Tsunami alert issued after Indonesia's 6.7-magnitude quake

Mon, Apr 4, 2011 2:51 AM IST
By Indo Asian News Service | IANS

Jakarta, April 4 (IANS) A tsunami alert was issued early Monday after a 6.7-magnitude quake jolted the Java region of Indonesia, Xinhua reported.

The quake struck at 3.06 a.m. The epicentre was at a depth of 24 km, the US Geological Survey said. The quake-hit region is about 400 km southeast of Jakarta.

Japan says it may take months to end radiation leaks

Sun Apr 3, 2011 12:52pm GMT

* Cracked pit one possible source of radiation leaks
* More bodies recovered from tsunami-hit coast
* Surivor tells harrowing story of rising water

By Chizu Nomiyama and Yoko Nishikawa

TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - Japan's government warned on Sunday it may take months to stop radiation leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by a huge earthquake and tsunami three weeks ago, as more bodies were recovered in devastated areas of northeast Japan.

An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government's priority was to stop radiation leaks which were scaring the public and hindering work on cooling overheated nuclear fuel rods.

"We have not escaped from a crisis situation, but it is somewhat stabilised," said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan.

"How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation leakage)? I think several months would be one target," Hosono said on a nationwide Fuji TV programme on Sunday.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit at its No.2 reactor in the Fukushima Daiichi complex at the weekend, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.

The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, and TEPCO turned to water-absorbent polymers to prevent any more contaminated water from going out.

The latest effort to staunch the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific started on Sunday afternoon. Workers then topped the polymers with more concrete.

"We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers but are yet to see a visible effect," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Officials believe the crack could be one source of the radiation leaks that have hobbled efforts to control the six-reactor complex and sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit.

The battle to cool overheated reactors and avoid dangerous meltdowns of the highly radioactive fuel rods has seen workers hose saltwater into reactors, but this has left the facility awash with contaminated saltwater, preventing workers getting closer to the reactors.

Nishiyama said fresh water was now being pumped into No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors using external power, which was more stable than the emergency diesel generators previously being used.

He said the three reactors were now generally stable.

PM UNDER PRESSURE

The 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami on March 11 has left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing and Japan's northeast coast a splintered wreck. The disaster has hit economic production and left a damages bill which may top $300 billion.

After a three day intensive air and sea search by thousands of U.S. and Japanese forces another 77 bodies were recovered, Kyodo news agency said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Kan is under intense pressure to steer Japan through its worst crisis since World War Two, but after three weeks many Japanese are angry that the humanitarian disaster seems to have taken a back seat to the nuclear crisis.

Unpopular and under pressure to quit or call a snap poll before the disaster, Kan has been criticised for his crisis management.

When Kan visited the devastated fishing port of Rikuzentakata on Saturday, survivors struggling to rebuild their lives complained that he had not visited them earlier.

More than 163,710 people are living in shelters, with more than 70,000 people evacuated from a 20 km (12 mile) no-go zone area the nuclear plant, and another 136,000 people living a further 10 km out have been told to leave or stay indoors.

Harrowing stories are still emerging of just what happened on the fateful afternoon of March 11.

Civil servant Takako Suzuki, 40, narrowly escaped when water rose to within a few inches from the ceiling of an evacuation centre she had rushed to. "I was thinking 'if the water rises a little bit, I'm finished' - but fortunately the water suddenly stopped rising and began receding," she said.

Suzuki spent a night huddled with 11 other survivors in the deep water, bodies floating around them.

MOVES TO STOP POWER BLACKOUTS

The world's third largest economy has seen manufacturing slump to a two-year low as a result of power outages and quake damage hitting supply chains and production.

General Electric Co , which helped build the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will help TEPCO supply electricity in the coming summer months when power demand soars.

Demand for power jumps in Japan in summer due to heavy usage of air-conditioners.

The government has said it will restrict maximum power usage by companies during the hotter months in an effort to avoid further blackouts.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Japanese economy would take a short-term hit and it could not rule out further intervention for the yen.

