Japan may prohibit access nuclear plant

The Japan plans to prohibit access to the area evacuated around a nuclear plant damaged in the month last earthquake and tsunami.

Up to 80,000 people lived in the area of 20 km around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants, but almost all of them have left.

However, a few people have been back to check their home, despite the police.

The nuclear power plant has been leaks radiation since its cooling system has been damaged in the earthquake on March 11 and the subsequent tsunami.

Now, officials are indicating for the first time that the area around the plant can be concluded.

"We are considering implementation areas of caution as an option to limit effectively the entry," said the Secretary General of Government Yukio Edano.

He said that Prime Minister Naoto Kan will discuss the closure when he travels in the region to meet with local officials Thursday. Kan will also visit a nuclear crisis management centre.

Noriyuki Shikata, Member of Edano, said more details on how the access could be controlled are still developed.

"There are a number of people who can enter the area." Under the current regime, we are not able to enforce legally - there is no penalty for entering in the box. There is awareness of the need for a stronger application of the region, said Shikata.

Also, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the nuclear power plant, said Wednesday that it distributes compensation claims for people forced to leave the region. The company offers approximately 12 000 US $ per person in initial compensation.

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Clash in India nuclear power plant site

18 April 2011 last updated at 23: 39 GMT plans for the six reactor, nuclear facilities have met with fierce opposition from a person died after police in the Western India with local protest against the planned construction of a nuclear power plant clashed.

The police said, they were forced, open fire after a police station near the proposed site in Jaitapur demonstrators, attacked in the State of Maharashtra.

Construction of the $10 billion (€6) plant - expected to be the largest in the world - is this year begin.

The proposal has triggered massive protests in the country.

Residents in the area gathered close to the proposed site, which they fear threatens to express bring rage on the plan, their traditional fishing grounds.

'Devastated'

Madhukar Gaikwad, official of the Ratnagiri district, said about 700 to 800 fishermen and villagers surrounded a local police station in the village of Nate and spraypaint began it.

"The mob burned records room, destroyed computer and TV set and set a police car on fire."

"We have tried, they disperse with tear gas and sugar cane charge." Also, we used plastic balls, but nothing worked. Finally used we was seriously wounded in what a person live ammunition, died on his way to the hospital, "said he."

More than 50 people were injured, including police officers.

Protests have the proposed 9,900 megawatts, six reactor were plant, which creates Assembly with technical assistance from the French energy giant AREVA.

Environmentalists say that Konkan, the region in the Jaitapur is located, is one of the most richest regions of the Earth and claim that it be destroyed by the system.

In December last year, a title that one Indian magazine Outlook article on the Jaitapur work "The Rape of Eden".

Others have raised concerns, seismically active, the plant is built in an area.

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Japan ordered nuclear compensation

15 April 2011 last updated at 09:31 PM were used police outside Tepco, which has ordered headquarters in the case of a possible ProtestsThe Japanese Government the operator of that Quake nuclear plants by month and tsunami victims compensation to affected families.

Approx. 48,000 families lived within 30 km (18 km) of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The compensation will be considered as provisional, with payouts - probably one million yen ($12,000, ￡ 7,331) per family - starting described on 28 April.

Plant operator Tepco is still trying to stabilize the nuclear facilities.

"Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco) is an urgent and rapid payment afford to compensate for the losses of evacuation and orders, indoors, stay", said chief Government spokesman Yukio Edano.

"The basic idea is that a budget will receive 1 million yen." We think that this amount as a provisional payment is necessary, "he said."

BBC correspondent in Tokyo, Roland Bürk, says that the payments are the first of what will be a massive compensation Bill.

JP Morgan estimates Tepco can claims of up to 2 trillion yen, almost $ face reinsurance segment (￡ 15 billion euros) by the end of this year.

Protests

TEPCO and the Japanese Government have previously faced criticism for offering not compensation.

People forced the area around the nuclear power station leave lived in evacuation centers for more than a month.

With companies close, untended fields and fishing abandoned many have lost their livelihoods as also their homes, says our correspondent.

The headquarters of the travel operators, with some demonstrators, were it protests outside to make known their feelings long distances.

Announcement of the indemnity offered Tepco President met Masataka Shimizu "heartfelt apologies" for the people of events in the work. He said, would reduce costs to finance the payments the company.

"We want to optimize all operations without exceptions in our opinion," he said. "We are of course thinking about pay cuts for our Board and Manager."

Fukushima Governor Yuhei SATO, said more was needed.

"This is only a beginning." The accident was not finished. We further evacuated to questions, the Government and the Tepco all the way to compensate for, "he said."

