Radiation Fears Grow in Japan

Japan Battles Crippled Nuclear Plant, Radiation Fears Grow

March 22, 2011

Reuters - Rising temperatures around the core of one of the reactors at Japan's quake-crippled nuclear plant sparked new concern on Tuesday and more water was needed to cool it down, the plant's operator said.

Despite hopes of progress in the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter of a century, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it needed more time before it could say the reactors were stabilized.

Technicians working inside an evacuation zone around the stricken plant on Japan's northeast Pacific coast, 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, have attached power cables to all six reactors and started a pump at one to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods.

Local media reported late on Tuesday that lighting had been restored at one of the control rooms, bringing the operators a step closer to reviving the plant's cooling systems.

Earlier smoke and steam were seen rising from two of the most threatening reactors, No.2 and No.3, threatening to dash hopes of progress in bringing them under control.

There have been several blasts of steam from the reactors during the crisis, which experts say probably released a small amount of radioactive particles.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, the deputy-director general of Japan's nuclear safety agency, later said the smoke at reactor No.3 had stopped and there was only a small amount at No.2.

He gave no more details, but a TEPCO executive vice president, Sakae Muto, said the core of reactor No.1 was now a worry with its temperature at 380-390 Celsius (715-735 Fahrenheit).

"We need to strive to bring that down a bit," Muto told a news conference, adding that the reactor was built to run at a temperature of 302 C (575 F).

Asked if the situation at the problem reactors was getting worse, he said:

"We need more time. It's too early to say that they are sufficiently stable."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the overall situation remained serious at the Fukushima plant and that it was concerned it had not received some information from the Japanese authorities about one of the nuclear reactors.

"We have not received validated information for some time related to the containment integrity of unit 1. So we are concerned that we do not know its exact status," Graham Andrew, a senior official of the IAEA told a news conference in Vienna.

The IAEA also lacks data on the temperatures of the spent fuel pools of reactors 1, 3 and 4, he said, though Japan was supplying other updates.

Reuters earlier reported that the Fukushima plant was storing more uranium than it was originally designed to hold, and that it had repeatedly missed mandatory safety checks over the past decade, according to company documents and outside experts.

Questions have also been raised about whether TEPCO officials waited too long to pump sea water into the reactors and abandon hope of saving the equipment in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami...

Three Large Earthquakes Strike Off Japan

March 22, 2011

news.com.au - Three earthquakes greater than 6.4-magnitude rocked Japan last night as the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) began testing for radiation in the sea near the badly damaged Fukushima power plant.

All three large earthquakes hit off Japan's eastern cost between 7:18am and 9:44am GMT (6.18pm and 8.44pm AEDT) in a reminder of the devastating temblor on March 11 that has left more than 22,000 people dead or missing, the Herald Sun reported.

The first and third quakes measured 6.6-magnitude, while the second was recorded as a 6.4-magnitude shock, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The third quake was at a depth of only 15km off the eastern coast of the country, raising fears of further damage to the already devastated region.

The 9.0-magnitude March 11 quake that the World Bank estimated caused $US235 billion worth of damage hit at a depth of 32km. Overall there were 17 quakes in the 12 hours to 1:00pm GMT (midnight AEDT), according to the USGS.

As emergency repair work continued on the Fukushima nuclear power plant, on Japan's northeastern coast, the JAEA was testing radiation levels in the sea near the crippled reactors.

Fukushima nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) was also examining seawater at four locations.

In an initial study, levels of radioactive cesium were reportedly found to be 24.8 times higher than normal, while levels of radioactive iodine were 126.7 times higher.

Testing before the March 11 disaster found no radioactive substances in seawater.

Factbox: Japan Disaster in Figures

March 22, 2011

Reuters - The following is a list of the likely impact of and response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked the northeast coast of Japan on March 11, and subsequent crisis at nuclear power plants.

DEATH TOLL

A total of 9,199 people were confirmed dead by Japan's National Police Agency as of 1400 GMT on Tuesday, while 13,786 were reported missing.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE EVACUATED

A total of 263,915 people are in shelters around the country as of 1400 GMT on Tuesday after being evacuated, the National Police Agency of Japan said.

The government expanded the evacuation area around a quake-stricken nuclear plant in northeastern Japan to a 20-km (12 miles) radius from 10 km on March 12. Since then, around 177,500 residents have evacuated from the zone.

The government has also told people within 30 km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, some 240 km north of Tokyo, to stay indoors.

HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

A total of 216,164 households in the north were without electricity as of Tuesday evening, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, down from 216,977 at noon.

HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT WATER

At least 760,000 households in 10 prefectures were without running water as of Tuesday, the Health Ministry said, down from 880,000 on Monday.

NUMBER OF BUILDINGS DAMAGED

At least 14,722 buildings have been completely destroyed, the National Police Agency of Japan said on Tuesday.

IMPACT ON ECONOMY

Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano told Reuters in an interview last week the total damage to the world's third-largest economy could exceed $250 billion, the equivalent of 2-3 percent of gross domestic product.

The yen spiked to a record high against the dollar after the quake, prompting a first joint intervention by the Group of Seven rich nations in 11 years to help shield Japan's export-reliant economy.

Tokyo's Nikkei stock average slumped as much as 20 percent to a two-year low as the disaster and nuclear crisis unfolded last week. But as of Tuesday's close the index had rebounded 17 percent from that two-year trough.

Japan's reconstruction spending will almost certainly exceed that of the 1995 quake in Kobe, when the government needed extra budgets of more than 3 trillion yen ($37 billion). Some estimate the already debt-laden government to compile an extra budget topping 10 trillion, or nearly 3 percent of gross domestic product.