South Korea warns fast response to North Korea.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes.

 

North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power.

The North, whose economy is smaller than it was 20 years ago, appeared to move on Monday to addressing its pressing need for investment by appointing a reformer to the country's ceremonial prime minister's job, although the move mostly cemented a power grab by the ruling Kim clan.

North Korea had said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in response to what it termed the "hostile" military drills being staged in the South. But there have been no signs of unusual activity in the North's military to suggest an imminent aggression, a South Korean defence ministry official said last week.

"If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," President Park Geun-hye told the defence minister and senior officials at a meeting on Monday.

The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul.

Source Yahoo News

Obama invites Dalai Lama to White House.

In a significant development, Barack Obama the President of US will meet the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Saturday defying Chinese pressure.

The meeting will be significant as well as crucial over Tibet issue; which has been opposed by China for long.
Obama and Dalai Lama will be discussing about Tibet, support for its unique religious culture, linguistic identity and protection of Tibetans, according to a White House statement.

The statement said that the President will highlight the US’s enduring support to the dialogue between hinese government and the Dalai Lama's representatives over the Tibet issue.

Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate and the US President Obama met last time in February 2010.

Media persons will not be allowed to cover the meeting, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday morning at Map Room of the White House, instead of his Oval office. 

Opposing the meeting between Obama and Dalai Lama, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei asked the US government to withdraw its invitation to Lama for meeting to avoid its interfering in internal affairs of China. 

China has been opposing Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile since 1959 terming him as "splittist". Dalai Lama has been seeking rights for the people of Tibet. 

The President of the International Campaign of Tibet Mary Beth said that the meeting will strengthen the relationship between US and Tibet. Dalai Lama is on ten days visit to US, and is presiding Buddhist teachings.

During his visit, Dalai Lama met with top leaders including John Boehner the Speaker of the House, Pelosi the Democratic leader, and John Kerry the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.

Osama Bin Laden: Billionaire heir to a Terror Empire.

From billionaire heir to the world's most wanted fugitive, Osama bin Laden was the poster boy of radical terrorism who masterminded some of the most audacious terror attacks the world has seen, including the 9/11 strike on the US.

For two decades, Osama, 54, managed to escape what was perhaps the world's biggest manhunt through the close, symbiotic relationship with Islamist groups, including the Taliban.
 
Born in 1957 to Saudi billionaire Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden and a Yemeni mother, Osama was raised amid luxuries, only to shun it later for a life in the mountainous hideouts of Afghanistan.
 
Father bin Laden built his fortune in real estate, thanks to his close ties with Saudi ruling family. He died in 1967, and his billions were divided among 54 children. Osama reportedly inherited $250-$300 million.
After school, Osama enrolled in management and economics programme at the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
 
But his real calling lay elsewhere. In 1979, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Osama joined thousands of Muslim young men in a global jihad to oust the Communists from a Muslim country.
Osama, then backed by the US, used his millions to fund and finance the mujahedeen. He became a shadowy legend -- a billionaire fighting in rugged mountains, sleeping on the floor with fellow Muslims, all for Islam.
 
Osama claimed that in a battle with the Soviet army in 1980s, which soon turned into a hand-to-hand combat, he snatched a Kalashnikov from a Soviet general.
The rifle, a familiar prop in his photographs and video grabs, never left his side.
It was in Pakistan that Osama met radical Jordanian cleric Abdullah Azzam, who was to become his mentor. The seeds of Al Qaeda were sown.
 
Osama spent millions in relief work and funding fighters but led a spartan life.
He worked with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to set up seminaries in Pakistan for Afghan refugees. These later evolved into virtual training centres for Islamic radicals.
 
In 1989, as the Kremlin gave up Afghanistan, Osama returned to Saudi Arabia to a hero's welcome.
But soon he turned against the Saudi royal family.
In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, Osama offered to Saudi Arabia to organise thousands of fighters. But the Saudis refused -- and turned to the US for help.
It was an event that transformed Osama, who was incensed that non-believers (American soldiers) were stationed in the birthplace of Islam.
 
By 1991, Osama, his four wives and seven children shifted to Sudan. His millions got him new friends. And his new enemy was the US.
 
In Sudan, thousands of Aghan veterans joined him, initiating the real work of developing Al Qaeda, or "the Base", into a force capable of hitting American interests around the world.
 