Search is

Work for the stabilization of the nuclear power plant is on. Engineers are pumping water in three reactors cooling after cooling systems were fuel rods from the Quake and tsunami.

You have to lay off waste water with low radioactivity in the sea to space to store more highly contaminated waste water on the ground.

Water must be removed from the cellars of the reactors 1, 2 and 3 before important work on the cooling systems can begin.

On Thursday, Tepco said that water levels in the basement of reactor 2 rise, still were even if some was pumped into the memory.

Now are 10 km to the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima Japanese police on their search for victims of the March of 11 within a zone.

Up to 1,000 jobs are probably in the area are, but its recovery has fears was moved due to the radiation.

The earthquake and tsunami left 13,538 people dead and missing an other 14,589. More than 150,000 homeless.

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Japan solve nuclear crisis

12 April 2011 last updated at 13: 08 GMT Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for Japan's nuclear and industrial Agency: 'This not, security is means people in danger' Japanese authorities assessing the severity of its nuclear crisis at the highest level raised seven.

The decision reflects the entire publication of radiation on the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is in progress, rather than a sudden deterioration.

Level seven previously only on the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, where emits 10 times more radiation was applied.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation leaks at the plant were declining.

To the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), which would provide for operators of the plant, soon a schedule getting it under control, he said at a press conference.

"Step by step, the reactors at the power plant of Fukushima Daiichi move towards stability," he said.

There were no fatalities through the holes in Fukushima, and risks to human health are as low enough.

In the meantime a 6.0 earthquake on Tuesday asked the operator of the installation, your staff to spaces. There was no other damage.

The aftershocks come a month after a huge Quake and North-East Japan tsunami, so that missing 13,228 dead and 14,529. More than 150,000 people have been made homeless.

Effects of leakage

The nuclear safety Commission by Japan announced in a statement, increasing the crisis at the site of Fukushima Daiichi was, adding that it was a preliminary assessment the further technical evaluation of specialists required.

Continue reading the most important story Richard Black environment correspondent of BBC News

Why the expansion? What does this, is that things in the work have worsened. Rather has Japan's nuclear and Agency for industrial (NISA) re-analysed data from the incident and decided to share the releases of radioactivity mean it seven in a level categorization slots.

Measured radioactivity is in Bequerels (Bq); a Terabequerel (TBq) is a million million.

Fukushima is event above the threshold to be considered as a level seven, although published an order of magnitude lower than the 5.2 million TBq from Chernobyl.

But telling that you nothing about the danger to people. Bequerels are a measure of the rate of radioactive decay - a nucleus per second.

On the other hand, Sieverts measure the expected medical effects of radiation which an individual is exposed to. And a variety of Bequerels not automatically translated into a huge amount of Sieverts.

The level seven means a "serious accident" with "larger follow" than the previous level, say officials.

"We the severity to seven have updated as the effects of radiation leaks from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean, has been widely used", said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's nuclear and industrial Agency (NISA), the Government of nuclear watchdog.

Reporting the decision of the Commission, said the IAEA previous level five reviews had separated in workplace accidents reactors 1, 2 and 3 was offered but now as a single event had been combined. Another affected unit, reactor 4, which has kept three rating level, it said.

An official of Tepco said that radiation leaks not completely stopped and not all can finally Chernobyl news agency Reuters reported.

But a nuclear safety said to Agency spokesman reporters that the leaks were still small in comparison in the plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.

"In terms of volume of radioactive substances released, it shows our estimate is about 10% of Chernobyl, which appeared", he said.

The decision, which was to increase threat had estimated after radiation by up to 630,000 Terabequerels on the affected plants.

The main story level 7 read on: Chernobyl, Ukraine, 1986 - explosion and fire in the operating reactor, fallout over thousands of square kilometers, possible 4,000 cancer CasesLevel 7: Fukushima, 2011 - tsunami and earthquake may have caused damage of seismic activity on plant design. Long-term effects unknown level 6: Kyshtym, Russia, 1957 - explosion in which hundreds of cancer, contamination of hundreds of square KilometresLevel 5 waste water tank: Windscale, UK, 1957 - fire in the operating reactor, release of contamination of local area, possible 240 cancer CasesLevel 5: Three mile Iceland, United States, 1979 - instrument fault leads to major meltdown, the crisis on level seven on the international nuclear and radiological event scale (INES) would classify serious damage to reactor CoreThat.

It was not clear when it reaches level. The level reported for less than a Terabequerel one hour, then discarded.

