HOUSTON, Texas — (DMN) – A shelter in place order was lifted this afternoon but not before some tense moments near Houston’s Hobby Airport. Houston Fire officials now say a construction crew was conducting X-rays of underground pipes near Americas Best Value Inn at 8800 Airport Blvd., when the operation set off a city radiation alarm. The radiation emitted from the testing did not reach a level that would be hazardous to the public, Lozano said. HFD plans to investigate why the low-level radiation from the testing set off the city’s alarm, he said.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Japan moved closer to restarting nuclear reactors for the first time since last year’s earthquake and tsunami led to a nationwide shutdown after a mayor gave his support Thursday to bringing two of them back online. All 50 of Japan’s workable reactors are offline because of safety concerns or for maintenance since the March 11, 2011, disaster caused radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. Public opposition to nuclear power remains high, even though the government has been pressing for the restart of reactors because it says nuclear energy is crucial to Japan’s economy. Power companies have warned of looming shortages, as demand reaches its summer peak. Work to restart two reactors in the western town of Ohi, which are the first ready to resume generating power, could begin as soon as this weekend now that the mayor signed off on the plan. Once the work begins, it takes about three weeks to get a reactor operating at full capacity.
