A radiation monitor indicates 0.82 microsieverts per hour at a checkpoint to the restricted zone of a 20km radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, in Kawauchi village, about 20 km (12 miles) from the plant in Fukushima ...
China's nuclear regulators have given the country's reactors a clean bill of health following inspections ordered after the disaster at Japan's tsunami-struck Fukushima Dai-ichi facility. Inspections have been completed on all 13 of ...
Showing posts with label tsunami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tsunami. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Japan earthquake - IAEA: Japan underestimated nuclear plant tsunami risk
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co fell to 289 yen on Thursday, the lowest level since it was listed on the stock exchange, coming under increasing pressure from selling by retail investors.
Radioactive water accumulating in Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is set to start overflowing from storage trenches in five days, data provided by the company show. ...
The radiation from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors poisoned farmlands, contaminated the sea, and sent invisible mists of radiation wafting around the world. The latest – and it's just the latest – atomic accident has raised new ...
Radioactive water accumulating in Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is set to start overflowing from storage trenches in five days, data provided by the company show. ...
The radiation from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors poisoned farmlands, contaminated the sea, and sent invisible mists of radiation wafting around the world. The latest – and it's just the latest – atomic accident has raised new ...
UN report puts focus on Japan nuclear plant flaws
Less than a week after touring the radioactive rubble of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors today plans to hand Japan’s government a preliminary review of what triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team led by Britain’s top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, is expected to highlight some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240km north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.
Those start with the failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-metre break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co’s own scientists that such a risk was looming.
“We had a playbook, but it didn’t work,” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, a nuclear expert and vice chairman of Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission.
The acceptance of the IAEA report by Goshi Hosono, an aide to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, marks the first step in effort by Japanese officials to show that the lessons learned from Fukushima can be applied to make its remaining reactors safe.
The economic stakes are high. Japan is operating only 19 of its pre-Fukushima tally of 54 reactors. Unless local officials can be convinced that Tokyo has a plan to make the others resistant to the kind of blackout that plunged Fukushima into meltdown, more plants will drop off-line for maintenance.
In the worst case, all of Japan’s reactors could be shut down by the middle of 2012. That would take out 30 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation and raise the risk of deeper, near permanent power rationing, officials say.
The Fukushima accident has forced more than 80,000 residents from their homes and raised deepening concerns about the safety of nearby children, workers battling to stabilise the reactors and the food supply as radiated water leaks from the site.
The crisis has also diverted attention and resources from rebuilding after the quake and tsunami that killed about 24,000 people in northern, coastal Japan.
Start of the debate
Experts who have reviewed the Fukushima accident say the draft IAEA report represents a starting point in the debate over what needs to be done to make nuclear plants safe in a country where the risks of earthquakes are still imperfectly understood.
“There are aspects of the planning for the safety of the Fukushima plant which are, in retrospect, very stupid, and show a lack of imagination,” said Kim Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear safety expert who toured Japan on her own this week. “The nuclear industry can do better than this.”
As the uranium fuel in the No. 1 reactor began heating towards meltdown on March 11, Tokyo Electric (Tepco) officials grappled with outages of key safety equipment because of the loss of power to the plant.
With gauges black from Fukushima, officials in Tokyo monitoring the expected radiation risk faced a related problem. Complicated software to model the expected plume of debris from a Fukushima explosion had been set up to run with precise data rather than rough assumptions.
By early on March 12, officials at the Ministry of Education and Technology had fixed the glitch and sent a projected radiation map to Prime Minister Kan’s office, but the data was never released to the public.
Meanwhile, it was dangerously unclear who was in charge on the ground at Fukushima. Tepco’s chairman was in China, the utility’s president was grounded in western Japan on a personal trip. Sakae Muto, the ranking Tepco official, spent the night of the quake huddled with mayors of small towns near Fukushima, giving them formal notice of the accident rather than joining the command centre.
The plant’s chief operating officer, Masao Yoshida, ignored an order to stop injecting seawater into the No. 1 reactor based on a request from Kan’s office. Experts say Yoshida made the right call, but say the confusion underscored the bigger problems in the early response to the accident.
“It was impossible for the system to work as it had been set up,” said Suzuki, who believes Japan’s nuclear industry will now have to show it can manage and contain the most improbable accidents at all of its remaining reactors to win public trust. “Unless they can show that, it’s going to be very hard.”
Others say Japan needs to show it will act on the toughest advice from critics, including long-delayed steps to make its nuclear regulatory agency independent of the politically powerful power industry.
“Japanese nuclear operations need to be upgraded based on international advice,” said Kearfott. “Much of this advice was ignored in the past.”
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Japan PM, facing no-confidence vote, says won’t quit
Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan today refused to step down in the face of a no-confidence motion in parliament this week, saying he wanted first to resolve the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Analysts expect Kan to survive the vote, which could be submitted as early as tomorrow, but say he will still face major hurdles pushing policies through a fractious parliament, including an extra budget to help pay for the recovery from the damage caused by the huge earthquake and tsunami in March which devastated the Fukushima nuclear plant.