In comparison, the Japanese Government, which was 5.2 million Terabecquerels release from Chernobyl said.

These measurements must not necessarily no effect on the likely medical impact on people measured in Sieverts.

The severity of Japan's nuclear crisis had previously to five, same as, established in 1979 by the accident in three mile Iceland in the United States.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant cooling systems have been damaged disaster last month and have workers fight to prevent several reactors from overheating.

Officials have warned that it several months before the situation at the nuclear facility is fully brought under control.

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VIDEO: What makes a level 7 nuclear crisis?

12 April 2011 last updated at 20: 54 GMT-help

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Japan nuclear zone with a view to long

April 1, 2011 last evacuated one of uncertain FutureThe updated evacuation of residents in the vicinity of Japan's earthquake of affected Fukushima nuclear plant to face 12:31 pm Japan's nuclear zone long-term, officials say.

Many of the tens of thousands of people evacuated from the area around the plant life in shelters.

The announcement came as high radiation for the first time in the groundwater in the vicinity of the plant's six reactors were detected.

In the meantime, has begun a massive search, find the remains of which hit missing since the devastating tsunami.

Three weeks after the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the actual number of those who died is not yet known.

More than 11,500 people are dead, but almost confirmed 16,500 remain unclear.

More than 100 Japanese and US military aircraft and 65 ships are finding all other facilities of scouring north eastern coast of the country.

Some 24,000 military personnel deal with, are the three-day air and sea operation of banks, which were largely submerged or remain under water, as the mouths of large rivers.

The BBC's Mark Worthington says a large three-day hunt for tsunami body is always in progress

Many coastal areas remain for Savior you try road or the disfigured remains of houses, ships, cars and trains give blocked not accessible.

Because of radiation concerns, the search includes not the 20 km (12 miles) evacuation zone to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where it believed to 1,000 jobs will be.

Food contamination

More than 70,000 people within the exclusion zone in shelters moved.

More than 136,000 people, that in 20-30 km of the plant have life to leave or stay inside was encouraged by the authorities.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the evacuation would be "long term".

You read the most important story next reactor 1: damage to the core from cooling problems. Construction of holes of gas explosion. Radioactive water in the reactor and cellar, and ground waterreactor 2: found damage to the core from cooling problems. Construction of drilled; by gas explosion Containment of damage is suspected. High radioactive water reactor and adjacentreactor 3: tunnel detected damage to the core from cooling problems. Construction of drilled; by gas explosion Containment of damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly filled with water to low. Radioactive water in the reactor and Kellerreactor 4: recognized reactor shutdown before the quake. Fire and explosion in spent fuel pond. Water level partially restoredreactors 5 & 6: reactors down. Temperature of the spent fuel pools now after the rising HighIn a televised reduced, Prime Minister Naoto Kan he said "a long-term struggle in the work - one was prepared for", which he said would be obtained.

"At the current stage, we cannot say that the plant has been sufficiently stabilized has." But we are preparing for all types of situations and I am convinced that the plant can be stabilized.

"We say at this stage by can say if this is done, but we try our best," he said.

The authorities are against calls from the UN atomic Agency to extend the exclusion zone around the plant after it found at the village of Iitate, 40 km of safe radiation limits exceeded.

Highly radioactive water in the plant leak; for the first time, it was found 15 m under reactor 1 in groundwater.

Although it does not appear, caused an immediate problem, it is possible that it finally affect drinking water if concentrations were high enough.

Radioactive material discovered in the Sea close to the facility level rose sharply on Thursday with radioactive iodine 4,385 times reach the border.

In the latest twist, who has said much criticized the system, Tepco, operator, it will review all the data on the radiation from the plant leaked, citing errors in a computer program.

Called under the measurements in question one, was the ground water with radioactive iodine concentrations of 10,000 times standard, showed Government the nuclear safety agency said.

Sea water and air are concentrations of this week in the year under review.

Video of nuclear Tepco plant operator released shows the damage to the plant

Workers continue to try to cool four reactors with water fuel rods to stabilize. They are also the problem of dealing with highly radioactive run-off water that has accumulated in a tunnel.

TEPCO is also under fire after turned out there was a shortage of radiation monitors for workers.

Many of the monitors were destroyed in the tsunami, as Tepco a place assigned per person, per group of workers to had Japan's nuclear safety agency said.

"The Agency warned yesterday (Thursday), the exposure levels, manage extreme workers to do Tepco", said spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.

Radioactive material can be continuously, the country's leaking nuclear from the damaged plant and industrial (NISA) agency said.

