Tsunami hits Japan after strong quake, nuclear plant briefly disrupted

Mon Nov 21, 2016 | 7:08 PM EST A traffic jam is seen as people evacuate after tsunami advisories were issued following an earthquake, in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo November 22, 2016. Kyodo/via REUTERS A traffic jam is seen as people evacuate after tsunami advisories were issued following an earthquake, in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo November 22, 2016. Kyodo/via Reuters Tsunami hits Japan after strong quake, nuclear...X By Yuka Obayashi and William Mallard | TOKYO A powerful earthquake rocked northern Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, generating a tsunami that hit the same region devastated by a massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011. The earthquake, which was felt in Tokyo, had a magnitude of 7.4 and was centered off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of about 10 km (6 miles), the agency said. A tsunami of up to 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) had been observed around Sendai, about 70 km (45 miles) north of Fukushima, following the quake, which struck at 5:59 a.m. (2059 GMT Monday), public broadcaster NHK said. Television footage showed ships moving out to sea from harbors as tsunami warning signals wailed, after warnings of waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) were issued. "We saw high waves but nothing that went over the tidal barriers," a man in the city of Iwaki told NTV television network. All Japan's nuclear power plants on the coast threatened by the tsunami are shut down in the wake of the March 2011 disaster, which knocked out Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, spilling radiation into the air and sea. A spokeswoman for Tokyo Electric Power, known as Tepco, said the cooling system for a storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at the reactor at its Fukushima Daini Plant had been halted. A spokesman said the cooling system had restarted soon after. ADVERTISEMENT No other damage from the quake has been confirmed at any of its power plants, although there have been blackouts in some areas, the spokeswoman said. Only two reactors are operating in Japan, both in the southwest. Even when in shutdown, nuclear plants need cooling systems operating to keep spent fuel cool. Tohoku Electric Power Co said there was no damage to its Onagawa nuclear plant, while the Kyodo news agency reported there were no irregularities at the Tokai Daini nuclear plant in Ibaraki prefecture. One woman suffered cuts to her head from falling dishes, Kyodo news agency reported, citing fire department officials. Japanese Minister for Disaster Management Jun Matsumoto told reporters about three hours after the quake that there had been no reports of significant injuries so far. Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. The March 11, 2011, quake was magnitude 9, the strongest quake in Japan on record. The massive tsunami it triggered caused the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier. The U.S. Geological Survey measured Tuesday's quake at magnitude 6.9, down from an initial 7.3. An Iwaki city fire department official said there was smoke or fire at Kureha's research center in a petrochemical complex in Iwaki city at 6:17 a.m. (2117 GMT Monday) but it was extinguished soon after. Other details were not clear, he said, but no other major damage had been reported in the city so far. Japan's famous Shinkansen bullet trains were halted along one stretch of track and some other train lines were also stopped. Footage from Kesennuma, one of the worst-hit cities in 2011, showed a deserted fish market with what appeared to be fish lying on the floor. One hotel in Ofunato, also badly hit by the 2011 quake, initially told guests to stay in the facility but later bussed them to higher ground. Japanese financial markets were little affected, with Nikkei futures recovering after a brief fall and the yen up a touch against the U.S. dollar, although still near a five-month low hit earlier in the session. (Additional reporting by Chris Gallagher, Jon Herskovitz, Osamu Tsukimori, Aaron Sheldrick and Elaine Lies; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing Richard Balmforth and Paul Tait)