“I cannot give up the responsibility to do what needs to be done now. I would like to resolve the nuclear crisis first,” Kan told a panel in parliament.
“I am determined to perform my duty.”
The prospect of even more political confusion mounted after media said ruling party power broker Ichiro Ozawa had hinted he would back the no-confidence motion if the premier refused to quit.
Kan, who took office last June as the fifth premier in as many years, is battling to control the nuclear crisis, figure out how to pay for rebuilding the northeast region hit by the quake and tsunami, and draft tax reforms to pay for rising social security costs.
The government needs to enact a bill enabling the issuance of fresh bonds to fund 44 per cent of the US$1 trillion (RM3 trillion) budget for the year from April and find ways to pay for rebuilding from the natural disasters, Japan’s biggest reconstruction project since after World War Two.
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its allies need 70 or more of the 305 ruling Democratic Party lower house members to defect to secure passage of the motion, which would force Kan to resign or call a snap lower house election.
Kan’s departure could ease the path for a coalition with the LDP that would make it easier to pass legislation in a divided parliament. But who would replace him is unclear and whether a new premier would be able to manage such an unwieldy group is in doubt. Many think Kan is too stubborn to quit.
COALITION OR CONFUSION?
Ozawa, a veteran politician known as the “Destroyer” for his record of shaking up politics, told his followers he would push for Kan to step down on his own but hinted he would back the no-confidence motion if that failed, media quoted sources close to him as saying.
“If such efforts are unsuccessful, I will make a decision when I need to,” Ozawa was quoted as saying.
Some analysts said financial markets would welcome Kan’s resignation since a broad coalition with the LDP would make it easier to agree on tough policy decisions such as raising the five per cent sales tax to pay for ballooning social security costs.
“A formation of a grand coalition will be a big win for Japanese politics after the poor performance following the earthquake,” said Takuji Okubo, chief Japan economist at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking.
Others questioned the wisdom of political infighting at a time when Japan faces so many challenges.
Data today showed the economy was rebounding from the natural disasters, but doubts remain about the outlook for long-term reforms.
“Do they just want to bully Kan? Do they have anyone who can replace him? Do they have an extra budget plan? I don’t know why they are trying to create a tense political situation now,” said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital Japan.
“From foreign investors’ point of view, it is hard to predict what will happen to policies and they will probably avoid getting involved with a risk of the unknown.”
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Radiation found in seaweed near crippled Japan plant
Seaweed collected from the coast near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant and sewage in Tokyo have shown elevated levels of radiation, according to data released by an environmental group and government officials today.
The findings, released separately by Greenpeace and Tokyo government officials, underline the difficulty of containing the water-borne spread of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was seriously damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, triggering a still-unfolding crisis.
Operator Tokyo Electric Power has poured massive amounts of water on four of the reactors at the plant to cool the fuel they contain, but struggled to keep the radioactive water from leaking out to the sea.
Environmental critics have also raised worries about contaminated water seeping into the water table.
Greenpeace said that 10 of the 22 seaweed samples it had collected at sea near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had shown radiation levels as much as five times the standard set by Japan for food.
“Radioactive contamination is accumulating in the marine ecosystem that provides Japan with a quarter of its seafood, yet the authorities are still doing very little to protect public health,” Ike Teuling, Greenpeace radiation expert, said in a statement.
Yesterday, Tepco sealed a leak of contaminated water found near the No. 3 reactor that may have seeped into the Pacific Ocean from the coastal plant. A previous ocean leak sparked international concern about the impact of the disaster on the environment.
Radiation in food and other substances is measured in Becquerel. The limit set for food by Japan is 2,000 Becquerel (Bq) per kg for radioactive Iodine-131 and 500 Bq/kg for radioactive cesium.
Greenpeace said 10 of its seaweed samples had shown radiation levels over 10,000 Bq/kg. Some types of seaweed are a staple of the Japanese diet.
Goshi Hosono, a special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on the nuclear crisis, said the government would look into the finding by Greenpeace.
“I don’t want to ignore this and the government will do its own follow-up study as needed,” Hosono told reporters.
Separately, government officials in Tokyo said radiation levels in sewage had spiked in late March. The data was released this week in conjunction with a new government standard intended to contain the spread of radiation in sewage.
Combined radiation levels of cesium and others in waste burned at the sewage treatment plant in Tokyo spiked to 170,000 Bq/kg in the immediate wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, officials said today.
The radiation level was measured on March 25, just over two weeks after the earthquake.
Akiko Matsumoto, spokeswoman for the Tokyo Bureau of Sewage said the radiation figure is a composite of cesium and iodine levels.
The Japanese government did not set a guideline for radioactive material in sewage until yesterday, when they announced that any solid waste with a cesium level of 100,000 Bq/kg or above should be incinerated and then sealed in a container.
