Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - Japan nuclear explosion not to affect Bangladesh

Experts in Bangladesh Saturday opined the country would not be affected from the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, which crippled at least four reactors in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and threw hundreds of people into radiation danger.

The nuclear experts came up with such assurance at a seminar titled ‘Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and its Effect in Bangladesh’ at the National Press Club, organized by Bangladesh Science Writers and Journalists Forum.

They informed that the radiation has spread in Japan following Fukushima nuclear reactor explosion on March 11 under the impact of earthquake and tsunami.

The detrimental effects from the explosions will last for decades. But Japan has been trying to overcome damages.

The nuclear experts also told the seminar that the radiation from the explosion would not reach Bangladesh or Indian Subcontinent as those are not neighbours of Japan.

Besides, food items are not directly imported to Bangladesh from Japan. But, speakers at the seminar cautioned, the government has to be alert to avert radiation risks.

The speakers, however, told the seminar that it is necessary to set up nuclear power plant to face power crisis.

A written speech of Hajime Hikino, secretary-general of the Japanese Association of Science and Technology, was also read out at the seminar.

He suggested in writing that Bangladeshi journalists take training in science and media to create separate cell in this regard.

Former director of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission Dr Jasim Uddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences chairman Dr M Shamsher Ali, former chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Professor M A Qayum, atomic experts Dr Abdul Matin, Dr Ashraful Islam, Dr Quazi Obaidul and Dr Salauddin and writer-journalist Golap Munir were also present at the seminar, among others.

News Source:  BanglaNews24

A day of horror for expatriates

Many Bangladeshis living in Japan spent a night and a day of nightmare in the aftermath of the most devastating tsunami in the Pacific nation's history. Members of many families staying in different locations could not contact each other, plunging into a worrying situation.

Agony of many parents escalated as they could not know the whereabouts of their children, who went to schools in the morning. Many attending their jobs in Tokyo walked or cycled all night long to reach their home, according to Bangladeshi expatriates living in Japan.

Nishat Sultana Shikha lives in Saitama, a city some 60 kilometres from Tokyo, while her husband works in the capital. Her husband Hoq Emdadul works in an international travel agency named Travel Pore. He left home for office Friday morning.

Shikha's five-year-old son was in school when the devastation hit the country. Shikha herself was in a shopping mall. She told The Daily Star over the phone that upon getting the information of the earthquake she rushed to their son's school.

The school authorities told Shikha that a woman took away her son when the disaster hit the area. She was informed that a neighbouring Japanese woman took her own son and Shikha's in her car to their place.

Electricity and gas outage and shaking buildings coupled with the government warnings that the earthquake may hit anytime again, she gathered her belongings and waited on the ground floor of their two-story duplex building.

They went without food as nothing could be cooked. Shikha could talk to her husband through the telephone only for a little while after making several attempts. He could only tell her that he had come out of office and was searching for safety when the line went off.

Alone in a post-disaster situation, Shikha started her day engulfed in panic. When the earthquake hit at 3:00am Japanese Standard Time, Hoq Emdadul's office told the employees that they should seek safety themselves.

Emdadul came out of his office and found that trains, buses, cars and other public vehicles were off the streets. The government stopped traffic movement as the earthquake may cause splits in the roads leading to accidents.

Emdadul started on foot and after walking about seven kilometres he reached Tokyo station to catch a train to his house. He found no food in any restaurants. In the community food centres, all the food they had was sold out in a very short time before Emdadul arrived.

He told The Daily Star that Tokyo is not safe as there are tall buildings in the city. He said risking his life he started walking again for home. At one stage, he was too tired to walk anymore and tried a bicycle but could not find any to hire.

After some time he managed to buy a bicycle at an exorbitant price and reached home after midnight braving the biting cold. Like Shikha and Emdadul many Bangladeshis spent the day and night amid horror. Emdadul told The Daily Star over the telephone communications system could not be restored yet. But as far as the information he could gather, no Bangladeshis were killed during or after the disaster.

On other Bangladeshi expats he knows, he said Ahsan Rajib went to a coastal city Chiba which was hit by the tsunami and later reached Tokyo on foot. Md Arif and Md Anwar Islam live in Tokyo. Arif's daughter and Anwar's son attend an English medium school there. But their parents could not contact the school authorities when the earthquake hit. Panic gripped both the parents.

Later around 2:00pm the school authorities sent their children to them. Another Bangladeshi Sayeed Chowdhury said three members of his family worked in different areas in Tokyo. They could not contact with each other. By dawn they could reach their home much to their relief.

