Japan's Kan says nuclear clean-up could take decades

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday it will take decades to clean up and decommission the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.

BEFORE

AFTER

Kan's comments marked the first time that Japan's government has offered a timeframe for the clean-up at Fukushima beyond the emergency measures now underway to shut down its reactors.

"It will take three, five, ten years, or eventually several decades to take care of the accident," Kan told local officials from his Democratic Party of Japan meeting in Tokyo.

The Fukushima nuclear plant lost power after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Three of the reactors had uranium fuel meltdown, and a series of hydrogen explosions scattered radioactive debris across a wide area.

Some 80,000 people have been forced to evacuate the area around the plant because of the threat from radiation.

With the four-month anniversary of the accident approaching, Japanese officials are due to detail progress in bringing Fukushima under control in the coming days.

Kan, who has pledged a blank-slate review of Japan's energy policy, has been under fire for his handling of the nuclear accident and the government's response to the earthquake and tsunami.

Kan has said he will resign but has not specified when he will step aside, saying he sees it as his responsibility to see through initial recovery work and related legislation.

In a move that raised concern about power shortages stretching into 2012, officials said this week that now-idled reactors would be subject to a safety "stress test" before they would be cleared to restart.

The sudden announcement of stress tests for nuclear plants similar to those conducted by the European Union marked a sharp reversal in course. It also prompted criticism from local officials who complained they had been left in the dark.

Japan's Trade Ministry had been pushing for a quick restart of a reactor at the Genkai nuclear plant in southern Japan. Trade Minister Banri Kaieda signaled this week he would resign, saying he would take responsibility for the confusion at a suitable time.

The "stress tests" are intended to assess whether Japan's remaining nuclear plants could withstand the kind of massive earthquake and tsunami that pushed Fukushima into crisis.

Separately, a government senior official was quoted as saying Saturday Tokyo Electric Power Co has met a government-set target of setting up a cooling system at the Fukushima plant.

Goshi Hosono, the government minister appointed to oversee Japan's response to the nuclear crisis, told reporters he believed Tokyo Electric had achieved its target of establishing a stable cooling system for the reactors, the first of a series of steps needed to shut down the plant by January.

Efforts to cool the Fukushima reactors currently hinge on a complex and hastily constructed system to decontaminate thousands of tonnes of water being pumped into the reactors and then to circulate it back through the reactors.

Once the cooling system is in place, officials have said that they can focus on work to bring the reactors to a state of "cold shutdown" by January.

At that point, the uranium in the reactor cores would be cool enough so that it would not cause water being pumped in to boil away. It would also mean that there would be little threat from another loss of power to the plant.

source : REUTERS

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Japan plans expansion after quake horror

(Reuters) - Japan's professional basketball league has bold plans for expansion rather than mere damage limitation despite being plunged into chaos by the deadly earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

With the two worst-hit teams in danger of collapse, Basketball JapanLeague Commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi told Reuters the push to increase the number of clubs from 16 to 20 would continue at full pace.

The Sendai 89ers, the team based closest to the devastating 9.0 magnitude quake, and the Saitama Broncos have had players sent out on loan after being forced to scrap their seasons.

"There is a risk (of bankruptcy) for Sendai, or that both teams will be unable to play next season," Kawachi said in an interview.

"We are doing everything we can to have them among the expanded league of 20 teams in October for 2011-12 in terms of reducing further financial burden on them from the disaster."

Tokyo Apache also halted operations as a result of the quake and giant tsunami, which triggered a nuclear crisis after smashing into a plant 150 miles north of Japan's capital.

"Our practice sites were turned into rescue shelters for the survivors," said Apache President Chris Hetherington, whose club donated $1 million to tsunami relief efforts.

"And while apparently stable, the nuclear reactor at the Fukushima power plant still presented risks. The downside risk was too great."

Unlike Sendai and Saitama, who are staring into the financial abyss, Apache have no such problems, although it remains to be seen if former NBA coach Bob Hill will return.