Matsumoto said the bureau did not know the reason behind the sudden jump in radiation levels. “One theory is that the radiation from Fukushima was carried by rain,” she said.
The overall radiation level in Tokyo sewage had dropped to 16,000 Bq/kg by April 28.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Japan may close one nuclear plant, tiny radiation leak at another
Japan today announced a tiny radiation leak at a nuclear reactor on its west coast, while another power company is expected to close a nuclear plant in central Japan due to its vulnerability to a major quake.
Electricity wholesaler Japan Atomic Power said it had stopped the leak after a minute amount of radiation was found in gas that escaped from the Tsuruga nuclear plant yesterday. It said there had been no impact on the environment.
Japan Atomic said it was investigating the cause of the leak, which is bound to increase public unease over the troubled nuclear industry in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear facility in March.
Japanese media reports said the country’s third biggest electricity producer, Chubu Electric Power Co., was expected later in the day to decide to temporarily shut one of its nuclear plants on the coast of central Japan until it can build a tsunami wall and take other steps to improve safety.
That could take two years, raising the risk of a shortage of electricity after the Fukushima nuclear plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the northeast.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged Chubu to close the Hamaoka plant, about 200km southwest of Tokyo, signalling a potential shift in energy policy following the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Chubu Electric Power Co shares tumbled as much as 14 per cent on the request. Chubu was due to hold a board meeting at 0630 GMT at which it was expected to make a final decision to close the plant, Japanese media said.
A board meeting on Saturday had failed to reach a consensus, reflecting worries over whether the company would be able to get alternative supplies of energy as well as cope with a sharp jump in its fuel costs.
The amount of radiation at Tsuruga was estimated at about one-four hundred thousandth of the annual legal limit, a Japan Atomic spokesman said, and there were no changes in readings from radiation monitoring devices placed around the plant.
The government is under pressure to review its energy policy, of which atomic power is a major part, after the March 11 quake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear power plant run by Tokyo Electric Power.
Nearly 26,000 people were killed or are unaccounted for following the natural disaster which triggered the world’s biggest nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. The plant is still leaking radiation.
Government experts put the chance of a magnitude 8.0 quake hitting the Hamaoka area in the next 30 years at 87 per cent, which has raised questions over why it was built there in the first place.
Shares of Chubu were down 11 per cent at ¥1,570 in afternoon trade, after falling as low as ¥1,521. Chubu’s tumble helped push Tokyo’s electric and gas subindex down 2.7 per cent.
“This news is triggering uncertainty not just about Chubu Electric but the whole utility sector,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management.
“Investors are concerned that on the back of this news other reactors currently under inspection may not resume operations soon.”
Kan, under fire for his response to the crisis in northeast Japan after the March quake, said the government would try to prevent the halt of the Hamaoka reactors from causing power supply problems.
Chubu has said it can meet peak demand of 25,600 MW even if Hamaoka shuts. But relying on thermal plants to fill the power gap would push up costs by ¥700 million (RM26.1 million) a day — or about ¥256 billion a year, double its projected profit of ¥130 billion in the year to March 2012.
However, an unusually hot summer would raise the risk of Chubu not having enough capacity to meet peak demand, which could cause problems for Toyota Motor Corp and other major manufacturers with factories in the region.
Chubu generates a relatively small proportion of its power from nuclear plants, accounting for 14 per cent of the firm’s total electricity generated in 2009/10. That was below a 30 per cent average nationwide, while gas thermal power held a 47 per cent share.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Japan to stop pumping radioactive water in sea
Japan expects to stop pumping radioactive water into the sea from a crippled nuclear plant today, a day after China expressed concern at the action, reflecting growing international unease over the month-long nuclear crisis.
“The emptying out of the relatively low radiation water is expected to finish tomorrow,” a Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) official said late yesterday.
Tepco is struggling to contain the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl, with its engineers pumping low-level radioactive seawater, used to cool overheated fuel rods, back into the sea for the past five days due to a lack of storage capacity.
Engineers say they are far from in control of the damaged reactors and it could take months to stabilise them and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind.
Nuclear reactor maker Toshiba Corp has proposed a 10-year plan to decommission four of the six damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 km north of Tokyo, said Kyodo news agency.
But the government has said it was too early to have a “specific road map” for ending the nuclear crisis.
The magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left 28,000 people dead or missing, and north-eastern Japan a splintered wreck.
Several countries have restricted food imports from Japan over radiation fears as Japan’s economy reels from the country’s worst disaster since World War Two. Disruptions to Japanese supply chains are reverberating around the world.
China will ban imports of farm produce, including food and feedstuff, from 12 areas in Japan, the official Xinhua news agency said today. It did not identify the 12 areas.
China said earlier it had detected 10 cases of ships, aircraft or cargo arriving from Japan with higher than normal levels of radiation since mid-March.
Xinhua reported earlier that trace levels of radioactivity had been detected in 22 Chinese provinces.