In 1993, the World Trade Centre in New York was bombed. In 1998, bombs exploded near US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing over 200, mostly Africans.
The came the attack on the US navy ship USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 Americans.
Osama also claimed responsibility for a 1993 gunfight that killed 18 US troops in Somalia, and the 1996 bombing of a military complex in Saudi Arabia that left 19 US soldiers dead.
In 1998, Osama and his Egyptian deputy Aymman al Zawahiri asked Muslims to attack and kill Americans.
The most audacious attack was yet to come.
 
On a clear September day in 2001, two hijacked planes rammed into the twin World Trade Centre towers. A third one flew into Pentagon and fourth crashed in a field in outside.
 
As thousands died, Osama became America's enemy number one -- with a $25 million bounty.
 
Six days later, President George W. Bush ordered a massive manhunt for Osama.
"I want justice," Bush said. "There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.'"
 
Finally that quest ended Sunday night when his successor President Barack Obama appeared in the White House to declare that bin Laden had been killed and "justice has been done".

A courier finally led to Osama Bin Laden.

  Osama bin Laden was marked for death the day American spies learnt about a trusted courier of the man the US had hunted for years, the New York Times reported on Monday.
According to the paper, the courier was painstakingly traced to the compound in Abbottabad near the Pakistani capital where the Al Qaeda leader finally met his death. "The property was so secure, so large, that American officials guessed it was built to hide someone far more important than a mere courier," the daily said, revealing the inside story of Osama's killing.

Eight months of diligent intelligence work culminated in the helicopter assault by American military and intelligence operatives, leading to the death of Osama and ending one of the biggest manhunts in the world.

For nearly a decade, American military and intelligence forces had chased the spectre of Osama through Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Times said. Once they came agonisingly close to catching him but lost him in a pitched battle at Tora Bora, in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

The final breakthrough came when the Americans finally figured out the name and location of Osama's most trusted courier whom the Al Qaeda chief appeared to rely on to maintain contacts with the outside world.

The daily quoted American intelligence officials as saying that they learned the courier's real name four years ago but it took two more years to learn the general region where he operated. And it was not until August when they tracked him to the compound in Abbottabad, the paper said. By September the CIA had determined there was a "strong possibility" that Osama himself was hiding there.

The imposing hilltop mansion was ringed by 12-ft-high concrete walls topped with barbed wire. The property was valued at $1 million, the Times said, but it had neither a telephone nor an Internet connection.

"Its residents were so concerned about security that they burned their trash rather putting it on the street for collection like their neighbours.

"American officials believed that the compound, built in 2005, was designed for the specific purpose of hiding bin Laden."

On March 14, Obama held the first of what would be five national security meetings in the course of the next six weeks to go over plans for the operation, the Times said.

"Even after the President signed the formal orders authorizing the raid, Obama chose to keep Pakistan's government in the dark about the operation ... It is no surprise that the administration chose not to tell Pakistani officials. Even though the Pakistanis had insisted that Bin Laden was not in their country, the US never really believed it."

On Sunday, a small team of American military and intelligence operatives poured out of helicopters for their attack on the heavily fortified compound, the Times said. A firefight broke out shortly after the commandos arrived and Osama tried to resist the assault force.

When the shooting stopped, Osama and three other men lay dead. One woman, whom an American official said had been used as a human shield by one of the Qaeda operatives, was also killed.

The Americans collected Osama's body and loaded it onto one of the remaining helicopters. The assault force hastily left the scene.

US officials said that one of helicopters went down during the mission because of mechanical failure but that no Americans were injured.

Source : New York Times

AIEEE 2011 exam delayed after paper leakage.

AIEEE question papers were leaked in Uttar Pradesh and reportedly sold for Rs 6 lakh forcing CBSE to postpone the test taken by over 12 lakh students across the country today by over two hours and provide them with fresh set of questions, reports PTI.

Immediately after the question papers of the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) were leaked, CBSE postponed the two exams which were scheduled to begin at 9:30 am and 2:00 pm today, a senior HRD ministry official said here.
 
“Fresh set of questions were distributed to students”, said CBSE Chairman Vineet Joshi, adding, an enquiry will be conducted into the incident and those involved will be punished.
 
