evolutia stelara: japan

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Japan Set to Extend Nuclear Evacuation Zone

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported Monday, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago.

Multimedia

Interactive Feature

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Multimedia

Official Defends Japan’s Response to Disasters, Calling Them Unprecedented (April 11, 2011)
New Doubts About Turning Plutonium Into a Fuel (April 11, 2011)
City, Destroyed and Yet Hopeful, Begins to Move On (April 11, 2011)

Concern at Japan's inability contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting with Prime MinisterNaoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections Sunday and neighboring China and South Korea voicing criticism.

Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said Sunday 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 Monday, days later than planned.

Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend a 20 km (12 mile) 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 like the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80 kms away from the plant.

The Asahi said the government would extend the zone to 30 kms 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 20 km 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 20-30 km radius were initially told to stay indoors and then advised to evacuate voluntarily.

"Residents in the 20-30 km radius were really confused about what to do." Sato told NHK television Sunday.

Media reports said that Sato would refuse to meet the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) when he visits the area Monday.

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 Sunday 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. 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," Sankei newspaper said in an editorial Monday.

In Tokyo, around 5,000 people took to the streets in two separate anti-nuclear protests Sunday.

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, the world's third largest, 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 automakers in particular.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa Monday reiterated that the economy is likely to return to a recovery path once supply constraints caused by last month's earthquake and tsunami ease, and as exports grow.

RADIOACTIVE SEAWATER

Japanese Nuclear Plant Workers Advance Plans to Cool Off Damaged Reactors

Japanese engineers aim to regain control and restore parts of the cooling system at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Sunday as they plan to move contaminated water into other areas of the facility, Reuters reports.

On Saturday, two 190,000-pound concrete pumps that have been retrofitted to spray water to cool off reactors were on their way to the plant from Atlanta and Los Angeles. Both are operational by remote control.

The facility's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., is also hoping to use T-Hawk drone aircraft made by Honeywell to inspect hard-to-access areas of the plant. The drone can be operated from six miles away and transmit video and still images.

"Some of the highly radioactive water will be moved within the plant. But a second and third solution needs to be discovered as water is being pumped in constantly, increasing the total amount," Japan's Deputy Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told local television Sunday, according to Reuters.

Workers have spent the past month frantically trying to stop the radiation spewing from nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant by restoring cooling systems, but they still have a long way to go.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Tsunami Warning Issued After Large Quake Strikes Off Northeastern Japan's Coast

DEVELOPING: TOKYO -- Japan was rattled by a strong aftershock and tsunami warning Thursday night nearly a month after a devastating earthquake and tsunami flattened the northeastern coast.

Announcers on Japan's public broadcaster NHK told coastal residents to run to higher ground and away from the shore.

The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to 6 feet after the magnitude-7.1 aftershock. The warning was issued for a coastal area already torn apart by last month's tsunami, which is believed to have killed some 25,000 people and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.

Officials at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant said there's no immediate sign of new problems caused by the aftershock. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it evacuated two workers there and seven at a sister plant to the south that was not badly damaged.

Officials say Thursday's aftershock hit 16 miles under the water and off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. The quake that preceded last month's tsunami was a 9.0-magnitude.

Buildings as far away as Tokyo shook for about a minute.

In Ichinoseki, inland from Japan's eastern coast, buildings shook violently, knocking items from shelves and toppling furniture, but there was no heavy damage to the buildings themselves. Immediately after the quake, all power was cut. The city went dark, but cars drove around normally and people assembled in the streets despite the late hour.

Paul Caruso, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo., said Thursday's quake struck at about the same location and depth as the March 11 quake. It's the strongest of the more than 1,000 aftershocks that have been felt since, except for a 7.9 aftershock that day.

The USGS said the aftershock struck off the eastern coast 40 miles from Sendai and 70 miles from Fukushima. It was about 205 miles from Tokyo.

A Pacific Tsunami Warning Center evaluation of the quake said an oceanwide tsunami was not expected. However, it noted quakes of that strength can cause waves that are destructive locally.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Japan Nuke Plant Operator to Dump Radioactive Water Into Ocean

TOKYO – The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said Monday it planned to dump thousands of tons of radioactive water into the Pacific, as the government was accused of covering up the extent of radiation levels.

"We have no choice but to release water tainted with radioactive materials into the ocean as a safety measure," Yukio Edano, the government’s chief spokesman told a new conference.

The Jiji press agency reported that a TEPCO spokesman said the 11,500 tons of water were only weakly radioactive and that the release would take place "as soon as necessary preparations are made."

The broadcaster NHK reported Monday that the Japanese government withheld the release of data showing that radiation exceeded safe levels more than 18 miles from the plant, beyond the 12-mile evacuation zone.

Computer projections taken March 16 showed that people from as far away as 18 miles from the nuclear plant would be exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation if they were outdoors for 24 hours between March 12 and 24.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Japan's Nuclear Rescuers: 'Inevitable Some of Them May Die Within Weeks'

Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News.

The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online.

Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: “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 woman spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity because, she said, plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize public panic.

She could not confirm if her son or other workers were already suffering from radiation sickness. But she added: “They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.”

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (or TEPCO), says medical teams conduct regular testing on the restoration workers for signs of contamination-related illness. It claims there have been no further cases following the three workers who were treated last week after coming into direct contact with radioactive water. There are no reports of new members of the Fukushima 50 developing radiation sickness.

Although two suffered radiation burns to their legs and ankles and absorbed radiation internally, they have since been released from the hospital and are regularly being checked for signs of any deterioration in their condition, says TEPCO.

The company has pledged to improve the tough conditions for workers who stay on the site due to the short turnaround of shifts on safety grounds.