The radiation that has stopped shipments of certain vegetables, dairy products and other foods from four nearby prefectures, has increased was to include beef, that said Department of health.

The Government insists, however, that contamination reaches no water or food levels, which would be harmful to the health of the people.

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German Government sued by nuclear company

1. April 2011 last updated at 09:45 am not warranted close Biblis Nuclear power plant was, RWE said German energy giant RWE legal against the State of Hesse is steps to order to shut down a nuclear power plant for three months.

Soon after the earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear emergency in Japan.

RWE said the reactors were safe, so the State had no reason to disturb his energy generating activities.

The company also said that the State of Hesse had it to Biblis Nuclear power plant to close any legal authority.

"After RWE legal interpretation, the Government has no reason to the legal basis according to paragraph 19 of nuclear law, measures," RWE said in a statement.

Biblis plant was shut down as part of an industry-wide moratorium after German Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered that additional security on Germany's seven oldest nuclear power plants is checked after the crisis in Japan.

The EU has agreed on "Stress Tests" all European nuclear facilities.

E.on, a competition to RWE, said that it would make not the decision in question.

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Japan on 'Maximum Alert' Over Nuclear Plant

 Workers have piled sandbags and concrete blocks around the tunnel shafts to contain the water. Despite earlier seawater contamination, tidal dispersal has lowered radiation levels and there is no immediate health threat from seafood.

Japan said on Tuesday it is on "maximum alert" over a crippled nuclear plant where highly radioactive water has halted repair work and plutonium has been found in the soil.

The earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan's northeast coast and left about 28,000 dead or missing also knocked out reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, which has leaked radiation into the air and sea.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan conceded the situation at the coastal atomic power station remained "unpredictable" and pledged his government would "tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert".

In a stop-gap measure to contain the crisis at the plant, crews have poured thousands of tons of water onto reactors where fuel rods are thought to have partially melted, and topped up pools for spent fuel rods.

But the run-off of the operation has accumulated in the basements of turbine rooms connected to three reactors and filled up tunnels, making it too risky for workers to go near to repair cooling systems needed to stabilise the plant.

One tunnel alone holds 6,000 cubic metres (212,000 cubic feet) of contaminated water, more than two Olympic swimming pools. Still, the only choice for now is to keep pumping water, said government spokesman Yukio Edano.

"Continuing the cooling is unavoidable... We need to prioritise injecting water," Edano told reporters.

If the rods are fully exposed to the air, they would rapidly heat up, melt down and spew out far greater plumes of radiation at the site, located about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, nuclear experts fear.

Workers have piled sandbags and concrete blocks around the tunnel shafts to contain the water, the nuclear regulatory body said. They have now also restored light in the control rooms of reactors one to four.

The water out of reactor two has measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour -- four times the recently-hiked total exposure limit for emergency staff, and a level that can cause radiation sickness with nausea and vomiting in an hour.

Adding to the nuclear fears, embattled operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said plutonium had been detected in soil samples that were taken a week ago at five spots in the plant.

Nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said the plutonium data suggested "certain damage to fuel rods", Kyodo News reported.

The US environmental protection agency says internal exposure to plutonium "is an extremely serious health hazard" as it stays in the body for decades, exposing organs and tissue to radiation and increasing the risk of cancer.

TEPCO shares plunged 18.67 percent on Tuesday, and have now lost nearly three quarters of their pre-crisis value. News reports said the government is considering taking a majority stake in the power company.

Fears have grown in Japan over food and water safety, and vegetable and dairy shipments from four prefectures have been halted.

Seawater close to the plant earlier contained iodine-131 as high as 1,850 times the legal limit, but levels fell later and officials say tidal dispersal means there is no immediate health threat from seafood.

Japan's government has evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from within 20 kilometres of the plant, and more recently encouraged those remaining within 30 kilometres to also leave.

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace, which has taken its own measurements in the town of Iitate, 40 kilometres from the plant, urged the government to evacuate the town, especially children and pregnant women.

"Remaining in Iitate for just a few days could mean receiving the maximum permissible annual dose of radiation," Greenpeace radiation expert Jan van der Putte said.

Jitters continued throughout Asia, with China, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam reporting that radiation had drifted over their territories, even though they emphasised the levels were so small there was no health risk.

"We would like to ask the public not to panic. These are very tiny amounts in the air," Philippine Nuclear Research Institute spokeswoman Tina Cerbolis said, echoing officials in the other countries to have detected the radiation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently heads the G8 and G20 blocs, will travel to Japan Thursday to meet Prime Minister Kan as a show of solidarity, according to his office.