Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Japan: new concern for the No. 3 reactor in Fukushima

Earlier in the day, black smoke is briefly exit the No. 3 reactor of the plant, causing the temporary evacuation of workers who try to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. The Nuclear Safety Agency said ignore the cause of this smoke that came from the enclosure housing the reactor. Citing Tepco operator, Kyodo news agency reported around 9 am 40 (Paris time) as the smoke cleared.

The scrolls were first reported at about 8: 30 pm (Paris time). This smoke, which the authorities do not classify as a serious incident does not appear to have increased radioactivity around the plant. The Nuclear Safety Agency has reported a 283.7 microsieverts radioactivity after the smoke had been seen, as against 435 microsieverts two hours earlier.

The temperature is also rising in the reactor No. 1 of the plant, said earlier in the day the Japanese Nuclear Safety Authority, which believes that there is no immediate danger. The temperature reached nearly 400 ° C inside the reactor containment building, which is normally designed to operate at 300 ° C.

The presence of salt water injected into the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima could alter "the very short term" fuel cooling, worries Wednesday Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), referring for very large quantities of sea water discharged from the reactors on days the most problematic.

"Overall, it should rebuild reserves of fresh water on the site," also recommends the institute. Two technicians were also injured Wednesday while trying to restore power in the reactor No. 1 of the plant, reported in the morning to Kyodo, without further details. The Japanese authorities do not see the need to expand for the time zone established in a 20 km radius around the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Dai-Ichi, said the secretary general of the government, Yukio Edano.

People living in this zone have been evacuated. A safety zone was wider also established within a radius of 30 kilometers, within which the population is expected to remain at home caulked. The radioactive cloud released by the explosions and fumes Wednesday is expected to reach France, a priori, without risk to the public, because according to the Nuclear Safety Authority, the distance between France and Japan make the risk negligible.

The level of air contamination in France should remain thousand to ten thousand times less than the "cloud of Chernobyl in 1986, the ASN said. New cases of food contamination reinforce the concern about the health impact of the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, has ordered a ban on milk and green leafy vegetables from the prefectures of Fukushima and Ibaraki (northeast Tokyo), due to high levels of radioactivity.

Mr. Kan has asked the public not to eat vegetables in which anomalous radioactivity was detected, including spinach, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. He also ordered the green leafy vegetables and raw milk Fukushima and Ibaraki parsley are not sold yet. Furthermore, a rate of radioiodine than the legal limit for babies has been measured in tap water in Tokyo, officials said the capital.

An iodine concentration of 210 becquerels per kilogram was found in samples of tap water, while the limit set by the Japanese authorities is 100 becquerels for babies, said an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Local authorities have advised to give tap water to babies or use it to prepare baby bottles immediately.

For their part, the U.S. announced that they prohibited the importation of certain food products from Japan. The U.S. Agency for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which regulates imports in food, said he had issued a warning on milk, dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits from certain parts of Japan.

This means no food of this kind from the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma can enter the U.S. before being declared healthy. "In addition, the FDA continue to monitor all imports from Japan to determine whether they come from the area affected" by the nuclear accident, says in a statement.

In Europe, France asked the European Commission to impose a "systematic" on Japanese imports of fresh produce at the borders of the European Union. Paris has already unilaterally decided to inspect fish and shellfish from Japan. In Asia, Japanese food products began to be neglected by consumers, who are also rarer in Japanese restaurants in several cities in the region, from Seoul to Manila via Hong Kong.

According to a final toll released Wednesday by the Japanese police, over 25 000 people were killed in the disaster, making it the deadliest earthquake in the archipelago since 1923. Infographic: The scenario catastropheInfographie: The evolution of the radioactive cloud Small lexicon of nucléaireLire point daily situation of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Safety nucléaireConsulter special bulletins of the Japanese channel NHK, with simultaneous translation into English

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