“When we got to know (about the leak) in the morning, our aim was to do it without causing much inconvenience to most of the children... First was to ensure the exam happens as early as possible,” he said.

Japan ends water spray on No.4 reactor at troubled nuclear plant.

Japan's defense ministry said Sunday that it succeeded in putting water into the No. 4 reactor at the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

About 80 tons of water was believed to have been shot into the reactor's spent fuel pool in a 70-minute mission which ended at 9: 30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT).

In a separate move, the Tokyo Fire Department shot over 2,000 tons of water into a spent fuel pool of the No. 3 reactor in an overnight mission that lasted more than 13 hours until 3:40 a.m. local time Sunday.
The cooling system was reactivated at the No. 6 reactor, thanks to restoration of electricity supply and the temperature of its overheated spent fuel pool has dropped to around 40 degrees Celsius, according to the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The company is trying to restore electricity to the No. 1 and 2 reactors later Sunday to restart the cooling system.

The power plant, about 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, was stricken by catastrophic March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, triggering a series of explosion and fire at four of its six reactors following failure of their cooling function due to damaged power supply.

Japan Radiation reaches Russia.

Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has pushed radiation levels up in neighbouring Russian territories.

Russia on Wednesday reported a slight increase in levels of radiation in its eastern coastal city of Vladivostok, located around 800 km from Fukushima.

But Russian authorities said that the radiation level, although high, was within safe limits.

People wear protective masks as radiation levels rise in Japan

                                                                 Russia has been on alert to evacuate its citizens from Sakhalin

                                                                 island and the southern Kuril island group.

Source : indiatoday

Japan suspends operations at Fukushima plant.

Japan on Wednesday suspended operations to prevent its Fukushima nuclear plant from melting down after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain at the facility. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said work on dousing reactors with water was disrupted by the need to withdraw.

The authorities were earlier considering spraying water and boric acid over the nuclear plant in a desperate measure to contain radiation after officials said that many fuel rods were damaged, in an escalating crisis caused by last week's earthquake and tsunami.


Masami Nishimura, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency, said the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., had thought of the measures after a string of explosions and fires at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The Fukushima Daiichi power plant

The latest fire broke out at a reactor early on Wednesday, a day after the power plant emitted a burst of radiation that panicked an already edgy Japan following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami that is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people.

Hajimi Motujuku, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power, or TEPCO, said the outer housing of the containment vessel at the No. 4 unit at the complex caught fire.

A spokesman for the Japan government said workers at the Fukushima plant were unable to continue radiation control efforts because of the risk of exposure.

On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the same reactor's fuel storage pond - an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool - causing radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere. TEPCO said the new blaze erupted because the initial fire had not been fully extinguished.

A baby been screened for radiation at a facility in Fukushima

About three hours after the blaze erupted Wednesday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said flames could no longer be seen at Unit 4. But it was unable to confirm that the blaze had been put out, and clouds of white smoke were billowing from the reactor, according to live video footage of the plant.

Also Wednesday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said 70 percent of the nuclear fuel rods may have been damaged at another Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor that was first stricken last week, triggering the crisis.

"But we don't know the nature of the damage, and it could be either melting, or there might be some holes in them," said an agency spokesman, Minoru Ohgoda.

Japan's national news agency, Kyodo, said 33 percent of the fuel rods at a second reactor were also damaged.

The troubles have been caused by overheating of the reactors, which have lost their cooling ability because of damage to equipment from the earthquake and tsunami. Excessive heating will lead to a meltdown of the reactor and release hazardous radiation.

People throng screening centre to check for radiation

Engineers are desperately trying to cool the reactors and spent fuel rods after the electricity was cut off in the wake of the quake, shutting down their cooling functions.

Boric acid is "important because it captures radiation and helps prevent radiation from leaking," said Nishimura, the safety agency spokesman.
He said the government had also ordered the utility company to immediately spray water on Unit 4.
Both units 1 and 3 have no roof after earlier blasts, making it easy to dump water onto them, he said. Unit 4 has holes in the building, allowing fire trucks to spray water inside, he said.
Boric acid contains boron, which helps slow nuclear reactions by absorbing neutrons, said Naj Meshkati, a nuclear power plant safety expert at the University of Southern California. But the same acid also melted away steel when it was used repeatedly at a troubled northern Ohio nuclear plant.