Farmers in the countryside surrounding the reactor are fretting that consumers in Japan will reject their crops.

"Grown in Fukushima" has become a warning label for those nervous of radiation which has already been found in some vegetables close to the nuclear plant.

"There is no way we will be able to sell anything," said 73-year-old farmer Akio Abiko. "People in Tokyo are just too sensitive about this kind of thing."

A group of farmers came to Tokyo from Fukushima at the weekend, using Geiger counters to show their produce was safe. (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Kubota in in Tokyo, David Dolan in Fukushima and Damir Sagolj in Rikuzentakata; Writing by Michael Perry and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Andrew Marshall, sourced Thomson Reuters)

Japan warns radioactive levels high around plant after blast

Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:52am GMT
* Fresh explosions hit two reactors
* French embassy in Tokyo warns low level radioactive cloud could reach Tokyo in 10 hours
* Reactor operator asks U.S. military for help
* More than 10,000 feared killed by quake, tsunami
* Japan stocks down 7 percent

By Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, March 15 (Reuters) - Japan's prime minister warned on Tuesday that radioactive levels had become high around an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant after explosions at two reactors, adding that the risk of more radiactive leakage was rising.

Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility north of Tokyo to remain indoors.

The French embassy in the capital warned in an advisory that a low level of radioactive wind could reach Tokyo -- 240 km (150 miles) south of the plant -- in about 10 hours.

The reactor operator asked the U.S. military for help, while Kyodo news agency said radiation levels nine times normal levels had been briefly detected in Kanagawa near Tokyo.

"We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask you to act calmly," Kan said in an address to the nation.

As concern about the crippling economic impact of the double disaster mounted, Japanese stocks plunged 7.0 percent to their lowest level in nearly two years, compounding a drop of 7.6 percent the day before. The two-day fall has wiped around $500 billion off the market.

There have been a total of four explosions at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.

Authorities had previously been trying to prevent meltdowns in three of the Fukishima Daiichi complex's nuclear reactors by flooding the chambers with sea water to cool them down.

The full extent of the destruction wreaked by last Friday's massive quake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

"It's a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish," said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation from the northeastern coastal town of Otsuchi.

Kan has said Japan is facing its worst crisis since World War Two and, with the financial costs estimated at up to $180 billion, analysts said it could tip the world's third-biggest economy back into recession.

The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, from 8.9, making it the world's fourth most powerful since 1900.

Car makers, shipbuilders and technology companies worldwide scrambled for supplies after the disaster shut factories in Japan and disrupted the global manufacturing chain.


BLAST DAMAGES ROOF, WORKERS TOLD TO LEAVE

The fear at the Fukushima plant is of a major radiation leak after the quake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems.

Jiji news agency said the first explosion on Tuesday damaged the roof and steam was rising from the complex. It also reported some workers had been told to leave the plant, a development one expert had warned beforehand could signal a worsening stage for the crisis.

The worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 has drawn criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and revived debate in many countries about the safety of atomic power.

Switzerland put on hold some approvals for nuclear power plants and Germany said it was scrapping a plan to extend the life of its nuclear power stations. The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama remained committed to nuclear energy.

Whilst the Fukuskima plant's No.1 and No.3 reactors both suffered partial fuel rod meltdowns, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) had earlier said the No.2 reactor was now the biggest concern.

A sudden drop in cooling water levels when a pump ran out of fuel had fully exposed the fuel rods for a time, an official said. This could lead to the rods melting down and a possible radioactive leak.

TEPCO had resumed pumping sea water into the reactor early on Tuesday.

U.S. warships and planes helping with relief efforts moved away from the coast temporarily because of low-level radiation. The U.S. Seventh Fleet described the move as precautionary.

South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines said they would test Japanese food imports for radiation.

France's ASN nuclear safety authority said the accident could be classified as a level 5 or 6 on the international scale of 1 to 7, putting it on a par with the 1979 U.S. Three Mile Island meltdown, higher than the Japanese authorities' rating.