"It was disappointing to have to leave after all the hard work we had put in," Hill, who led San Antonio to an NBA-best 62 wins in 1994-95, told Reuters by e-mail.

"With so many folks dying ... and the quakes continuing in Tokyo, basketball seemed so unimportant."

RADIATION LEAKS

The disaster left 28,000 people dead or missing and destroyed vast areas of northeast Japan, while blackouts and fears over radiation leaks hit sporting events nationwide.

"I have no idea if I will be back again in Tokyo," added Hill, who also coached the New York Knicks, Indiana and Seattle in his NBA career.

"I have had little communication with ownership and management at this point."

Losing Hill after less than a year would be a blow to Apache, who twice finished league runners-up under Joe Bryant, father of Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe.

But former NFL fullback Hetherington had no regrets about the decision to end the team's campaign with their record at 20-14.

"This curtailed season will not hurt the Apache," he said.

"We will take this time to build a more efficient and effective business."

Apache could also rake in cash and gain extra exposure thanks to 19-year-old power forward Jeremy Tyler, who is tipped as a potential number one overall pick in June's NBA draft.

Kawachi's staff, meanwhile, continue to work tirelessly to keep Saitama and Sendai, two of the trail-blazing six teams who launched the league in 2005, afloat.

"Okinawa are the top team in the West right now and would have a player on loan from Sendai for the final four in Tokyo on May 21-22," said the commissioner.

"There will be bus loads down from Sendai! We will be collecting money from a full house of 20,000. We will take every step to keep these two teams operating.

"The disaster resulted in a big financial loss for the league too but cancelling the whole season would not have been correct.

"Sport has shown it has the power to bring hope to people in despair. It has given us all added incentive to come out of this bigger and better."

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New 7.1 quake hits Japan as evacuation zone widens

Japan on Monday widened the evacuation zone around a stricken nuclear plant exactly a month on from a huge natural disaster as another 7.1 magnitude quake and tsunami alert strained nerves anew.

The latest aftershock caused buildings to sway in the capital Tokyo, shortly after the nation had observed a minute's silence to remember the 13,000 people killed in the March 11 disaster and the 15,000 who officially remain missing.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.1 onshore quake hit at 5:16 pm (0816 GMT) at a depth of just 13 kilometres (eight miles). Its epicentre was 81 kilometres south of Fukushima city, near the troubled nuclear plant. Related article: Japan PM thanks global support

Japan's meteorological agency warned that a one-metre (three foot) wave could hit Ibaraki prefecture, one of the areas pummelled by last month's massive tsunami, before cancelling the alert less than an hour later.

Another tremor of 7.1 on April 7 -- just one of thousands of aftershocks to hit the traumatised country -- killed at least two people and cut electricity across a huge area of northern Japan.

Workers battling to contain the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were evacuated after the latest quake Monday, which briefly knocked out power to crippled reactors before electricity was restored. Scene: Nuclear refugees defy warnings to go home

People across the country had paused at 2:46 pm, the moment Japan's biggest ever recorded earthquake struck, setting off a chain of events that has left workers scrambling to tame runaway atomic reactors at the Fukushima plant.

It was the worst tragedy to envelop the country since World War II.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan promised Sunday he would "never abandon" tsunami survivors as he tried to focus attention on the future, despite the continuing high-stakes battle at the nuclear plant.

Kan, on only his second trip to the disaster zone in the month since the tragedy, said the government would "work as fast as possible" to house the more than 150,000 people still living in emergency shelters. Focus: Japan's post-disaster economy faces electric shock

Underlining the threat of long-term health damage from radiation, the government on Monday said it was to widen the evacuation area around the atomic plant to include some towns outside the current 20-kilometre exclusion zone.

Those areas were liable to receive potentially hazardous radiation levels of 20 millisieverts per year, top government spokesman Yukio Edano said, while stressing there was no deterioration at the Fukushima plant.