Controlling a reactor

Radiation levels in areas around the nuclear plant rose early Tuesday afternoon but appeared to subside by evening, officials said. But the unease remained in a country trying to recover from the massive disasters that are believed to have killed more than 10,000 people and battered the world's third-largest economy.

The radiation leak caused the government to order 140,000 people living within 20 miles (30 kilometers) of the plant to seal themselves indoors to avoid exposure, and authorities declared a ban on commercial air traffic through the area. Worries about radiation rippled through Tokyo and other areas far beyond that cordon. The stock market plunged for a second straight day, dropping 10 percent Tuesday. However, the market soared more than 6 percent in Wednesday morning trading.

The re-emergence of the fire at the spent fuel pond in Unit 4 makes that "my biggest worry" because "the spent fuel pool really doesn't have any containment over it and it's very exposed," said Meshkati. "There is radioactive fuel that could cause some problems."
The fire could put all sorts of radioactive isotopes - such as cesium and iodine - into the air, Meshkati said.



Source : Indiatoday

Russia's Far East spark panic in Japan radiation fear.

RESIDENTS of Russia's Far East on Wednesday stocked up on iodine and nervously checked radiation levels despite official reassurances there was no danger from Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant just 1,000km to the east.

Russia's emergencies ministry said that radiation levels remained normal and stressed that there was no risk for human health and that no danger from radiation was expected but many were not convinced.

In the regional capital Vladivostok, which is no more than 1,000km west of the Fukushima nuclear plant, pharmacies were sold-out of iodine, dosimeters - instruments that measure the amount of radiation - flew off the shelves and people bought tickets to Moscow.

'All the medicine was sold out yesterday and it is unclear when the new supplies will arrive,' said a salesman at a local pharmacy, referring to iodine, a standard anti-radiation treatment.

Pensioner Tatyana Zaitseva said she looked for iodine at several pharmacies in the city but could not find it anywhere.

'I believe that our authorities are telling the truth about what has happened in Japan,' she said. 'But you never know what may happen: today the situation is this but tomorrow the wind will change and we will get all the radiation.'

Source : Straitstimes

No danger to India from the radiation leaks in Fukushima, Japan.

 India Wednesday said it faces "no danger" from the radiation leak in Japan's quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant as it is travelling in the opposite direction.

"I would like to assure the nation that on the basis of information received till date there is no danger to India from the radiation leaks in Fukushima," Minister of State for Science and Technology Ashwini Kumar told reporters outside parliament.

The magnitude-9 quake triggered blasts in three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant and there were apprehensions that the radiation from the area could affect other parts of the world.

The minister said: "The radiation, we are told, is travelling eastwards and we are in the opposite direction from Japan."

Fukushima is more than 6,500 km away from India.

The minister also said that the radiation was travelling over the Pacific Ocean mass and "normally the radiation vapours will drop into the ocean when it rains."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also assured that all nuclear reactors in India can withstand "large natural disasters" but had ordered a safety review at nuclear plants following a nuclear fallout in disaster-hit Japan.

He had said the government wanted safety systems at all its nuclear plants studied to ensure they can withstand natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes.

Radiation released by the damaged reactors at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been high enough to harm human health, the Japanese government warned Tuesday.

People living within 20 km of the facility have been asked to evacuate the area.

The March 11 quake and tsunami caused the cooling systems of reactors at Fukushima to fail, leading to the explosions and fears of reactor meltdowns.

According to Japan's National Police Agency, Friday's quake in northeastern Japan and the ensuing tsunami had left 3,373 people dead and 6,746 others missing. Around 530,000 are living in more than 2,600 shelters in quake-hit areas.

Source : economictimes

Chernobyl Disaster | Nuclear Accident | Ukraine | 1986.

The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on Saturday, April 26, 1986, at 1:23:58 a.m. local time.

