With all the hooplah over Osama bin Laden we almost forgot there was a Chernobyl-level nuclear crisis going on in Japan. Well, that's still happening, and on top of the inevitable deaths and endless heartbreak, some New Yorkers are really worried about their sushi (ugh). Then again, plenty of Japanese people are worried about their food too, so artist Nils Ferber's conceptual Fukushima Plate, which features a "built-in radioactive meter to visualize your food's level of contamination," could be pretty useful. more ›

The Fukushima 50, the Japanese technicians who chose to stay behind in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to try to avert a meltdown after the deadly tsunami hit Japan last month, have reportedly resigned themselves to the fact that many or most of them will likely die in the upcoming weeks and months from radiation poisoning. “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation. He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term,” the mother of a 32-year-old worker told FoxNews. more ›

Trace amounts of radioactive iodine from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have now been detected in the air and rainwater in New York State. But don't start hoarding; the state Department of Health insists that there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about, because the radiation levels are extremely low. Yesterday State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah called for calm, issuing this statement from an undisclosed location in Albany (where he presumably has access to an unlimited supply of lead-lined underwear): more ›

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is bummed that President Obama's proposed budget doesn't include further funding for a NYC pilot program to test whether it's possible to secure an urban area against nuclear terrorism by saturating it with radiation detectors. A Homeland Security Department official told reporters on a conference call yesterday that the so-called "Secure the Cities" program was always intended to be "a three-year activity, a three-year project." The NYPD has already received more than $53 million in DHS grants for the effort, including $20 million this year, but Kelly tells the Daily News, "It's disappointing, to say the least, after so much has been invested in a program with so much promise." Aw. Critics have questioned the technical capability of the program, and according to the Washington Post, some officials believe it's "better to spend money to secure nuclear materials at their source, coordinate a government-wide counter-proliferation strategy and to strengthen the operations of first-responders who would answer any alarm." Makes sense, but that still doesn't explain why President Hussein Obama wants NYC nuked! more ›

Last week a group of concerned Bay Ridge parents and local officials held a rally and picket line outside a neighborhood Verizon Wireless retailer. The group was demanding the company remove the cell phone receivers installed on a rooftop near P.S. 185; they say the receivers emit dangerously high radiofrequency (RF) emissions and should not be placed near schools. They are also calling for legislation limiting where the receivers can be installed. more ›