Yesterday, China said it would closely monitor Japan’s actions to regain control of the plant and demanded Tokyo provide swift and accurate information on the crisis.
South Korea has also criticised Japan, accusing it of incompetence for failing to notify its neighbours that it would pump radioactive water into the sea.
Radiation from Japan spread around the entire northern hemisphere in the first two weeks of the nuclear crisis, according to the Vienna-based Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).
CTBTO’s 30 monitoring stations detected minute levels of radiation in North America after three days, in Europe after 12 days and the entire northern hemisphere after 15 days.
Tepco said it was continuing to inject nitrogen into one of the reactors to prevent a repeat of last month’s hydrogen explosions, which would release highly radioactive particles.
The world’s third largest economy is now in a “severe condition”, the government said yesterday.
Finance leaders of the G20 group of countries will ask Tokyo for a plan to resuscitate its economy as they see the damage from the earthquake as a risk to global growth, Takatoshi Kato, a former IMF deputy managing director, told Reuters yesterday.
Automaker Toyota Motor Corp plans to idle some of US plants late in April, while Honda Motor Co Ltd has extended reduced US production until April 22.
Power blackouts and restrictions, factory shutdowns, and a sharp drop in tourists have hit the world’s most indebted nation, which is facing a damages bill as high as US$300 billion (RM1.02 billion), making it by far the world’s costliest natural disaster.
Economists expect Japan to slip into recession this year.
“Japan’s economy is suddenly in a severe condition due to the effects of the earthquake,” said the Cabinet Office after releasing a survey of hotel and restaurant staff and taxi drivers, showing a record fall in confidence to levels last seen during the depths of the global financial crisis.
In an obvious sign of the downturn, taxis park in long lines in central Tokyo each night, their drivers staying warm by idling the motor as they wait forlornly for a fare.
A major aftershock on Thursday forced two companies, including electronics giant Sony Corp , to stop production because of power cuts.
On a brighter note, Japan’s top automakers Toyota and Nissan Motor Co said they planned to resume production at all domestic factories in stages starting on Monday, although output levels would be at half of original plans.
Japan's TEPCO puts out fire at damaged nuke plant
Crews are said to be fighting a fire at Fukushima's No. 4 reactor (AFP/Jiji Press) A fresh fire broke out at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant this morning, while a strong aftershock hit the east of the country. The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear power plant says workers discovered a small fire near a reactor building at its tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi complex but it was extinguished quickly.
Japan set to extend nuclear evacuation zone
Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported today, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago.
Concern at Japan’s inability to contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections yesterday, and neighbouring China and South Korea voicing criticism.
Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said yesterday that they were no closer to restoring the plant’s cooling system, which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control.
They are hoping to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean today, days later than planned.
Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend the 20km evacuation zone due to high levels of radiation, the Asahi newspaper reported.
The government has so far refused to widen the zone, despite being urged to by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)and countries such as the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80km away from the plant.
The Asahi said the government would extend the zone to 30km in certain areas, depending on wind direction, and residents would be given a week to prepare for evacuation.
The Japan Times said authorities would soon forcibly close the 20km zone, stopping people returning to their shattered homes to pick through the rubble for belongings.
Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato criticised the evacuation policy, saying residents in a 20-30km radius were initially told to stay indoors and then advised to evacuate voluntarily.
“Residents in the 20-30km radius were really confused about what to do.” Sato told NHK television yesterday.
Media reports said that Sato would refuse to meet the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) when he visits the area today.
It is Japan’s worst crisis since World War Two after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a huge tsunami battered its northeast coast, leaving nearly 28,000 dead or missing and rocking the world’s third-largest economy.
Political fallout
Japanese voters yesterday vented their anger at the government’s handling of the nuclear and humanitarian crisis, with Kan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan losing nearly 70 seats in local elections.
The unpopular Kan was already under pressure to step down before March 11, but analysts say he is unlikely to be forced out during the crisis, set to drag on for months.
“The great disaster was a double tragedy for Japan,” Sankei newspaper said in an editorial today. “The first tragedy was the catastrophe caused by the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear accident. The other misfortune was that the disaster resulted in prolonging Prime Minister Kan’s time in office.”
In Tokyo, around 5,000 people took to the streets in two separate anti-nuclear protests yesterday.
China and South Korea have both criticised Japan’s handling of the nuclear crisis, with Seoul calling it incompetent, reflecting growing international unease over the month-long atomic disaster and the spread of radiation.
Japan’s economy is reeling from the triple disaster and several countries have banned or restricted food imports after detecting radiation.
More critically, the nuclear crisis and power shortages have disrupted Japan’s manufacturing and electronics global supply chains, hitting computer and motor manufacturers in particular.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa today reiterated that the economy was likely to return to a recovery path once supply constraints caused by earthquake and tsunami eased, and as exports grew.
Radioactive sea water
Tokyo Electric has struggled to regain control of its nuclear plant. It is currently pumping nitrogen into reactors to counter a build-up of hydrogen and prevent another explosion sending more radiation into the air.