Location of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station:

The V.I. Lenin Memorial Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was located in Ukraine, near the town of Pripyat, which had been built to house power station employees and their families. The power station was in a wooded, marshy area near the Ukraine-Belarus border, approximately 18 kilometers northwest of the city of Chernobyl and 100 km north of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Background on the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station included four nuclear reactors, each capable of producing one gigawatt of electric power. At the time of the accident, the four reactors produced about 10 percent of the electricity used in Ukraine. Construction of the Chernobyl power station began in the 1970s. The first of the four reactors was commissioned in 1977, and Reactor No. 4 began producing power in 1983. When the accident occurred in 1986, two other nuclear reactors were under construction.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

On April 26, 1986, the operating crew planned to test whether the Reactor No. 4 turbines could produce enough energy to keep the coolant pumps running until the emergency diesel generator was activated in case of an external power loss. During the test, power surged unexpectedly, causing an explosion and driving temperatures in the reactor to more than 2,000 degrees Celsius—melting the fuel rods, igniting the reactor’s graphite covering, and releasing a cloud of radiation into the atmosphere.

Causes of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

The precise causes of the accident are still uncertain, but it is generally believed that the series of incidents that led to the explosion, fire and nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl was caused by a combination of reactor design flaws and operator error.

Loss of Life from the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

By mid-2005, fewer than 60 deaths could be linked directly to Chernobyl—mostly workers who were exposed to massive radiation during the accident or children who developed thyroid cancer. Estimates of the eventual death toll from Chernobyl vary widely. A 2005 report by the Chernobyl Forum—eight U.N. organizations—estimated the accident eventually would cause about 4,000 deaths. Greenpeace places the figure at 93,000 deaths, based on information from the Belarus National Academy of Sciences.

Physical Health Effects Linked to the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

The Belarus National Academy of Sciences estimates 270,000 people in the region around the accident site will develop cancer as a result of Chernobyl radiation and that 93,000 of those cases are likely to be fatal. Another report by the Center for Independent Environmental Assessment of the Russian Academy of Sciences found a dramatic increase in mortality since 1990—60,000 deaths in Russia and an estimated 140,000 deaths in Ukraine and Belarus—probably due to Chernobyl radiation.

Psychological Effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

The biggest challenge facing communities still coping with the fallout of Chernobyl is the psychological damage to 5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. "The psychological impact is now considered to be Chernobyl's biggest health consequence," said Louisa Vinton, of the UNDP. "People have been led to think of themselves as victims over the years, and are therefore more apt to take a passive approach toward their future rather than developing a system of self-sufficiency.”

Countries and Communities Affected by the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident:

Seventy percent of the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl landed in Belarus, affecting more than 3,600 towns and villages, and 2.5 million people. The radiation contaminated soil, which in turn contaminates crops that people rely on for food. Many regions in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are likely to be contaminated for decades.
Radioactive fallout carried by the wind was later found in sheep in the UK, on clothing worn by people throughout Europe, and in rain in the United States.

Chernobyl Status and Outlook :

The Chernobyl accident cost the former Soviet Union hundreds of billions of dollars, and some observers believe it may have hastened the collapse of the Soviet government.  
After the accident, Soviet authorities resettled more than 350,000 people outside the worst areas, including all 50,000 people from nearby Pripyat, but millions of people continue to live in contaminated areas.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, many projects intended to improve life in the region were abandoned, and young people began to move away to pursue careers and build new lives in other places.
 
"In many villages, up to 60 percent of the population is made up of pensioners," said Vasily Nesterenko, director of the Belrad Radiation Safety and Protection Institute in Minsk. "In most of these villages, the number of people able to work is two or three times lower than normal."
 
After the accident, Reactor No. 4 was sealed, but the Ukranian government allowed the other three reactors to keep operating because the country needed the power they provided. Reactor No. 2 was shut down after a fire damaged it in 1991, and Reactor No. 1 was decommissioned in 1996. In November 2000, the Ukranian president shut down Reactor No. 3 in an official ceremony that finally closed the Chernobyl facility.
But Reactor No. 4, which was damaged in the 1986 explosion and fire, is still full of radioactive material encased inside a concrete barrier, called a sarcophagus, that is aging badly and needs to be replaced. Water leaking into the reactor carries radioactive material throughout the facility and threatens to seep into the groundwater.
 
The sarcophagus was designed to last about 30 years, and current designs would create a new shelter with a lifetime of 100 years. But radioactivity in the damaged reactor would need to be contained for 100,000 years to ensure safety. That is a challenge not only for today, but for many generations to come.

Japan looks to contain nuclear leak.

Japan is considering spraying water and boric acid over a stricken nuclear plant in a desperate measure to contain radiation after officials said many fuel rods were damaged, in an escalating crisis caused by last week's earthquake and tsunami.