Some restorers directly tackling the problems with the fuel rod containment chambers are limited to 15 minutes at a time inside the reactor buildings or working near highly radioactive substances, including traces of plutonium that have appeared at numerous locations within the plant complex.

Living conditions for the hundreds of employees staying within the plant’s perimeter to support the restoration efforts are also equally as hazardous, say the authorities.

Banri Kaieda, the interior minister who also acts as a deputy head of the nuclear disaster task force jointly set up by the government and TEPCO, said 500 to 600 people were at one point lodging in a building within the complex. He told a media conference it was “not a situation in which minimum sleep and food could be ensured.”

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says that workers were only eating two basic meals of crackers and dried rice a day, and sleeping in conference rooms and hallways in the building.

According to Kaieda, not all of the workers had apparently been provided with lead sheeting to shield themselves from potentially radiation-contaminated floors while sleeping.

“My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor. But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him,” said the mother of the worker who spoke to Fox News.

Meanwhile, bad weather has delayed TEPCO's plans to limit the spread of radiation from the plant. It has intended to spray a water-soluble resin to affix radioactive particles and substances to the debris sent scattered across the devastated complex to prevent it from being dispersed by wind and moisture.

It will now attempt on Friday test the synthetic solution using remote control vehicles to spray an area of 95,000 square yards at reactors four and six. The company hopes the resin will provide sufficient protection to allow restoration workers better access to areas critical to restoring the reactors' cooling systems to prevent a meltdown.

Growing pools of dangerously radioactive water and deposits of plutonium have been inhibiting access to important parts of the plant.

A large sea tanker is also being prepared to siphon and ship the water from the plant after it was discovered that run-off containers and drainage tanks were almost full at three of the most critical reactors.

The government says it has yet to be decided where they will dispose of that water.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

An American Mother's Nightmare in Japan

Monday, March 28, 2011

Japanese Radiation Spread Across U.S.

WASHINGTON – Traces of radioactive material from the endangered Japanese nuclear plant are being detected from coast to coast in the United States and in Iceland, but amounts continue to be far below levels that would cause health problems.

The development of super-sensitive equipment to detect radiation is both a blessing and a curse, allowing scientists to monitor materials released in nuclear accidents, but also causing unnecessary worry, said Kathryn Higley, director of the nuclear engineering and radiation health physics at Oregon State University.

Traces of radioactive cesium and iodine are being reported from Nevada to Vermont, South Carolina to Massachusetts, thanks to equipment that Higley says can detect material "many orders of magnitude below what would be hazardous."

The traces of radiation outside of Japan are "absolutely of no concern," added Ahmed Hassanein, head of nuclear engineering at the Purdue School of Nuclear Engineering.

Curiously, one spot where extremely small amounts of the radioactive isotopes were detected was Las Vegas' Atomic Testing Museum, about 65 miles from the desert site where the United States tested atomic bombs in the 1950s

Ted Hartwell, manager of environmental monitoring at the Desert Research Institute, said he's certain the isotopes came from Japan because they're not usually detected in Nevada. But he said the readings were far below levels that could pose any health risks.

Gerhard Wotawa of Austria's Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, said the amounts of radiation detected so far were a fraction of what people are normally exposed to, adding that doctors, pilots and others are often confronted with much higher concentrations.

He also said that several types of material flung into the air at the Chernobyl plant 25 years ago are not turning up in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident because there has been no explosion to propel these heavier elements in the atmosphere.

Graham Andrew, a senior aide to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, said it was too early to compare Chernobyl and Fukushima, but also suggested that to some degree the two accidents are like comparing apples and oranges.

"In the case of Chernobyl there was a large graphite fire that lifted radioactivity to high altitudes and spread it over large distances," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, there has not been that process in the case of Fukushima."

Highly sensitive equipment to detect radiation was first developed to make sure countries were observing the nuclear test ban treaty, Higley explained, and more recently there has been a focus on preventing terrorism.

In addition, she noted, iodine-131 is often used in medical treatments, meaning it may be released around manufacturing plants and also in wastewater from hospitals where people undergo treatment. Indeed, she noted, radiation detectors are scattered around her university and at others where researchers work with radioactive isotopes.

Recent increases in levels of iodine and cesium are being attributed to the Japan release because of the timing and tracking of winds from the region. Southern utility companies on Monday said air monitors at power plants in Florida and South Carolina had detected iodine-131, which they concluded was coming from Japan.

Unlike Chernobyl when the isotopes were blasted high into the stratosphere where it could spread quickly, the radiation from Japan has remained in the lower atmosphere, noted Ross J. Salawitch, a University of Maryland researcher who has been tracking the plume from Japan.

Jeffrey Stehr, an atmospheric research scientist at the University of Maryland, said that while the radiation from Japan has been widely detected, it could take as much as a year to spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It could take another year before it is widespread in the Southern Hemisphere because of blocking at the equator caused by rising air currents where winds from north and south collide.

While memories of the Chernobyl disaster in what is now Ukraine have raised concerns, the amounts of radioactive material released in Japan have been much less than at that event., said William H. Miller, a professor at the University of Missouri Research Reactor.

As much as 5 percent of the core at Chernobyl went directly into the atmosphere, Miller explained, while that has not occurred at Fukushima.

"This is not anywhere close to Chernobyl," said Miller.

In its study of Chernobyl, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation noted that in that disaster large quantities of radioactive substances were released into the air for about 10 days as the reactor burned.

"The radioactive cloud dispersed over the entire Northern Hemisphere, and deposited substantial amounts of radioactive material over large areas of the former Soviet Union and some other countries in Europe," contaminating land and water, the report said.

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