“We cannot say what the outlook is for the next stage,” Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said yesterday.
In a desperate move to cool highly radioactive fuel rods, Tokyo Electric has pumped water on to reactors, some of which have experienced partial meltdown.
But the strategy has hindered moves to restore the plant’s internal cooling system, critical to end the crisis, as engineers have had to focus how to store 60,000 tonnes of contaminated water.
Engineers have been forced to pump low-level radioactive water, left by the tsunami, back into the sea in order to free up storage capacity for highly contaminated water from reactors.
One month to the day after Japan was devastated by the tsunami that left 25,000 dead, ANOTHER earthquake strikes off the SAME coast
* Tremors struck as country prepared to remember the dead
* Crippled nuclear plant evacuated after latest seismic activity
* Government pledges to do all it can to help survivors
* Frustrations increasing among residents of Fukushima exclusion zone
* Nuclear officials admit they cannot offer end date for plant crisis
* Evacuation zone around stricken plant could be expanded due to accumulation of radiation
A tsunami warning was issued for an hour after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Iwaki in Fukushima province, a month after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's north-east coast.
The latest quake came as sombre ceremonies were planned today to mark one month passing since the tragedy.
And there are fears it could have catastrophic ramifications for the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
The plant has since been evacuated, although its operator said no nuclear damage has been reported after this latest burst of seismic activity.
A warning was issued for a 3-foot tsunami, the same as after another 7.1 aftershock that shook the northeast coast last week, but was lifted after about an hour.
The U.S. Geological Survey said today's very shallow quake was centred 14 miles northeast of the town of Iwaki, to the south of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The Pacific Tsunami Center said the quake would had not triggered a widespread tsunami that could reach the U.S. and Canadian West coasts but could cause a local one.
People at a large electronics store in central Sendai screamed and ran outside during today's incident, though the shaking made it hard to move around. Mothers grabbed their children, and windows shook. After a minute or two, people returned to the store.
There were no new reports of damage. Aftershocks have repeatedly rattled the disaster-weary region, but there is little left in the northeast to ruin.
Last Thursday's 7.1-magnitude aftershock, which had been the strongest tremor since the day the original quake hit, did sink hundreds of thousands more households into darkness, however. Most of that electricity has been restored.
Buildings shook and Tokyo's main international airport briefly shut both of its runways, but there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries after the latest quake, which comes as Japan reflected on the devastation wreaked by last month's disaster.
However, thousands of bodies are yet to be found, a tsunami-flooded nuclear power plant is still spewing radiation and more than 150,000 people remain living in shelters.
'We offer our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones,' chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said today at a brief news conference where he pledged the government would do whatever it could to help survivors and end the nuclear crisis.
'We are sorry for causing inconvenience and difficulties to those who still live in shelters.'
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it generated flattened communities along hundreds of miles of coastline. The government has estimated the cost of damages from the disaster could grow to $310billion.
In an open letter printed in seven newspapers across the globe, Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked other nations for their help since the disaster.
'Through our own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger. We will then repay you for your generous aid,' he wrote.
'With this in our hearts, we now stand together dedicated to rebuilding the nation.'
People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46pm, the exact moment of the massive quake a month earlier.
'My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture,' said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and is home to the damaged plant at the centre of the nuclear crisis. 'I have no words to express my sorrow.'
In a devastated coastal neighbourhood in the city of Natori, three dozen firemen and soldiers removed their hats and helmets and joined hands atop a small hill that has become a memorial for the dead.
Earlier, four monks in pointed hats rang a prayer bell there as they chanted for those killed.
In the industrial town of Kamaishi Governor Takuya Tasso led a moment of commemoration as a loud siren rang through a high school gymnasium being used as a shelter. He bowed while people who have lived there since the tsunami kneeled on makeshift futons, bowed their heads and clasped their hands.
The earthquake and tsunami flattened communities along hundreds of miles of coastline. More than 158,000 people are still without electricity and 210,000 have no running water, although some of that is because of the 7.1-magnitude aftershock that rattled the area last Thursday.
'Even after a month, I still cry when I watch the news,' said Marina Seito, 19, a student at a junior college who recalled being in a basement restaurant in Sendai when the earthquake hit. Plates fell and parts of the ceiling crashed down around her.
Adding to the misery is radiation spewing from the Fukushima Daiichi complex 140 miles northeast of Tokyo. The 70,000 to 80,000 people who lived within 12 miles of the plant must stay away from their homes indefinitely.
'We have no future plans. We can't even start to think about it because we don't know how long this will last or how long we will have to stay in these shelters,' said Atsushi Yanai, a 55-year-old construction worker. The tsunami spared his home, but he has to live in a shelter anyway because it is in the evacuation zone.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday that residents of five more communities, some more than 20 miles from the plant, are also being urged to leave because of high levels of radiation.
'This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately,' Edano said. 'We have decided this measure based on long-term health risks.'