Masami Nishimura, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency, said the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), came up with the measures after a string of explosions and fires at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

The latest fire broke out at a reactor early on Wednesday, a day after the power plant emitted a burst of radiation that panicked an already edgy Japan following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami that is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people.

Hajimi Motujuku, a spokesman for TEPCO, said the outer housing of the containment vessel at the No 4 unit at the complex caught fire.

On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the same reactor's fuel storage pond - an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool - causing radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere. TEPCO said the new blaze erupted because the initial fire had not been fully extinguished.

About three hours after the latest blaze erupted, Japan's nuclear safety agency said flames could no longer be seen at Unit 4. But it was unable to confirm that the blaze had been put out, and clouds of white smoke were billowing from the reactor, according to live video footage of the plant.

Also on Wednesday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said 70% of the nuclear fuel rods may have been damaged at another Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor that was first stricken last week, triggering the crisis. Japan's national news agency, Kyodo, said 33% of the fuel rods at a second reactor were also damaged.

The troubles have been caused by overheating of the reactors, which have lost their cooling ability because of damage to equipment from the earthquake and tsunami. Excessive heating will lead to a meltdown of the reactor and release hazardous radiation.

Boric acid is "important because it captures radiation and helps prevent radiation from leaking," said Nishimura, the safety agency spokesman.

The radiation leak caused the government to order 140,000 people living within 20 miles of the plant to seal themselves indoors to avoid exposure, and authorities declared a ban on commercial air traffic through the area. Worries about radiation rippled through Tokyo and other areas far beyond that cordon. The stock market plunged for a second straight day, dropping 10% on Tuesday. However, the market soared more than 6% in Wednesday morning trading.

Japan nuclear leak - Health risks.

It is not surprising that many people in Japan are deeply worried about the potential health threat from the radiation leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami produced tangible, visible destruction whereas radiation is an invisible danger.

The images of families being screened for contamination by workers in protective suits add to the sense of alarm. So what are the risks at present? Scientists I have spoken to say we cannot give a clear answer yet because we don't know enough about the amount and type of radioactive material that has leaked. Nonetheless, most experts seem to suggest the danger to the public is low.

To start with, some background on radiation exposure which is measured in the unit known as sievert. This quantifies the amount of radiation absorbed by human tissues.
It is worth pointing out that everyone gets exposed to radiation, all the time. This is from the air, cosmic rays, food, water and so on. The levels are very low.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency say:
A chest x-ray gives a dose of about 20 microsieverts (that is 20 millionths of a sievert)
The average annual background radiation dose for individuals in the UK is 2,200 microsieverts.
So how does that compare with what is happening in Japan? Earlier today, a Japanese minister said at one point, anyone at the Fukushima plant itself would be exposed to 11,000 microsieverts per hour, but this had fallen back.

At another point radiation levels are said to have reached as high as 400 millisieverts (one millisievert is 1,000 microsieverts). That would be 20 times the annual permitted limit for nuclear workers. Clearly it is the small group of nuclear workers remaining at the plant who are most at risk.

For the public there is a 20 kilometre (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant. People living up to 30 kilometres (18 miles) away have been told to stay indoors. "That would be effective in reducing the chances of inhaling radiation from an airborne plume" said Steve Jones, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Toxicology at the University of Central Lancashire. He said, "We don't know what is in that plume released after explosions at the plant, but the risk would decrease very quickly the further away you travel from the site."

All of the experts I spoke to said the health risks to the public, at present, were low. Professor Jones said if the situation did not get worse then it would probably be impossible to show any measurable health effects on the wider public in the decades to come. Cancer is a key long-term risk from radiation exposure and officials will undoubtedly be monitoring the health outcomes of the population around Fukushima..

So how does the danger compare to the worst nuclear accident in history, at Chernobyl, 25 years ago? The radiation leak in Japan is minute by comparison. At Chernobyl a huge explosion was followed by a fire which raged for 10 days and emitted a huge amount of radiation which spread over a vast area.

In a report on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, the World Health Organisation said up to 4000 people may eventually die from the health effects of radiation poisoning, but so far there had been around 60 deaths. Around 50 of those were emergency workers and nine children who died from thyroid cancer. Children are especially at risk from radiation poisoning because of their developing bodies.