Japan's nuclear safety agency has rated the incidents in the No.1 and No.3 reactors as a 4, but has not yet rated the No. 2 reactor.

TOWNS FLATTENED

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.

"The situation here is just beyond belief, almost everything has been flattened," said the Red Cross's Fuller in Otsuchi, a town all-but obliterated. "The government is saying that 9,500 people, more than half of the population, could have died and I do fear the worst."

Kyodo news agency reported that 2,000 bodies had been found on Monday in two coastal towns alone.

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

"When the tsunami struck, I was trying to evacuate people. I looked back, and then it was like the computer graphics scene I've seen from the movie Armageddon. I thought it was a dream . it was really like the end of the world," said Tsutomu Sato, 46, in Rikuzantakata, a town on the northeast coast.

In Tokyo, commuter trains shut down and trucks were unable to make deliveries as supermarket shelves ran empty.

Estimates of the economic impact are only now starting to emerge.

Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japan at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients that the economic loss will likely be around 14-15 trillion yen ($171-183 billion) just to the region hit by the quake and tsunami.

Even that would put it above the commonly accepted cost of the 1995 Kobe quake which killed 6,000 people.

The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and global companies -- from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders -- face disruptions to operations after the quake and tsunami destroyed vital infrastructure, damaged ports and knocked out factories.

"The earthquake could have great implications on the global economic front," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lec Securities in New York. "If you shut down Japan, there could be a global recession." (Additional reporting by Nathan Layne, Risa Maeda and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon in Sendai, Fredrik Dahl and Michael Shields in Vienna, Noel Randewich in San Francisco and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Dean Yates, By Thomson Reuters)

Tags: damage, power water supply, economic survey, Credit Suisse,

Global supply chain rattled by Japan quake, tsunami

Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:55am GMT

* High tech components, steelmakers among suppliers affected
* Rolling power blackouts likely to disrupt output for some time
* Some producers talking to alternative suppliers
* Shares of Toyota, Sony fall more than 7 pct

By Miyoung Kim and Clare Jim

SEOUL/TAIPEI, March 14 (Reuters) - Global companies from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders faced disruptions to operations after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan destroyed vital infrastructure and knocked out factories supplying everything from high-tech components to steel.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions have been left without water, electricity, homes or heat after Friday's 8.9 magnitude quake triggered a massive tsunami which tore across a wide swathe of coastline north of Tokyo.

The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and shares in some of Japan's biggest companies tumbled on Monday, with Toyota Corp and Sony Corp falling 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Plant closures and production outages from Japan's host of high-tech companies were among the biggest threats to the global supply chain, analysts said.

"Japan remains critical to the global tech food chain," analysts at CLSA said in a report. "Beyond damage to facilities, supply chain disruptions driven by road-port-power outages are key factors to watch," CLSA said, estimating a fifth of all global technology products are made in Japan.

Korean shipbuilders and U.S. solar power companies were among other companies facing the threat of disruptions to supply, but with initial damage assessments still being made, companies and analysts said it was too early to accurately gauge how long disruptions might last.

Rolling power blackouts are likely to affect Tokyo and surrounding areas over the next few weeks, adding to the existing challenge of inspecting and repairing north Japan plants amid continuing aftershocks and the threat of major radiation leaks from damaged nuclear power plants.

KOREAN COMPANIES HIT

Japanese ports handling as much as 7 percent of the country's industrial output sustained major damage from the earthquake, with most seen out of operation for months.

Companies in neighbouring South Korea, which depend heavily on Japan supplies such as LCD glass, chip equipment, silicon wafers and other products to produce semiconductors, were some of the most affected.

Hynix Semiconductor , the world's No.2 memory chipmaker and a rival of Japan's quake-hit Toshiba Corp and Elpida Memory , said it was concerned the quake may weaken consumer demand further and disrupt supplies of chip components.

"It could give a boost to battered chip prices but that's a short-term impact from disrupted supplies by Japanese companies," said Kim Min-chul, chief financial officer at Hynix. "Longer-term we are more concerned about the quake reducing overall consumer demand and disrupting supplies of chip components and equipment, which could interrupt our production as well."