Fear grows over new nuclear reactors in Karachi

Fear grows over new nuclear reactors in Karachi By Web Desk Published: March 6, 2015 ACP-1000 reactors will stand less than 20 miles from Karachi's densely populated metropolis of 20 million residents. STOCK IMAGE KARACHI: A real nightmare could be unfolding in Karachi as Pakistan will be supplied with two large nuclear reactors from China to aid the country in its energy crisis, The Washington Post reported. There has always been fear among world leaders that terrorists may try to steal one of Pakistan’s nuclear bombs and detonate it in a foreign country, however, some have said that the real nightmare could be unfolding in Karachi after the reactors are supplied. The new power plants which comprise a new design are not yet in use anywhere in the world and will be each supplying 1,100 megawatts to Pakistan’s national energy grid. The reactors are being built next to a much smaller 1970s-era reactor located on a popular beach where fishermen still make wooden boats by hand. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST The new ACP-1000 reactors will stand less than 20 miles from Karachi’s densely populated metropolis of 20 million residents. Many have come forward in argument against the government’s nuclear ambitions, questioning whether this was the best place to build the nuclear reactor. “You are talking about a city one-third the population of the United Kingdom,” said Abdul Sattar Pirzada, a Karachi lawyer who is seeking to get the project halted. “If there would be an accident, this would cripple Karachi, and if you cripple Karachi, you cripple Pakistan,” he added. Recommendations put forward by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission pertaining to nuclear power plant construction state that any new reactor should be situated away from a very densely populated area, preferably with fewer than 500 people per square mile within a 20 mile radius. The same zone where the power plants would be constructed holds about 6,450 people per square mile a Pakistani nuclear physicist wrote in Newsweek Pakistan last year. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST Concerns have been expressed by some US diplomatic officials about China’s role in providing nuclear energy to Pakistan. Pakistan still remains to be one of the few developing nations which is still pursuing civilian nuclear energy options since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. With three operative nuclear power plants, Pakistan has turned to China for help in expanding the capacity of these plants. Efforts are underway to double the size of the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant in Punjab, as well as to build the new Karachi reactors. “The risks are there. You cannot discount them, but you prepare for them,” said Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s water, power and defense minister. “We are a nuclear power, so don’t underestimate us,” he added. The ACP-1000 reactor was developed by China and cost about $5 billion each to build. The design of the reactor is based on one that France built in China in the 1980s. Despite Pakistan’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the international ban on the transfer of nuclear technology to Pakistan, the China National Nuclear Corporation will still be supplying the ACP-1000 reactor to Pakistan. “We are going to be the guinea pigs,” said Arif Belgaumi, a Karachi architect who wants the international community to pay closer attention to the government’s plans. “China’s expanding civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan raises concerns and we urge China to be transparent regarding this cooperation,” the US Embassy said in a statement on Thursday. Of particular concern with supplying Pakistan with the reactors is the threat of terrorism with Karachi’s long history of security lapses. If a major attack or accident were to occur at a nuclear power plant, activists said there would be unimaginable chaos.

​Fukushima ice wall: TEPCO drills freeze wells to stop contaminated groundwater

Fukushima ice wall: TEPCO drills freeze wells to stop contaminated groundwater Published time: January 29, 2014 08:25 A Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) employee wearing a protective suit and mask uses a survey meter near the spent fuel pool inside the No. 4 reactor building at the tsunami-crippled TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture (Reuters/Kimimasa Mayama) Fukushima nuclear disaster Tags Ecology, Japan, Natural disasters, Nuclear The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is erecting an underground wall of frozen soil, which would hopefully stop radioactive water from running into the sea. However, doubts remain over whether it will fix the leak problem. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) pours tons of water into damaged reactors to keep the melted fuel from overheating. But the buildings, which were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and the consequent disaster at the plant, are allowing radioactive material to seep into groundwater and pollute the nearby sea. In September 2013, the Japanese government announced a plan to drill a row of wells around the area. A liquid coolant running through the wells will cool the soil around them and form a frozen wall in an attempt to prevent contaminated groundwater from getting into the environment. The work on the wall due to start Wednesday at the Number 2 and Number 3 reactors, Japanese TV station NHK reported. The program to isolate groundwater is to cost some $320 million in construction plus run costs and is scheduled to be complete by March 2015. The wall, maintained by rows of wells drilled at 1–meter intervals, is to run 500 meters north to south and 200 meters east to west. The Japanese government chose the approach over more permanent solutions like erecting concrete underground barriers, which do not require a constant operation of freezers and coolant pumps. They said it allows for a quick rebuilding of the wall in case it is damaged by a new quake. The plan is not guaranteed to work, with some experts fearing the groundwater may end up seeping even deeper once the frozen wall is in place. The soil-freezing technology has long been used for civil construction in areas of abundant groundwater, for example for building subway lines. But it is usually done temporarily, and there is no record to indicate how reliable the solution would be in the long run. Fukushima nuclear power plant was crippled in March 2011 by a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami, becoming one of worst nuclear disasters in history. TEPCO has been struggling to contain the fallout from the incident, but radiation leakages continue at the facility. The disaster triggered a massive public outcry against nuclear energy, with several countries going completely rejecting it.