Dr Jim Smith, Reader in Environmental Physics at Portsmouth University and author of "Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences" spoke to me from Kiev. He is part of a team on its his way to visit Chernobyl.

He said: "The Chernobyl disaster resulted in a major release of radioactivity. It was a graphite reactor and huge amounts of radioactive caesium and iodine escaped. It was partly due to the design of the plant - very different from those in Japan."

He said several hundred thousand people worked on the subsequent clean up and decontamination of the plant. Many had received an average of around 100 millisieverts over the duration of their work at the site. Professor Smith estimated that this had increased their lifetime risk of cancer to the extent that for every 100 workers an extra one would get cancer. This is not a risk anyone would choose to take, but he pointed out it was far less than the danger of cancer from being a life-long smoker.

One of the main health effects of the Japanese radiation leak maybe the psychological impact. Professor Jones said the stress of being displaced from your home and the fear of radiation contamination could have serious consequences. And that fear factor extends as far as Tokyo, 155 miles from the nuclear plant. "Even though people in Tokyo maybe completely safe, it is understandable that they are nervous and that can lead to stress and ill-health", he said.

By Fergus Walsh, the BBC's medical correspondent.

Japan in Nuclear alert : Video of blast at Fukushima nuke plant, radiation leak reported

Video of rooftop helicopter rescue in Japan's tsunami-hit town

Japan earthquake: CCTV video of tsunami wave hitting Sendai airport.

New Japan tsunami video: Tsunami wave spills over seawall, smashes boats, cars

How does the Tsunami Warning System work?

Here is how the basic tsunami warning system works in the Pacific Northwest area. First, a key concept - there are two sources of tsunami for Washington coastal waters - a distant source and a local source.

A local source - if you feel violent shaking for several minutes, head for higher ground. The earthquake is your warning. The most likely source for a violent earthquake of this magnitude is from the Cascadia Subduction Zone just off our coast. The last associated earthquake was estimated to be 9.0 in magnitude on Jan 26, 1700, and was similar to the Dec 26, 2004 Sumatra 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent Indian Ocean Basin tsunami.

What To Do? - Simulations show the initial tsunami wave from the 1700 event reached the coast in 20 to 30 minutes - so time is limited. Geologic history showed waves with this event were as high as 30 feet. So you must get at least that high above sea level.

To top it off, the earthquake will also result in the coastal area subsiding as much as six feet, meaning the ground and roadways will likely be very uneven, and you are now that much lower to sea level. Since the roads will be in pieces, evacuation must be on foot. Another form of evacuation is vertical evacuation into a sturdy building of at least three stories and climb to at least the third story.

Other area earthquake faults could produce such strong violent quakes, such as the Seattle fault that produced a tsunami in Puget Sound about 1100 years ago. Yet, the most likely source for a local tsunami is the Cascadia Subduction Zone off our coast.

A Distant Source - The perimeter of the Pacific Ocean Basin, nicknamed the Ring of Fire, has a number of earthquake sources that can produce strong earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude or greater. During the 20th century, there were three 9.0 magnitude or greater quakes, the last was the 1964 Alaskan quake of 9.2 magnitude that produced a tsunami throughout the Pacific Basin. These kind of earthquakes permit a lead time of hours before their subsequent tsunami reaches the Washington coastline. Tsunamis from distant locations like Japan or Chile will take over 10 hours to get here, while from Alaska, only three to six hours.
Tsunamis generated from both sources of earthquakes do penetrate into the Puget Sound region via the Strait of Juan de Fuca and up coastal rivers, harbors and bays, but lose energy as they move further inland.

What To Do? - A Tsunami Warning System is in place to help minimize loss of life and property. The West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska monitors for earthquakes and subsequent tsunami events. If a tsunami is generated, they issue tsunami advisories, watches and warnings, as well as tsunami information statements for the U.S. mainland, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii provides similar services for the Aloha state as well as all other American territories in the Pacific. They also serve as the International Tsunami Warning Center for 25 other member countries in the Pacific Ocean Basin.

Both of the tsunami warning centers use earthquake information, tide gauges and now a new tool from NOAA - tsunami detection buoys, developed by NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. Six of these buoys are now deployed in the north Pacific to help scientists determined whether a tsunami has been generated and moving across the Pacific before reaching North American coastlines - another tool in the tsunami warning centers warning toolbox to help avoid any false alarms. More of these buoys would help detection as well as provide backup to each other since the buoys suffer outages in the harsh north Pacific Ocean.

