.12.21 | [D.P.R.K.] Ready to readmit IAEA inspectors, regime officials made the offer to Bill Richardson, New Mexico governor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, during his unofficial visit to Pyongyang. |
| 2010.12.22 | [U.S.A.] New Start ratified, in favor 71, against 26. |
| 2011.1.25 | [Russia] New Start ratified, State Duma.350 deputies in favor, 96 against, and one abstention. |
| 2011.2.5 | [U.S.A.,Russia] New Start goes into force. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged the instruments of ratification at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, |
| 2011.3.11 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] The 9.0 MW Tohoku earthquake, at 14:46 JST with epicenter near the island of Honshu.The maximum ground accelerations of 0.56, 0.52, 0.56 g (5.50, 5.07 and 5.48 m/s2) at Units 2, 3 and 5,respectively of Fukushima I nad II Nuclear Plant (The Nuclear Power Plants consist of six light water, boiling water reactors (BWR) designed by General Electric driving electrical generators with a combined power of 4.7 gigawatts. Fukushima I was the first GE designed nuclear plant to be constructed and run entirely by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO).
Units 1, 2 and 3, automatic shutdown (called SCRAM).A 13-15 m (43-49 ft) maximum height tsunami, approximately 50 minutes later topped the plant's 5.7 m (19 ft) seawall,flooding the basement of the Turbine Buildings and disabling the emergency diesel generators. All generated electrical power, lost at 15:37 following the tsunami. The core spray system was disabled with AC power loss at 15:37 and the HPCI(High Pressure Coolant Injection) system failed following DC power loss. Electricity was needed for both the cooling water pumps and ventilation fans used to drive gases through heat exchangers within the containment. Rising heat within the containment area led to increasing pressure.
A nuclear emergency, declared by the government. Later Prime Minister Naoto Kan issued instructions that people within a 20 km (12 mi) zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant must leave, and urged that those living between 20 km and 30 km from the site to stay indoors. The latter groups were also urged to evacuate on 25 March.
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| 2011.3.12 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] With the pressure and temperatures continuing to rise, at 09:15, TEPCO sent workers to begin manually opening the valves. The high radiation slowed the work and the valves were not opened until 14:30. At 15:36 JST, an explosion in the reactor building at Unit 1. The side walls of the upper level were blown away, leaving in place only the vertical steel framed gridworks. The roof collapsed, covering the floor and some machinery on the south side. The cause was a hydrogen explosion.Inside the reactor vessel falling water levels exposes zircaloy structures/fuel assembly cladding, which then reacted with steam and produced hydrogen that subsequently vented into the containment building. At 20:05 JST, the Japanese government ordered seawater to be injected into Unit 1 in a new effort to cool the reactor core. The injection of seawater into the reactor pressure vessel was done by fire trucks of the fire department. The report of the fact-finding commission states that "There is a possibility that the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel(RPV) was damaged and some of the fuel might have dropped and accumulated on the D/W floor (lower pedestal)." The Fukushima prefectural government reported radiation dose rates at the plant reaching 1.015 mSv/h. The IAEA stated on 13 March that four workers had been injured by the explosion at the Unit 1 reactor, and that three injuries were reported in other incidents at the site. They also reported one worker was exposed to higher-than-normal radiation levels but the level fell below their guidance for emergency situations. |
| 2011.3.13 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] On Unit 3 reactor, at 09:25 JST, operators began injecting water containing boric acid into the primary containment vessel (PCV) via the pump of a fire truck. When water levels continued to fall and pressure to rise, the injected water was switched to seawater at 13:12. By 15:00 it was noted that despite adding water the level in the reactor did not rise and radiation had increased. |
| 2011.3.14 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] At 11:15 JST an explosion of the building surrounding Reactor 3, owing to the ignition of built up hydrogen gas. |
| 2011.3.15 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] Unit 2 and 3 reactors, core melt down. An explosion heard at 06:14 JST, in Unit 2, possibly damaging the pressure-suppression system, which is at the bottom part of the containment vessel. The radiation level was reported to exceed the legal limit and the plant's operator started to evacuate all non-essential workers from the plant. Only a minimum crew of 50 men, also referred to as the Fukushima 50, was left at the site. Soon after, radiation equivalent dose rates had risen to 8.2 mSv/h around two hours after the explosion and again down to 2.4 mSv/h, shortly after. Three hours after the explosion, the rates had risen to 11.9 mSv/h. |
| 2011.3.18 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] A new electrical distribution panel, installed in an office adjacent to Unit 1 to supply power via Unit 2 when it was reconnected to the transmission grid two days later. On 21 March, injection of seawater continued, as did repairs to the control instrumentation. On 23 March, it became possible to inject water into the reactor using the feed water system rather than the fire trucks, raising the flow rate from 2 to 18 tons /h, and on 24 March, lighting was restored to the central operating room.
