IN Japan battle to cool reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, conditions which an International Atomic Energy Agency official said Friday were “moving to a stable, non-changing situation, which is positive.”
Over the weekend, workers are expected to keep trying to use helicopters and fire trucks to deliver water to the site, in the hope of cooling overheating fuel. They will also try to attach power lines to the reactors in order to restart water pumps.
If successful, those steps could forestall the nuclear fuel from overheating and then releasing radiation.
Japan’s fire department will resume operations to pour water into pools storing spent fuel rods from 0430 GMT, Kyodo news service reported.
Japan’s nuclear safety agency said it expects to restore power to reactors No. 1 and 2 Saturday, and to reactors No. 3 and 4 on Sunday.
This is even as the country continues to be hit by aftershocks Saturday, more than one week after the massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami.
RADIATION REACHES U.S.
U.S. officials detected the presence of a radioactive isotope in California on Friday that appeared to come from the Fukushima nuclear-power plant in Japan, but the levels they detected were minuscule. They say the levels are consistent with their expectations and pose no risk to human health.
ACCIDENT RATING RAISED
Japan’s nuclear safety agency Friday raised the rating of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant to level five from four after considering the suspected extent of damage to fuel at the plant’s reactors.
EVACUATION AREA
People living within a radius of 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been evacuated; those between 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers of the plant were told to stay indoors.
CASUALTIES
Japanese police said as of 1400 GMT Friday 6,911 people were killed and 10,692 missing.
INTERVENTION TO WEAKEN THE YEN
The yen fell more than 3% against the dollar at one point Friday on a rare concerted intervention by the central banks of the Group of Seven industrial powers to counter the Japanese currency’s recent jump. The precise scope of the intervention isn’t known, but traders estimated the yen selling was in the neighborhood of $20 billion. Late Friday in New York, the dollar was trading at Y80.76, compared with around Y79 when the Bank of Japan kicked off the intervention early Friday.
Over the weekend, workers are expected to keep trying to use helicopters and fire trucks to deliver water to the site, in the hope of cooling overheating fuel. They will also try to attach power lines to the reactors in order to restart water pumps.
If successful, those steps could forestall the nuclear fuel from overheating and then releasing radiation.
Japan’s fire department will resume operations to pour water into pools storing spent fuel rods from 0430 GMT, Kyodo news service reported.
Japan’s nuclear safety agency said it expects to restore power to reactors No. 1 and 2 Saturday, and to reactors No. 3 and 4 on Sunday.
This is even as the country continues to be hit by aftershocks Saturday, more than one week after the massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami.
RADIATION REACHES U.S.
U.S. officials detected the presence of a radioactive isotope in California on Friday that appeared to come from the Fukushima nuclear-power plant in Japan, but the levels they detected were minuscule. They say the levels are consistent with their expectations and pose no risk to human health.
ACCIDENT RATING RAISED
Japan’s nuclear safety agency Friday raised the rating of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant to level five from four after considering the suspected extent of damage to fuel at the plant’s reactors.
EVACUATION AREA
People living within a radius of 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been evacuated; those between 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers of the plant were told to stay indoors.
CASUALTIES
Japanese police said as of 1400 GMT Friday 6,911 people were killed and 10,692 missing.
INTERVENTION TO WEAKEN THE YEN
The yen fell more than 3% against the dollar at one point Friday on a rare concerted intervention by the central banks of the Group of Seven industrial powers to counter the Japanese currency’s recent jump. The precise scope of the intervention isn’t known, but traders estimated the yen selling was in the neighborhood of $20 billion. Late Friday in New York, the dollar was trading at Y80.76, compared with around Y79 when the Bank of Japan kicked off the intervention early Friday.
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