Meanwhile, nuclear safety official Hidehiko Nishiyama apologised for the worry and inconvenience caused by the radiation spilling from the plant, where cooling systems disabled by the March 11 tsunami still have not been restored and likely won't be for several months.
'We've done all we could to come this far,' Mr Nishiyama said yesterday.
'Unfortunately, we still cannot give any timeline for when we can move on to the next phase, but we are hoping to achieve a sustainable cooling system, contain radiation and bring the situation under control as soon as possible.'
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co reiterated that it is not considering entombing the hot reactors in concrete, as was done at Chernobyl in 1986 when a reactor fire burned out of control. Japan's nuclear crisis is the world's worst since then.
Clean-up: A remote-controlled truck removes debris at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
* Crippled nuclear plant evacuated after latest seismic activity
* Government pledges to do all it can to help survivors
* Frustrations increasing among residents of Fukushima exclusion zone
* Nuclear officials admit they cannot offer end date for plant crisis
* Evacuation zone around stricken plant could be expanded due to accumulation of radiation
A tsunami warning was issued for an hour after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Iwaki in Fukushima province, a month after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's north-east coast.
The latest quake came as sombre ceremonies were planned today to mark one month passing since the tragedy.
And there are fears it could have catastrophic ramifications for the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
The plant has since been evacuated, although its operator said no nuclear damage has been reported after this latest burst of seismic activity.
Silent reflection: Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force members in a moment of silence at 2:46 pm, exactly a month after a massive earthquake struck the area in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture
Police officers in protective suits search for bodies at a destroyed area, about 18km from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station
Memorial: A group of Japanese Shinto priests (on the left) and Buddhist monks at Yugihama Beach during a pray for Japan memorial event in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture
Police officers in protective suits observe a moment of silence for those who were killed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as they search for bodies at a destroyed area in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture
Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by tsunami in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city
A warning was issued for a 3-foot tsunami, the same as after another 7.1 aftershock that shook the northeast coast last week, but was lifted after about an hour.
The U.S. Geological Survey said today's very shallow quake was centred 14 miles northeast of the town of Iwaki, to the south of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The Pacific Tsunami Center said the quake would had not triggered a widespread tsunami that could reach the U.S. and Canadian West coasts but could cause a local one.
People at a large electronics store in central Sendai screamed and ran outside during today's incident, though the shaking made it hard to move around. Mothers grabbed their children, and windows shook. After a minute or two, people returned to the store.
There were no new reports of damage. Aftershocks have repeatedly rattled the disaster-weary region, but there is little left in the northeast to ruin.
Last Thursday's 7.1-magnitude aftershock, which had been the strongest tremor since the day the original quake hit, did sink hundreds of thousands more households into darkness, however. Most of that electricity has been restored.
Buildings shook and Tokyo's main international airport briefly shut both of its runways, but there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries after the latest quake, which comes as Japan reflected on the devastation wreaked by last month's disaster.
However, thousands of bodies are yet to be found, a tsunami-flooded nuclear power plant is still spewing radiation and more than 150,000 people remain living in shelters.
'We offer our deepest condolences to those who lost their loved ones,' chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said today at a brief news conference where he pledged the government would do whatever it could to help survivors and end the nuclear crisis.
'We are sorry for causing inconvenience and difficulties to those who still live in shelters.'
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it generated flattened communities along hundreds of miles of coastline. The government has estimated the cost of damages from the disaster could grow to $310billion.
In an open letter printed in seven newspapers across the globe, Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked other nations for their help since the disaster.
'Through our own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger. We will then repay you for your generous aid,' he wrote.
'With this in our hearts, we now stand together dedicated to rebuilding the nation.'
People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46pm, the exact moment of the massive quake a month earlier.
'My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture,' said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and is home to the damaged plant at the centre of the nuclear crisis. 'I have no words to express my sorrow.'
In a devastated coastal neighbourhood in the city of Natori, three dozen firemen and soldiers removed their hats and helmets and joined hands atop a small hill that has become a memorial for the dead.
Earlier, four monks in pointed hats rang a prayer bell there as they chanted for those killed.
In the industrial town of Kamaishi Governor Takuya Tasso led a moment of commemoration as a loud siren rang through a high school gymnasium being used as a shelter. He bowed while people who have lived there since the tsunami kneeled on makeshift futons, bowed their heads and clasped their hands.
The earthquake and tsunami flattened communities along hundreds of miles of coastline. More than 158,000 people are still without electricity and 210,000 have no running water, although some of that is because of the 7.1-magnitude aftershock that rattled the area last Thursday.
'Even after a month, I still cry when I watch the news,' said Marina Seito, 19, a student at a junior college who recalled being in a basement restaurant in Sendai when the earthquake hit. Plates fell and parts of the ceiling crashed down around her.
Adding to the misery is radiation spewing from the Fukushima Daiichi complex 140 miles northeast of Tokyo. The 70,000 to 80,000 people who lived within 12 miles of the plant must stay away from their homes indefinitely.