The spent fuel pool was "thought to be fully or partially exposed." On 18 March, a crew of firemen took over the task with six fire engines each spraying 6 tons of water in 40 minutes. 30 further hyper rescue vehicles were involved in spraying operations. Spraying continued each day to 23 March because of concerns the explosion in Unit 3 may have damaged the pool (total 3,742 tonnes of water sprayed up to 22 March). By 24 March it was possible to add 35 tonnes of seawater to the spent fuel pool using the cooling and purification system. |
| 2011.3.26 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] Freshwater, used to cool the core in stead of sea water. Electrical power (initially from temporary sources), restored to parts of the Unit. off-site power,used from 3 April. |
| 2011.4.2 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] US Nuclear Emergency Response Marines flied to Japan. Approximately 155 Marines. Approximately 155 Marines from the Marines' Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF). . |
| 2011.4.4 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) begins the release of some 11,500 tons of radioactive water, most likely contaminated in the process of trying to cool nuclear fuel rods, into the Pacific Ocean from a waste treatment facility
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| 2011.4.11 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] The disaster of Fukushima Daiichi to Level 7 on the INES scale, admitted by Japanese Government, by considering the whole event and not considering each reactor as an individual event per se (rated between 3 and 5). This would make Fukushima the second Level 7 "major accident" in the history of the nuclear industry; having said that, radiation released as a result of the events at Fukushima was, as of 12 April, only approximately 10% of that released as a result of the accident at Chernobyl (1986). However, the largest study, as of 21 October 2011, on Fukushima fallout concludes that Fukushima was "the largest radioactive noble gas release in history not related to nuclear bomb testing. The release is a factor of 2.5 higher than the Chernobyl 133Xe source term." . |
| 2011.5.22 | [U.S.A.] The United States conducted subcritical nuclear tests at a Nevada underground test site 2010 December and 2011 February, the Energy Department said . |
| 2011.5.30 | [Germany] Germany to shut all nuclear reactors. Prime Minister Angela Merkel ommitted to shutting down all of the country's nuclear reactors by 2022. |
| 2011.6.15 | [Italy] Italy not to return to nuclear power any time soon. Italian voters rejected a referendum proposal by the government of Silvio Berlusconi to restart the country's moribund nuclear energy program. |
| 2011.7.28 | [U.S.A.] The first direct meeting with North Korea in New York on nuclear issues since 2008. |
| 2011.9.12 | [France] A blast at the Marcoule nuclear site. One person killed and four injured, one seriously. French national electricity provider EDF said it had been "an industrial accident, not a nuclear accident". |
| 2011.10.24 | [UN] Resolution sponcered by NAC (Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden) for the Convention on the prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons. The First Committee approved the draft by a recorded vote of 118 in favor to 7 against, with 39 abstentions( including Japan). Resolution towards a nuclear-weapon-free world sponcered by Japan . The first committee approved (9.22)the draft resolutionby a vote of 154 in favor to 1 against (D.P.R.K.), with 13 abstentions. |
| 2011.12.16 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] Fukushima is in cold shutdown, says Japanese prime minister. The plant still leaks radiation into the sea. Its makeshift cooling system is vulnerable to earthquakes. And the cleanup work remains dangerous, with many flooded and debris-strewn areas of the reactor buildings difficult even for robots to access. In normal circumstances, a reactor in cold shutdown mode is entirely stable, its fuel intact, with no chance of a chain reaction. To achieve its version of a cold shutdown at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan had to loosen the definition. Fukushima now meets the governmentfs requirements because temperatures at the bottom of the three damaged reactor pressure vessels have dropped below 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Airborne leaks into the environment have also been almost halted, with little chance of backsliding. |
| 2011.12.17 | [North Korea] Kim Jong-il, the leader who had made North Korea a nuclear weapon state dies. |
| 2011.12.26 | [Japan, Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster] A report by a government-appointed investigative panel.
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the company which operated the plant, did not "take precautionary measures in anticipation that a severe accident could be caused by (a) tsunami such as the one (that) hit.. Neither did the regulatory authorities." Delays in relaying information to the public managers' lack of knowledge of procedures to deal with emergencies poor communications - between the workers and the government, among the workers themselves, and between government bodies. Tepco staff at the plant were not trained to handle emergencies like the power shutdown that struck when the tsunami destroyed back-up generators. |