Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Sign-In
|
Sign-Up
|
Contact Us
|
Bookmark
Home
News
Articles
Forum
Search
Directory
Blog
Accounts
Business
|
Politics
|
Technology
|
Entertainment
|
Sport
|
Other
|
All Published News
|
Japan's largest nuclear power plant suffered significant damage in Monday's earthquake
Japan's largest nuclear power plant suffered significant damage in Monday's earthquake, the plant's operator said Tuesday. After initially reporting that the quake - which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and killed at least nine in the coastal Niigata area of central Japan - had not seriously damaged the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) eventually admitted that multiple radioactive leaks had occurred. TEPCO reported late Monday that about 1,200 liters of radioactive water had escaped from a reactor building. And on Tuesday it acknowledged that a damaged exhaust stack had accidentally discharged cobalt-60 and chromium-51, while barrels containing low-level radioactive waste had tipped over. In all, the company said the plant suffered damage at 50 separate points, raising general questions regarding the safety of nuclear power plants in the earthquake-prone nation, and prompting a government order forbidding the plant from restarting until appropriate checks had been conducted. Although the plant's emergency system automatically shut down the four power units operating when the temblor hit, a fire that ignited a short time later in the plant's third unit was not contained for three hours, with firefighters reporting inadequate water pressure to effectively combat the blaze. Japanese experts and officials quickly raised concerns as news of the leak spread, because while it was discovered at around noon Monday, it took until about 6:00 p.m. for the company to confirm the water was radioactive. The government was not informed until an hour later, and the public did not learn of the incident until nearly 10:00 p.m. Japan's nuclear safety record is not entirely enviable, especially considering its heavy reliance on atomic energy to power its economy. The country has 55 working reactors, but most were built to laxer specifications, and are able to withstand earthquakes measuring just 6.5 on the Richter scale. Coincidentally, a review had been launched last September with the aim of raising that standard to 6.9, but Monday's quake has already led some experts to demand the government set even stricter requirements. Despite plans to rely on nuclear power for up to 40% of its energy needs by 2010, Japan's nuclear industry has been plagued by accidents and scandals involving safety cover-ups. In 2004, a ruptured steam pipe at the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in western Japan killed five workers and injured six, and in 1999 an accident at a reprocessing plant killed two and exposed hundreds to radioactive contamination.
Related News
U.S. State Department official will travel to Moscow and Paris July 16-20
Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas will meet in Jerusalem Monday
Belarus has detained four members of a Polish spy ring that allegedly gathered classified data on Belarusian and Russian air defenses
Sergei Lavrov will attend a ministerial meeting of the Quartet of mediators on the Middle East conflict in Lisbon on July 19
British authorities’ provocative actions will have the most serious consequences for Russian-UK relations
Britain's foreign secretary said four Russian diplomats will be expelled from the country
Russia condemned as "Russophobic" the planned expulsion of four diplomats from Britain
The Russian and Chinese foreign ministers will meet Friday
Russia's tax authorities have charged the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium pumping Russian and Kazakh oil to the Black Sea $290 million in 2004-05 back taxes
Hugo Chavez will soon submit to the parliament a draft law abolishing presidential term limits
Military truck collided with a train in Khankala, Chechnya, on Thursday
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday for the withdrawal of most American troops from Iraq by April 1, 2008
Brazilian court has issued an order for the arrest of exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky
Russian-speaking Israeli billionaire has said he formed his own party and intends to run in nationwide parliamentary elections
The French company Total has become a partner of Gazprom in the development of the Shtokman gas field
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office was “extremely puzzled” over some British statements on Russia’s non-extradition of Russian citizens
Friday the 13th has lived up to its sinister reputation as 10 people perished in two separate accidents in Moscow and the surrounding region
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he considered Martti Ahtisaari’s statement about the lowering of Russia’s status in the United Nations as inappropriate
Vladimir Putin believes that relations between Russia and China have reached a very high level of trust and cooperation for the recent years
The Moscow City Court has left in force a sentence to Sergei Mavrodi
Jun
July 2007
Aug
Mo
Tu
We
Th
Fr
Sa
Su
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5