'We have no future plans. We can't even start to think about it because we don't know how long this will last or how long we will have to stay in these shelters,' said Atsushi Yanai, a 55-year-old construction worker. The tsunami spared his home, but he has to live in a shelter anyway because it is in the evacuation zone.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday that residents of five more communities, some more than 20 miles from the plant, are also being urged to leave because of high levels of radiation.
'This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately,' Edano said. 'We have decided this measure based on long-term health risks.'
Meanwhile, nuclear safety official Hidehiko Nishiyama apologised for the worry and inconvenience caused by the radiation spilling from the plant, where cooling systems disabled by the March 11 tsunami still have not been restored and likely won't be for several months.
'We've done all we could to come this far,' Mr Nishiyama said yesterday.
'Unfortunately, we still cannot give any timeline for when we can move on to the next phase, but we are hoping to achieve a sustainable cooling system, contain radiation and bring the situation under control as soon as possible.'
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co reiterated that it is not considering entombing the hot reactors in concrete, as was done at Chernobyl in 1986 when a reactor fire burned out of control. Japan's nuclear crisis is the world's worst since then.
Chiyoko Sasaki, 67, covers her face as she sees her husband Sueo, 72, in a coffin at a makeshift mortuary in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan
Police officers in protective suits observe a moment of silence for those who were killed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as they search for bodies at a destroyed area in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture
Two-year-old Ayaka and family members pray her missing grandmother and great-grandmother at a vacant lot where they lived in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture
Deep sea denizen: This 11ft yellow ribbonfish is usually only found in deep water, but may have been forced out of its habitat by the aftershocks. It was caught near Taiwan
A worker in the installed de-contamination area of the quake-proof building, to help expand the protection area at TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant
Masataka Shimizu, President of Tokyo Electric Power Company which owns the Fukushima nuclear plant (third right) offers a silent prayer for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami
Buddhist monks pray in an area destroyed by tsunami in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, one month to the day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the city
Daisuke Koizumi, a 30-year-old Ishinomaki Fire Department firefighter, prays as he searches for the missing, including three fellow firefighters, while young boys pray for the victims atTsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture
Friday, April 8, 2011
Japan says economy in ‘severe’ condition after disaster
Japan said today that its economy was in a severe condition following last month’s triple disaster triggered by one of the biggest earthquakes on record, with sentiment in its service sector registering the sharpest fall ever.
Underlining the ferocity of the damage to the economy from the disaster, in which a nuclear power plant was crippled by the giant tsunami following the March 11 quake, the government also asked major companies to cut electricity use in the peak summer months by up to a quarter.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange said the power cuts meant it would have to delay plans to extend trading hours.
“Japan’s economy is suddenly in a severe condition due to the effects of the earthquake,” the Cabinet Office said after the release of its March survey of workers such as taxi drivers and restaurant staff.
A strong aftershock last night — one of the strongest of more than 400 of magnitude greater than 5.0 since the massive March 11 tremor — shook the already ravaged northeast, forcing two companies, including Sony Corp, to stop production because of power cuts.
At least two people were killed after the 7.4-magnitude tremor.
There was a brief scare when water leaks were found today at the Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeast but Japan’s nuclear safety agency said it had not detected any change in radiation levels.
And a relieved Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said the latest quake had not caused any more damage to its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, though it did have to briefly evacuate workers because of a tsunami alert that was later withdrawn.
An encouraging note was sounded by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, with one of its officials saying there were signs of progress in stabilising the Fukushima plant, though the situation remained very serious.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had not detected any change in radiation levels following last night’s quake.
“The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains very serious . . . (but) there are early signs of recovery in some functions such as electrical power and instrumentation,” the IAEA’s head of nuclear safety, Denis Flory, said.
The agency said radiation in the region around the plant, as measured by gamma dose rates, had peaked in the early days of the crisis, and aside from a rise on March 22, had since fallen to “a level very close to background”.
Japan’s neighbours have grown increasingly anxious at the risk of contamination from radiation, with some schools in South Korea closing because of fears of toxic rain. Officials there said the radiation levels in the atmosphere were harmless.
About 28,000 people are dead or missing after last month’s triple disaster of quake, tsunami or nuclear crisis in Japan’s northeast.
Disrupts business
It has disrupted business, affected supply chains around the world, and reduced industrial output from Japan, a major exporter.
The central bank said it expected both output and exports to remain weak because of the impact of the quake.
“Output will hover at a low level for the time being but then start to increase as supply constraints are mitigated,” the Bank of Japan said in its monthly report for April.
Companies and households will need to cut back significantly on power usage this summer when demand is at its peak, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said after a cabinet meeting.
He urged the big companies to cut use of electricity by 25 per cent.
But some ministers at the cabinet meeting today called for an end to a campaign for “self restraint” by the public adopted immediately after the March 11 disaster to cut use of fuel or electricity and discourage stockpiling of necessities.