Engineers at Fukushima who last week sealed a leak spewing highly contaminated water into the sea have begun installing a "silt curtain" to try to prevent radioactive mud from spreading around the ocean. Focus: Japan tsunami survivors struggle to imagine future

But at the same time, plant operator TEPCO is deliberately dumping more than 10,000 tonnes of mildly radioactive water into the ocean to free up urgently needed storage space for highly toxic liquid.

On Sunday one worker was taken to hospital after complaining of feeling sick, the operator said.

Masataka Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), on Monday visited Fukushima and apologised for the atomic emergency engulfing the area.

"I offer my personal apology from the bottom of my heart once again to the people in Fukushima prefecture and residents near the nuclear plant for having imposed such awful physical and mental burdens," he said.

Shimizu had wanted to go to the offices of the Fukushima prefecture government in the hope of meeting governor Yuhei Sato, but a local official said no meeting had taken place.

The official gave no reason, but Sato has previously refused to meet the boss of the embattled utility.

Proposals to lift the long shadow cast by Japan's disasters emerged over the weekend.

Tokyo's nationalistic governor, who was re-elected Sunday, said the vast city would bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of efforts to boost recovery.

Shintaro Ishihara said Tokyo -- which lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race to host the 2016 Olympics -- "can start raising our hand now" for the games.

The prime minister was expected later Monday to hold a press conference in Tokyo.

He will urge Japanese to avoid "excessive self-restraint", Jiji Press reported, amid repeated calls for seasonal "hanami" -- alcohol-fuelled cherry blossom viewing -- parties to be toned down.

Kan is worried that "stagnation in consumer spending caused by excessive self-restraint would be detrimental to the Japanese economy and reconstruction efforts in disaster-hit areas," Jiji reported, citing an unnamed official.

source: yahoo/AFP News 

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Asia stocks mixed amid uncertainty in Japan, Libya

(AP) BANGKOK –  Stocks in Asia were mixed following a retreat on Wall Street on Wednesday, as the staggering toll exacted by Japan's worst-ever earthquake came into sharper focus and uncertainties grew about the outcome of Western military action against Libya.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 1.2 percent in early trading to 9,496.21 after a strong day of gains after a newspaper reported that government estimates of damages from the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's industrial northeast could exceed $300 billion.

The disaster also triggered a crisis at a nuclear power plant that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and forced power cuts due to the shutdown of 11 of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants.

Three of the country's biggest brands — Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp. — put off a return to normal production due to shortages of parts and raw materials because of earthquake damage to factories in affected areas.

Toyota and Honda said they would extend a shutdown of auto production in Japan that already is in its second week, while Sony said it was suspending some manufacturing of popular consumer electronics such as digital cameras and TVs. The production slowdowns hit their stock prices: Toyota drooped 1.5 percent; Honda was down 1.4 percent, and Sony lost 0.8 percent.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.1 percent to 2,016.35, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.3 percent to 22,798.01.

Meanwhile, investors had a separate worry: the crisis in Libya and the real possibility that Moammar Gadhafi could stave off military action by Western powers intended to keep Gadhafi from overwhelming rebel forces trying to end his four-decade rule.

Oil prices hovered near $105 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as violent uprisings in the Middle East kept traders nervous about possible crude supply disruptions. OPEC-member Libya, which produces enough oil to meet nearly 2 percent of world demand, has almost totally stopped shipping it.

On Wall Street, stocks edged lower Tuesday, ending a three-day rally that had lifted the Dow Jones industrial average above 12,000 for the first time since an earthquake hit Japan more than a week ago.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.90 points to close at 12,018.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.61, or 0.4 percent, to 1,293.77. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.22, or 0.3 percent, to 2,683.87

In currencies, the euro dropped to $1.4169 from $1.4207 late Tuesday in New York. The yen was unchanged against the greenback at 80.90.

