Pools of water used to prevent fuel rods from overheating at units 3 and 4 are stabilizing, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said. Progress is being made in restoring power to reactors No. 1 and No. 2, and the plant owner says it has restored electric power to No. 3 and No. 4.  More »

The disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai- Ichi nuclear complex shows that current emergency measures are inadequate and reflect “the realities of the 1980s, not of the 21st century,” said Yukiya Amano, director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog.  More »

South Korea’s state-owned energy company will pay Anadarko’s drilling costs in the Maverick basin block this year after the deal closes, in exchange for a 23.67 percent stake. KNOC will pay 90 percent of Anadarko’s drilling costs in the block after this year.  More »

As the battle to prevent a meltdown enters its 11th day, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s signs of optimism are the strongest from a Japanese official amid the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. Temperatures of pools holding spent fuel rods have cooled thanks to thousands of tons of water sprayed over the reactors since the March 11 earthquake, which knocked out cooling systems and water pumps.  More »

Radioactive fallout from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant has reached Southern California but the first readings are far below levels that could pose a health hazard, a diplomat said Friday.  More »

The company pledged to accelerate acquisitions of oil and gas assets and develop the country’s domestic natural gas resources as demand for the fuel rises following Japan’s nuclear reactor crisis.  More »

The admission by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano came as the country reclassified the rating of the nuclear accident from Level 4 to Level 5 on a seven-level international scale, putting the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on a par with the Three Mile Island disaster.  More »

Nuclear Regulatory Commission head Gregory Jaczko said U.S. policy is to continually review plant safety and standards, taking into account incidents and accidents elsewhere in the world.  More »

The Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t decided whether any action is needed beyond tracking the cloud. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines said their flights aren’t traveling close to any radioactive contamination.  More »

Helicopters doused 30 metric tons of water on pools used to cool spent fuel rods. A bid to spray water onto the No. 3 reactor may have worked, a Tokyo Electric Power Co. official said of the battle to contain radioactive pollution spreading from the nuclear industry’s worst catastrophe since Chernobyl.  More »

Tokyo endured more rolling blackouts Thursday and faces at least six months of power shortages as earthquake damage to nuclear plants idles factories.  More »

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said all the water was gone from the spent fuel pools at Unit 4 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex. If Jaczko is correct, it would mean there’s nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and ultimately melting down.  More »