Hynix shares surged almost 9 percent on expectations of a short-term boost to chip prices and reduced competition, while shares in Toshiba, a conglomerate whose products include semiconductors and nuclear reactors, dived 16 percent.

Toshiba, which supplies more than a third of the NAND memory chips used worldwide in devices such as Apple's hot-selling iPad, said it was starting the process of restarting a chip factory in Iwate, northern Japan.

Shares of Shin-Etsu fell 6.7 percent in Tokyo, while rival silicon wafter makers Sumco Corp ended flat in a Tokyo market that closed down 6.2 percent.

Spot prices for DRAM chips, mostly used in personal computers (PC), had started rising in China, chip price tracker DRAMExChange said.

"Especially for PC and system manufactures, they need to be more proactive in DRAM inventory for the upcoming peak season," it said in a note.

Nokia , the world's largest mobile phone maker, said it was investigating the impact on supplies.

About 12 percent of components used by Nokia were sourced in Japanese yen but the amount of Japanese components was likely larger in its phones as Nokia has recently renegotiated its supplier contracts in Japan to cut risks from swings in the value of the yen.

"Until we have concrete information to share, it would be inappropriate to speculate on the possible impact to Nokia," a spokesman said.

STEEL, SOLAR

Companies reliant on Japanese steel such as South Korean shipbuilders were also expected to face supply constraints or higher prices due to disruptions caused by the quake and its aftermath.

South Korea houses the world's top three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries , Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine and Samsung Heavy Industries .

"The earthquake has reportedly affected around 20 percent of the Japanese steel production capacity," said Kim Hyun-tae, an analyst at Hyundai Securities in Seoul. "It will disrupt production in Japan, one of the major steel producers exporting 40 percent of its output. In contrast, steel demand will rise for damage restoration."

Nippon Steel Corp , the world's No.4 steelmaker, said on Sunday it resumed shipments from all its steel plants except its Kaimishi facility in northern Japan. Rival JFE Holdings said on Monday it was forced to stop shipments at one plant near Tokyo due to a power outage.

On Monday, JFE Steel Corp , the world's No.5 steelmaker, halted production at a plant near Tokyo and No.4-ranked Nippon Steel suspended operations at two small plants.

"If there is a 10 percent rise in steel plates, it can result in a 1.5 percent fall in the operating profit margin for shipbuilders," said SK Securities analyst Lee Ji-hoon, adding roughly 15 percent of steel plate supplies for Korean shipbuilders come from Japan.

Korean steel maker POSCO was expected to benefit from tighter supplies and pressure on prices. Its shares rose almost 9 percent in Seoul.

The earthquake also raised risks of lower production from Japanese manufacturers of polysilicon and wafers -- materials found in solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity.

Credit Suisse expects supply problems at solar wafer maker M. Setek Co, a unit of AU Optronics , whose plant is situated near Sendai town, close to the epicenter of the quake.

US solar panel maker SunPower Corp could be vulnerable to wafer supply disruption as it relies on M. Setek for up to 20 percent of its supplies or about 200 megawatts, Credit Suisse said.

An AU spokesman said initial assessment at the M. Setek plant showed no major damage but it was unclear when production would resume.

Taiwan's TSMC , the world's largest contract maker of semiconductors, said there was no immediate threat to supplies.

"For raw materials like raw wafers, gases and chemicals and spare parts, we have enough inventories to keep things running for at least 30 days," said TSMC spokesman Michael Kramer.

Other high tech producers including Taiwanese smartphone make HTC said operations and components supply had not been affected but they would be talking to alternative suppliers and monitoring the situation in Japan. (Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Ju-min Park in SEOUL, Tarmo Virki in HELSINKI and Leonora Walet in HONG KONG; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Dean Yates, sourced Reuters)

Tags :Korean companies hit, Toshiba, Hynix, chipmaker, Sumco Corp, Nippon Steel, JFE, POSCO, Credit Suisse,

Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami waves