“Some cabinet ministers said excessive self-restraint could worsen the economy, weakening economic power for reconstruction,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.
Preventing more explosions
Tokyo Electric said it was continuing to inject nitrogen into one of its Fukushima reactors to prevent a repeat of the hydrogen explosions last month.
The plant is still far from under control and engineers have been forced to pump in tonnes of water to cool down reactors, in the process creating radioactive water that has to be stored, though some has already been released into the sea.
Officials say it could take months to bring the reactors under control and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind.
The government has already set up a 20km exclusion zone around the plant, banned fishing along much of the northeast coast, and set up evacuation centres for the tens of thousands forced to leave their homes following the crisis.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Tsunami dog found alive and well in Japan after THREE WEEKS adrift at sea on a floating house
It appears almost too good to be true, but this little dog has been found alive and well adrift at sea, an astonishing three weeks after the tsunami that devastated Japan.
Members of the Japan Coast Guard came across the dog on Friday as they were conducting an aerial search of the area.
Against all the odds, the dog appears to have survived by living in a partially submerged house that had been swept out to sea.
Local television showed showed pictures of the dog scampering around the roof of the house before it disappeared inside through a hole in the roof.
Rescuers had hoped to find more tsunami survivors living inside the house but after tearing the roof open, it was found to be empty apart from the dog.
Despite its three weeks at sea, the medium-sized brown dog seemed to be in reasonably good condition considering its ordeal.
The discovery of the dog is a rare glimmer of hope in Japan where thousands of people are believed to have perished in the disaster.
The nation is now gripped by the ongoing nuclear threat posed by the unstable Fukushima plant as workers continue to battle to restore vital cooling systems damaged by the quake.
Members of the Japan Coast Guard came across the dog on Friday as they were conducting an aerial search of the area.
Against all the odds, the dog appears to have survived by living in a partially submerged house that had been swept out to sea.
Against all odds: The dog appears to have survived by clinging to a house that had been swept away by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11
Local television showed showed pictures of the dog scampering around the roof of the house before it disappeared inside through a hole in the roof.
Rescuers had hoped to find more tsunami survivors living inside the house but after tearing the roof open, it was found to be empty apart from the dog.
Despite its three weeks at sea, the medium-sized brown dog seemed to be in reasonably good condition considering its ordeal.
The discovery of the dog is a rare glimmer of hope in Japan where thousands of people are believed to have perished in the disaster.
The nation is now gripped by the ongoing nuclear threat posed by the unstable Fukushima plant as workers continue to battle to restore vital cooling systems damaged by the quake.
Friday, April 1, 2011
With mops, cranes and immense courage, Japan picks up the pieces and begins the long, slow process of rebuilding
For days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which obliterated the north-east Japanese coast, the people were simply shellshocked.
There followed a lot of suffering, bereavement in horrific measures and the realisation that for the lucky survivors life would never be the same again.
But slowly - despite thousands of refugees living out of cardboard boxes and with fears of radiation ever-present - the Japanese are beginning to swing into action.
Firstly, there is an enormous amount of mopping and cleaning to be done, and how some of the ships, cars, houses, mangled steel and general detritus will be removed is anyone's guess, but construction is occurring if only on a small scale.
The stoic Japanese have got a mammoth job in front of them, but some of them can glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it appears very dim to the rest of us.
There followed a lot of suffering, bereavement in horrific measures and the realisation that for the lucky survivors life would never be the same again.
But slowly - despite thousands of refugees living out of cardboard boxes and with fears of radiation ever-present - the Japanese are beginning to swing into action.
Firstly, there is an enormous amount of mopping and cleaning to be done, and how some of the ships, cars, houses, mangled steel and general detritus will be removed is anyone's guess, but construction is occurring if only on a small scale.
The stoic Japanese have got a mammoth job in front of them, but some of them can glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it appears very dim to the rest of us.
Volunteer workers clear the mud on in Matsushima, Miyagi
The lights are on and there's someone home: Lights from vehicles are caught in a long exposure in Yamada where a bedroom window light shows signs of life
The buildings represent a new beginning for the local people
A man works in mud in front of his house in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture
A worker operates the excavator during a clean-up operation in Tarou, north of Morika
An aerial picture shows a view of Sendai airport after clean-up operations
A worker cleans up at Sendai airport
A set of 36 houses are being built in the grounds of a junior high school Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture
Workers build temporary accommodation and shelters for local residents in Miyagi
Akiko Hatareyama digs mud out of what is left of her house in front of a grounded ship in Kesennuma
A woman helps to clean up a sporting goods store in downtown Kesennuma
A worker grabs a destroyed car during clean-up operations in Sendai, Miyagi
Volunteers return a tatami mat to a resident's house in Higashi-Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture
Workers shift a damaged car during clean-up operations in Sendai
A man retrieves belongings from his house in Miyako, Iwate prefecture
Workers clear mud and sludge from the streets in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
