Out of control?

TOKYO, Japan – Workers were ordered to withdraw briefly from a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels surged, Kyodo news reported, a development that suggested the crisis was spiraling out of control.

Just hours earlier another fire broke out at the earthquake-crippled plant, which has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo in the past 24 hours, triggering both fear in the capital and international alarm.

France urged its nationals either to leave Japan or head to the south and asked Air France to provide planes for evacuation. In a statement, the French embassy in Tokyo said two planes were already on their way to the capital.

Academics and nuclear experts said the solutions being proposed to quell radiation leaks at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima were last-ditch efforts to stem what could well be remembered as one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

“This is a slow-moving nightmare,” said Dr. Thomas Neff, a research affiliate at the Center for International Studies, which is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Workers were trying to build a road so fire trucks could reach the stricken reactor No. 4 which was on fire on Wednesday.

Public broadcaster NHK said flames were no longer visible at the building housing the reactor, but TV pictures showed smoke or steam rising from the facility around 9 p.m. ET.

US assistance
Eight experts from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission were to arrive Wednesday to advise on managing the situation, the foreign ministry said. It was not immediately known if they would go to Fukushima plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

Concern had earlier been mounting that the skeleton crews dealing with the crisis might not be big enough, or were possibly exhausted after working for days since last Friday's massive earthquake damaged the facility. Authorities withdrew 750 workers on Tuesday, leaving only 50.

Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano reported a sudden and brief rise in radiation levels at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant.

This prompted authorities to pull out all those remaining for almost an hour.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency said the level around the plant peaked at 6.4 millisieverts at around 10:45 a.m. (9:45 a.m. in Manila). Within 10 minutes it had fallen to 2.9 millisieverts.

A spike in radiation levels near the reactors on Tuesday ranged from 30 to 400 millisieverts. A single dose of 1,000 millisieverts – or one sievert – causes temporary radiation sickness such as nausea and vomiting.

The surge in radiation was apparently the result of a Tuesday fire in the outer housing of the containment vessel at Unit 4 reactor, said Hajimi Motujuku, a spokesman for the plant's operator, Tokyo
Electric Power Co. That blast is thought to have damaged the reactor's suppression chamber, a water-filled pipe outside the nuclear core that is part of the emergency cooling system.

Officials had originally planned to use helicopters and fire trucks to spray water in a desperate effort to prevent further radiation leaks and to cool down the reactors.

“It's not so simple that everything will be resolved by pouring in water. We are trying to avoid creating other problems,” Edano said.

“We are actually supplying water from the ground, but supplying water from above involves pumping lots of water and that involves risk. We also have to consider the safety of the helicopters above,” he said.

Worst feared

A US nuclear expert said he feared the worst.

“It's more of a surrender,” said David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer who now heads the nuclear safety program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group. "It's not like you wait 10 days and the radiation goes away. In that 10 days things are going to get worse.”

“It's basically a sign that there's nothing left to do but throw in the towel,” Lochbaum said.

The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and devastating tsunami that followed worsened overnight following a cold snap that brought snow to some of the worst-affected areas.

While the official death toll stands at 3,570 more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

In the first hint of international frustration at the pace of updates from Japan, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he wanted more timely and detailed information.

“We do not have all the details of the information so what we can do is limited,” Amano told a news conference in Vienna. “I am trying to further improve the communication.”

Several experts said the Japanese authorities were underplaying the severity of the incident, particularly on a scale called INES used to rank nuclear incidents. The Japanese have so far rated the accident a four on a one-to-seven scale, but that rating was issued on Saturday and since then the situation has worsened dramatically.

France's nuclear safety authority ASN said on Tuesday it should be classed as a level-six incident.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility – a population of 140,000 – to remain indoors, as authorities grappled with the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.

Levels dropped to minimal on Wednesday, but nerves were shaken by a 6.0 earthquake which shook buildings.

But residents nevertheless reacted to the crisis by staying indoors. Public transport and the streets were as deserted as they would be on a public holiday, and many shops and offices were closed.

Winds over the plant were forecast to blow from the northwest during Wednesday, which would take radiation toward the Pacific Ocean.

Fears of transpacific nuclear fallout sent consumers scrambling for radiation antidotes in the US Pacific Northwest and Canada. Authorities warned that people would expose themselves to other medical problems by needlessly taking potassium iodide in the hope of protection from cancer.

‘What the hell is going on?’
Japanese media became more critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticized the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. for their failure to provide enough information on the incident.

“This government is useless,” Masako Kitajima, a Tokyo office worker in her 50s, said as radiation levels ticked up in the city.

Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts on Tuesday. A Kyodo news agency reporter quoted the prime minister demanding the power company executives: “What the hell is going on?”

Nuclear radiation is an especially sensitive issue for Japanese following the country's worst human catastrophe – the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The full extent of the destruction from Friday's earthquake and tsunami was becoming clear as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

Whole villages wiped out
Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map by the wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.

There have been hundreds of aftershocks and more than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water.
Tens of thousands of people were missing.

NHK offered tips on how to stay warm, for instance by wrapping your abdomen in newspaper and clingfilm, and how to boil water using empty aluminum cans and candles.

Most economists now believe that the Japanese economy, which had been starting to recover when the earthquake struck, will contract in the second quarter of 2011.

A few economists also flagged the risk of a prolonged disruption to consumers and companies and a decline in economic output through 2011 should power outages persist until December.

Prices for key tech components such as computer memory chips have spiked due to factory outages at companies including electronics giant Sony Corp, silicon wafter maker Shin-Etsu Chemical and
Toshiba, a major supplier of NAND flash memory chips used in mobile devices.

ASEAN aid
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed to provide more support, assistance, and contributions to those affected by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan.

“This is a region coming together to help its neighbor and a key dialogue partner in dire need,” ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said in a statement issued yesterday.

He said assistance from member countries of ASEAN has been offered in various forms, including cash, medical assistance, food, rescue efforts, and more.

Cambodia and Laos each contributed $100,000 for the relief of the victims. Laos also agreed to set up a national committee to raise more funds and to be ready to dispatch personnel.

Indonesia’s Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana is going to deploy 64 trained Quick Response Teams, equipped with medical supplies. The team includes the Indonesian Armed Forces, search
and rescue contingent, and medical team.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the Philippines is also ready to deploy search and rescue contingents and may send more, if required.

The Singapore Civil Defense Force Operation Lion Heart contingent has likewise been activated. The contingent consists of five search specialists and five search dogs.

Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, has approved 15,000 tons of rice and over $6.5 million assistance.

Vietnam will provide Japan with $200,000 and is ready to send a medical team upon request.

Meanwhile, 20 Filipino seamen rescued after the tsunami hit Japan last Friday finally arrived home last Wednesday night after getting stranded at the Narita airport in Japan.

OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said that the 20 Filipino seamen were identified as Rodolfo Ador Lanutan, Nelson Victoria, Robert Pastoriza, Mark Guiritan, Arnulfo Alcantara, Alan Delanta, Rafael Macalindog, Hope Benedicto, Niceta Matalines, Dennis Chan, Efren Nervida, Gilbert Maramag, Dennis Biscocho, Michael Aspa, Roberto Ochia, Joemel Dasmarinas, Cesar Lili, Paulino Tinoy Jr., Alexander Coronel, and Nemie Simera.

source: mb.com.ph