Japan dumps radioactive water into sea

Japan  radiation eating seaweed

Waterworks investigators listen for underground leaks in Ofunato,Iwate prefecture on April 4, 2011.Japan has battled to prevent full reactor meltdowns at its tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant and poured thousands of tons of water onto overheating fuel rods,a stop-gap measure that has created highly radioactive run-off.

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant began releasing about 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the sea Monday evening so that it could make room in storage tanks for even more severely contaminated water.

Some 10,000 tons of the water being released into the ocean wasbeing taken from a communal storage facility near the No. 4 reactor. Another 1,500 tons was being released from the vicinity ofthe No. 5 and 6 reactors — which have been less troubled than reactors Nos. 1 through 4. The amount of water being released isequivalent to more than four Olympic-size swimming pools.

Although the water being released had levels of radioactive iodine 131 more than 100 times the legal limit allowed for sea discharge, the government approved the release as an"emergency" measure so that water with 100,000 times more radiation than the water found ina normally functioning reactor canbe removed from the basement of the turbine building at reactor No. 2 and stored somewhere on the site.

Even as the government assertedthat the release of the radioactive water into the sea would not pose an immediate threat to humans, health ministryofficial Taku Ohara said the ministry was considering drawing up radioactivity food-safety standards for fish after high radiation levels were detected in a sand lance, a bottom-feeding fish, caught off the coast of Ibaraki prefecture.

Nuclear experts have assumed that radioactive iodine, which has a brief half-life, would become diluted in the ocean and decay too quickly to be detected in fish,but Monday's finding has raised doubts about that, said Ohara.

According to the health ministry, the sand lance had 4,080 bequerels per kilogram of radioactive iodine.
"We think the level found poses no immediate risk to people's health, but the point is moot anyway because all sand lance caught in Ibaraki were disposed of," said Ohara. By comparison, the level of radioactive iodine in the fish was twice as high as the limit for vegetables. There are no standards for radioactivity in meat, eggs, fish and grains.

After more than three weeks of cooling the disabled Fukushima reactors by spraying them with thousands of tons of water using fire trucks, concrete pumpers andhelicopters, Tokyo Electric Power Co. faces a growing problem of what to do with the vast amounts of contaminated water.

Removing the water from turbine buildings and other structures is vital to allow workers to restore cooling functions to the facilities. But with limited facilities for storing the water, the utility and the government are now considering options including putting it into a "floating island" offshore. Also being discussed is the installation of an undersea barrier, usually used to contain old spills, that might slow the radioactive water's move offshore.

Tepco reported no success Monday in its efforts to stop highly radioactive water from seeping from a pit near the No. 2 reactor into the ocean. The utilitybelieved that the leak was comingfrom an 8-inch crack and attempted to seal it with a polymer, sawdust and shredded newspaper. When that failed, the utility dumped some white bath salts into a pipe near the pit to attempt to trace the flow of the water, but the colored water hadyet to show up in the sea.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced that the government would modify its protocol on restricting vegetable sales from prefectures where significant amounts of radiation have been detected. Instead of banning shipments from an entire prefecture, radiation levels henceforth will be monitored weekly at the level of municipalities, and if the detected levels fall below government limitsfor three consecutive weeks, then shipments will be allowed.

Farmers have been pressing the government to ease up on its restrictions, but the new procedures raised questions about whether municipalities werecapable of carrying out thorough checks. Some farmers complained that the weekly testing would not be frequent enough and said their produce was still likely to goto rot.

In Fukushima prefecture, officials announced plans for monitoring radiation levels at 1,400 schools starting Tuesday; a new academicyear is to begin Wednesday and many parents are worried about their children being exposed to radiation.
Fukushima officials also have begun checking radiation levels ofproducts manufactured within theprefecture. Many businesses are nervous that their goods might be rejected by buyers unless they are certified as being free of contamination.
In the town of Namie, which sits northwest of the Fukushima plantjust beyond the 18-mile perimeterwithin which authorities have urged people to stay indoors or consider evacuating, high levels ofcumulative radiation were recorded over an 11-day period beginning March 23, the government announced.

The accumulated radiation was 10.3 millisieverts over 11 days, assuming that a person stayed outdoors 24 hours a day. With the government saying that it could easily take months to bring the Fukushima plant under control, the readings are raising fresh questions about the dangers of radiation over a longer period and whether the government's evacuation perimeter is wide enough. Exposure to 100 millisieverts is believed to raise one's risk of cancer by 0.5 per cent.
Despite widespread concern aboutradiation from Fukushima, the public appears to be divided over whether the government should review its use of nuclear power. The results of an opinion poll by the national Yomiuri newspaper published Monday showed that nearly half those surveyed said they favored maintaining the current number of nuclear power plants, while almost a third of respondents said they wanted the government to cut back.