Once a tsunami watch or warning is issued.

Upon receipt of tsunami watches and warnings, coastal National Weather Service (NWS) offices such as those in Seattle and Portland, activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS) via NOAA Weather Radio. All broadcasters (TV, AM/FM radio, cable TV) receive the tsunami EAS message simultaneously as well as those with weather radio receivers in homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, etc. NOAA Weather Radio also activates the All-Hazard Alert Broadcast (AHAB) units located in remote coastal areas, alerting people in those isolated locations.

Upon receipt of tsunami watch and warning messages, local emergency management officials (see Clallam County, WA as an example) can decide to activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to evacuate low-lying coastal areas in advance of the initial tsunami wave. Their EAS messages are also received by broadcasters, weather radio receivers and All Hazard Alert Broadcasts (AHABs) to help provide widespread dissemination of these messages. Follow the directions provided by your area emergency management officials - they will help save your life and those of your loved ones.

If you want your own tsunami warning message receipt system, obtain a NOAA weather radio receiver with EAS-programmable features. They are available from most radio electronic retailers and on the Internet.
Role of Education in developing the Tsunami Resilient Community

Education is another key element in the tsunami warning system. Many coastal areas have designated tsunami inundation zones and marked evacuation routes to assist residents and visitors to higher ground. Emergency management officials also distribute tsunami education information, conduct community meetings and workshops, and many more awareness activities.

The National Weather Service recognizes communities with strong tsunami warning and awareness programs through the TsunamiReady Community program. Such communities are recognized for their efforts to enhance their tsunami warning system, widespread use of weather radio receivers and community awareness activities. TsunamiReady road signs are also a part of NWS recognition.

Provided by Ted Buehner, NOAA/NWS

Image ( Photo ) of destruction after Japan's tsunami, earthquake .

In Sendai, the city largest near to the quake epicentre, the waves swept through the car park of the airport and engulfed buildings.

The 8.9 magnitude quake triggered a huge tsunami which has swept across the sea threatening countries all around the Pacific Ocean.

Houses in Natori were cought as a wall of water upto 10metre (33ft) high in some places.

Whirlpools could be seen off the coast of several cities, catching boats in their drag.

Damage to gas pipes and electricity lines meant many fires broke out in the aftermath of the quake, including in Natori City.

The quake was felt in the capital Tokyo, where workers evacuated swaying buildings, trains and underground services were halted, plants closed and the international airport temporarily shut.

At least 300 people are already confirmed to have died but many are still missing.

Light Planes and Vehicals were strewn among the debris.                                                                                                    

Early warning system saved Japan worst of tsunami wrath.

The tsunami that hit Japan today was comparable to the one in the Indian Ocean in December 2004, except for one big difference — in the number of people killed.

The 2004 tsunami killed more than 2 lakh people, including over 10,000 in India. In comparison, the toll in today’s tsunami — triggered by the most powerful earthquake Japan has ever seen and one of the strongest in history — was being put at under 400 by Japanese authorities late Friday evening India time.

Experts here said Japan, where earthquakes are endemic, escaped because of a high level of preparedness for disasters.

“Japan is used to having earthquakes; even tsunami events of minor intensities are not uncommon. The country has developed one of the best advance warning systems and an extremely efficient manner of moving people out of danger. That is the reason why there were so few deaths,” said Dr Shailesh Nayak, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

In his earlier role as director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services in Hyderabad, Nayak was instrumental in developing India’s own national tsunami early warning system after the 2004 tragedy. That system went fully functional a couple of years ago, and monitors seismic activity in the oceans round the clock for signs of a tsunami.

This is the system that informed the government today, within eight minutes of the tsunami hitting Japan’s coast, that India would not be affected, and that there was no cause for worry.

The Indian system, which has been tested once in September 2007 during a large undersea quake in the Indian Ocean, takes about 30-45 minutes to assess whether a landward tsunami is imminent. The Japanese system is much faster.

“The system in Japan is very well attuned to earthquakes and tsunamis. There is an elaborate system of warning linked to television networks. Instances of false alarms are not uncommon but still every warning is taken with utmost seriousness,” Nayak said.

Source : Indianexpress