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Japan Expected to Take Up to 5 Years to Rebuild, With History in Its Favor

(AP/Foxnews) WASHINGTON –  The Japanese economy has been staggered by an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis. But history suggests it will bounce back with no lasting damage.

Wealthier countries with stable government institutions are especially suited to benefit from reconstruction after a natural disaster. So are countries with vast international trade and those that can easily raise money.

Japan falls into all those categories. Its own Kobe area recovered unusually quickly from a 1995 earthquake, for example. And researchers say the May 2008 quake in the Sichuan province of China led to stronger growth that same year.

The World Bank estimates Japan will spend up to five years rebuilding from the March 11 disaster. Reconstruction projects contribute to growth by putting people to work. Economies also benefit as damaged roads, ports, buildings and equipment are replaced. And typically, they are replaced with more efficient structures that help expand the nation's productivity and growth.

"We expect growth in Japan will pick up as reconstruction efforts accelerate," Vikram Nehur, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia, said Monday.

In the aftermath of the nuclear crisis, Japan also stands to benefit from research and development projects designed to find alternative energy and reduce its dependence on nuclear energy and imported oil, says Reinhard Mechler, an economist at Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

Researchers have documented that natural disasters, for all the death and destruction they leave, cause surprisingly little lasting economic damage.

A report last year by the Inter-American Development Bank found that natural disasters tend to cause long-term economic damage only when they trigger political upheaval. Iran and Nicaragua, for instance, were crippled economically by 1979 revolutions that followed killer earthquakes.

Otherwise, economies usually respond with long-term resilience after natural calamities.

Chinese government researchers have calculated that the Sichuan earthquake and the massive reconstruction effort that followed added to China's sizzling 9.6 percent growth in 2008.

And consider the deadly earthquake that hit Kobe, Japan, in January 1995. Experts predicted the area would need a decade to recover. Instead, Kobe's manufacturers were producing at 98 percent of pre-quake levels within a year and three months, according to a study by the late Purdue University economist George Horwich. About four in five retail shops, including all department stores, were open in a year and a half.

Even with the devastation in Kobe, Japan's economic growth more than doubled from 1994 to 1995.

Similarly, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 but "didn't puncture investment or growth in the rest of the country," says Robert Shapiro, a former Commerce Department official and chairman of the economic consulting firm Sonecon.

And the reconstructions that followed the 1989 Northern California quake and the 1994 Southern California quake are widely believed to have helped the California economy.

Countries without deep financial reserves, trade relationships or skilled work forces are much less likely to benefit from rebuilding programs. Impoverished Haiti, for instance, lacked the resources to handle the aftermath of a deadly quake last year — even with help pouring in from overseas.

Japan, by contrast, has the institutions to handle a massive reconstruction effort, says Mark Skidmore, a Michigan State University economist. "They have high human capital," he says. "They have pretty darn good institutions."

And "if you've got trade, you've got ports and other distribution resources" that speed delivery of relief supplies and construction material to disaster zones.

Even in the developing world, the economic damage is typically short-lived. A poor country's economy typically shrinks in the first year after a calamity, then bounces back as investments pour in and money moves around, Mechler says.

Sonecon's Shapiro raises the concern that Japan won't prove as resilient this time as it was after the Kobe quake in '95. This month's quake damaged power plants, leaving communities with crippling electricity shortages. Shapiro says the threat of radiation leaks from a nuclear power plant damaged in the quake also could paralyze the economy. And the Tokyo government is deep in debt. Some question whether it could finance a rebuilding effort that is expected to cost more than $200 billion.

Others point out that the Japanese government can raise money by selling bonds to the Japanese public, which has a high savings rate. The United States, by contrast, relies heavily on foreign governments and investors to finance massive government deficits.

In its report Monday, the World Bank estimated that Japan's disaster would reduce the country's growth by up to 0.5 percentage points this year. But it also says the slowdown won't last much beyond mid-year.

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