News Source:  The Daily Star

IAEA : Heightened state of alert at Japan atom plant

Japan has told the UN nuclear wathchdog that a heightened state of alert has been declared at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after Friday's major earthquake, the Vienna-based agency said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had also been informed that the plant north of Tokyo had been shut down and that no release of radiation had been detected. Japanese media reported separately that a leak was possible at the plant north of Tokyo as water levels fall, and that some 2,000 residents had been told to evacuate the area.

The government earlier said a cooling function at Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was not working, but there was no radioactive leakage. The IAEA said in a statement that nuclear fuel requires continued cooling even after a plant is shut down.

"The IAEA is seeking further details on the situation at Fukushima Daiichi and other nuclear power plants and research reactors, including information on off-site and on-site electrical power supplies, cooling systems and the condition of the reactor buildings," the UN body said.

In Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said residents that live within a 3 km radius of Fukushima Daiichi have been told to evacuate.

TEPCO confirmed that water levels inside the reactors at its Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were on a falling trend, but added it was working to maintain water levels to avert the exposure of nuclear fuel rods.

The company has been trying to restore power to its emergency power system so that it can add water to the inside of the reactors, a TEPCO spokesman said. The IAEA said it had received information from its International Seismic Safety Center that a second earthquake of magnitude 6.5 had struck Japan near the coast of Honshu, near the country's Tokai plant, but gave no details.

Japanese authorities also reported a fire at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, which has since been extinguished, the IAEA statement said. "They say Oganawa, Fukushima-Daini and Tokai nuclear power plants were also shut down automatically, and no radiation release has been detected," the statement said.

"The World Meteorological Organization has informed the IAEA that prevailing winds are blowing eastwards, away from the Japanese coast," it said

News Source:  BDNews24

8.9 quake Major tsunami damage in japan

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland. Fires triggered by the quake burned out of control up and down the coast, including one at an oil refinery.

At least one person was killed and there were reports of several injuries in Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) away, where buildings shook violently through the main quake and the wave of massive aftershocks that followed. A tsunami warning was issued for dozens of Pacific countries, as far away as Chile.

Japan's meteorological agency said that within two hours, large tsunamis washed ashore into dozens of cities along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of the country's eastern shore — from the northern island of Hokkaido to central Wakayama prefecture.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the quake caused "major damage in broad areas" but nuclear power plants in the area were not affected. The government prepared to send troops to the quake-hit areas.

"This is a rare major quake, and damages could quickly rise by the minute," said Junichi Sawada, an official with Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

TV footage showed waves of muddy waters sweeping over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings, some on fire, inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The tsunami also roared over embankments in Sendai city, washing cars, houses and farm equipment inland before reversing directions and carrying them out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.

Elsewhere, large fishing boats lay upturned on land, some distance from the sea.

Officials were trying to assess damage, injuries and deaths but had no immediate details. Police said at least one person was killed in a house collapse in Ibaraki prefecture, just northeast of Tokyo.

A large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo and was burning out of control with 100-foot (30 meter) -high flames whipping into the sky.

NHK showed footage of a large ship being swept away by the tsunami and ramming directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture.

In various locations along the coast, footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. Partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was a magnitude 8.9, while Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 8.4. It struck at 2:46 p.m. and was followed by 12 powerful aftershocks, seven of them at least 6.3, the size of the quake that struck New Zealand recently.

A tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities said they expect a 3-foot (1-meter) high tsunami.

The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), about 80 miles (125 kilometers) off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles (380 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.

In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.

Several nuclear plants along the coast were partially shut down, but there were no reports of any radioactive leakage. In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms. NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs.

The ceiling in Kudan Kaikan, a large hall in Tokyo, collapsed, injuring an unknown number of people, NHK said. Osamu Akiya, 46, was working in Tokyo at his office in a trading company when the quake hit.

It sent bookshelves and computers crashing to the floor, and cracks appeared in the walls.

"I've been through many earthquakes, but I've never felt anything like this," he said. "I don't know if we'll be able to get home tonight." Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. It also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo completely smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.

Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday. Thirty minutes after the main quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up a task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies, Coast Guard official Yosuke Oi said.

"I'm afraid we'll soon find out about damages, since the quake was so strong," he said. In Tokyo, hundreds of people were evacuated from Shinjuku train station, the world's busiest, to a nearby park. Trains were halted.

Tokyo's main airport was closed. A large section of the ceiling at the 1-year-old airport at Ibaraki, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, fell to the floor with a powerful crash. Dozens of fires were reported in northern prefectures of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Collapsed homes and landslides were also reported in Miyagi.

Japan's worst previous quake was in 1923 in Canto, which killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. An earthquake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 5,502 people.