The poll also showed that voter support for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Cabinet has risen slightly, to30 per cent from 24 per cent in March. But many voters — 69 per cent — said Kan wasn't exhibiting his leadership, and 19 per cent said they wanted him to quit soon.

The National Police Agency said the death toll in the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunamistood at 12,259 as of Monday evening, with more than 15,000 people still listed as missing.
In a bit of positive news, national broadcaster NHK reported that a dog rescued Saturday by coast guard officers from the roof of a destroyed house floating more than a mile off the coast of northeastern Japan had been reunited with its owner.

The owner of the dog, a 2-year-old mutt named Ban, said she sawthe news of the rescue on TV over the weekend and contacted authorities immediately.

Jackie Chan - A Real Hero

Jackie Chan headlined a charity concert and telethon to raise funds for the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Rush Hour star was joined by Andy Lau, actor Donnie Yen and other Asian performers for the three-hour benefit in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Friday, reported Contactmusic.

The 56-year-old actor and filmmaker opened the show by calling for a moment of silence to honour the thousands who lost their lives in the March 11 tragedy.

Chan then led the performers in a rendition of peace anthem Succumb Not to Sorrow, based on a poem by Kenji Miyazawa.

Soul star Lionel Richie also made an appearance via a video recording, offering a rendition of his hit Say You, Say Me from a stage in Australia, where he is on tour.

"We believe you can survive this and you will get stronger," he said.

Chan made a rare singing performance, belting out the tune Believe in Yourself.

Proceeds from Friday's concert will benefit the Salvation Army.

Japan Tsunami & Earthquake damage costs likely to top $237 billion, says World Bank

     Japan may need five years to rebuild from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $237 billion of damage, the World Bank said yesterday. The disaster 11 days ago, which killed more than 8600 people and left more than 13,000 missing, ravaging north-eastern Japan, was likely to shave up to 0.5 percentage points from the country's economic growth this year, the bank indicated.

     The impact would be concentrated in the first half of the year, it said. ''Damage to housing and infrastructure has been unprecedented,'' the World Bank said. ''Growth should pick up though in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate. The bank cited damage estimates of between $124 billion and $237 billion, and cost to private insurers of between $14.1 billion and $33.2 billion.

     It said the government would spend $12.1 billion on rebuilding in the current national budget and ''much more'' in the next one.

     A short-term drop in consumer demand and manufacturing production would also hurt trade with regional neighbours, the bank said. South Korean electronics companies have seen the price of memory chips from Japan rise 20 per cent because of disrupted production, while Thai car exporters may run out of Japanese parts next month, it said.

     Japan's north east, the epicentre of the disaster, is home to ports, steel mills, oil refineries, nuclear power plants and manufacturers of car and electronics components.

    Many of those facilities have been damaged, while nationwide power shortages have severely crimped car and electronics production. The US billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that a massive natural disaster would not hamper the future of the Japanese economy and could prompt a new bout of stock buying.

     ''I'm not looking at Japan's economic future differently from 10 days ago,'' he told reporters in South Korea. ''Extraordinary events offer [a] buying opportunity.''

   Australian uranium miners have been urged to consider more forward-sales agreements to secure funding for their projects, in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis. The call at the Pay dirt conference in Adelaide yesterday follows a devastating week for uranium stocks.

Another Earthquake jerks Japan again, Tsunami alert issued

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Mar 14: Once again earthquake reported from the land of rising Sun - Japan on Monday, Mar 14. Local media reported that on wee morning, the country experienced another bash from nature. This time the quake was 5.8-magnitude, sources informed.

Fresh tsunami alerts also has been issued in the country as the new quake shook Japan. Sources reported that on Monday, the shake was heavily observed from the capital of the country and struck at a depth of 18 kilometers off Ibaraki prefecture. Recent earthquakes in past 7 days.

Residents are advised to vacate the sea level areas and are ordered to higher ground as the sea was reportedly seen retreating off Iwate prefecture in the north-east of Honshu island, a phenomenon that occurs before the massive waves hit.

Meanwhile, a fresh hydrogen explosion has occurred in the third reactor of Fukushima nuclear power plant. 160 people are feared to have been poisoned over the radioactive rays.

More than 18,000 people were shifted from the near regions of the nuclear power plant. The total death toll is estimated crossed 10,000. Though 2,000 deaths have been declared officially.

Japan experienced earthquake of 8.9 magnitude followed by a devastating tsunami on Friday, Mar 11. Now, fresh volcano eruption was also reported. Japan's Kyodo news agency reports that about 2000 bodies have been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture. Miyagi was one of the the worst effected places during Friday's quake and tsunami.