Exec KEPCO sees nuclear setbacks after the crisis of the Japan - Reuters

By Cho Mee-young.

SEOUL. Friday, April 29, 2011 3 pm EDT

Seoul (Reuters) - the Japan nuclear crisis could lead to a decline of two or three years on the market of nuclear reactor, but demand will increase in the long term, a senior at the Korea Electric Power Corp. said Friday.

Worse-on-record of the quake and tsunami March 11 Japan paralysed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, 240 km (150 miles) North of Tokyo. Japanese engineers have difficulty finishing the worst nuclear crisis in the world since the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

"The Japan crisis may affect the market in the next two or three years, but in a few decades nuclear demand will increase due to a lack of alternative energy," Byun Jun-yeon, executive vice president and officer of the State utility KEPCO nuclear project leadersaid in an interview to Reuters.

He said renewable energy would continue to play only a supplementary role because of its poor economy.

China currently appears to be scaling back its plans of nuclear power plants, but cannot stop, because it is difficult to meet their demand for huge power without nuclear reactors, and emits thermal coal electricity production also of carbon, "byun." added

China last month froze nuclear approvals for new and proposed nuclear power plants in the wake of the crisis of the Japan.

TAKING THE GOAL IN UPCOMING TENDERS

Byun, who majored in electrical engineering at the University of Korea and KEPCO added in 1977, stated that the Brazil, in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and South Africa are preparing tenders for nuclear reactors which could come later this year.

He declined to discuss specific transactions, but said KEPCO had intended to win tenders and Saudi Arabia have evaluated technologies for operation of the KEPCO reactor high compared with other countries.

"Importers of reactor want models that guarantee the security, the economy and energy efficiency... they also want builders who can help them run reactors at least 20 to 30 years later," said Byun.

"South Korea has no mention of the accident in its history of operation of the reactor nearly 40 years", he said.

KEPCO has been aimed at winning orders overseas for a total of 10 nuclear reactors by 2020. The United Arab Emirates United in December 2009 awarded a contract for $ 20 billion to build four 1,400 MW reactors, the largest energy deal in the Middle East, to a Korean consortium led the KEPCO. (Won Korean $1 = 1073.400)

(Edited by Jonathan Hopfner and Michael Urquhart)

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Advisor of said Japan decline of the nuclear threat: report - AFP

Advisor of said Japan decline of the nuclear threat: report (AFP) - 4 hours ago

TOKYO - The Japanese Advisor special of the Prime Minister on nuclear crisis says that the immediate risk of a leak of major radiation of the power plant of Fukushima decreased, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Government could not say the situation had been completely stabilized at the factory, but after studying the possibility of a serious deterioration Tokyo was comfortable with the current of the evacuation policy, Goshi Hosono said the paper in an interview on Saturday.

"There is no way Tokyo or Kyoto will be in danger," said Hosono, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Naoto Kan on the management of the nuclear crisis.

The atomic plant, where the reactor cooling systems have been eliminated, was struck by a series of explosions and radiation leak in the air, ground and sea in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl world 25 years ago.

The Government imposed a 20 kilometre (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant, giving legal weight to an exclusion zone for fear of the effect of exposure to radiation on residents long term last week.

More than 85,000 people have left for shelter areas around the plant, including a wider zone of 30 km, where people were said to remain in the Interior and later urged to leave.

Hosono said of the levels of radiation in damaged reactors must be lowered before work would be carried out, and they had to find ways to treat the water contaminated by radiation of efforts to cool the reactors and spent fuel rod pool.

Workers poured thousands of tons of radioactive water at low altitude, in the Pacific Ocean, the concern of contamination of the marine environment concerned neighbouring countries.

"Our objective is very clear: preventing the spread more radiation in the atmosphere and the ocean,"Hosono told the paper."."

"To achieve this, we need to restore stable cooling functions." It is technically extremely difficult. ?

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, said that he does not expect a "cold shutdown" of all the reactors for another period of six to nine months.

Hosono said officials had begun to examine the causes and treatment of the nuclear accident.

"When we look at the accident, it will naturally become clear where the problems were, including issues with the Japan nuclear regulatory policy," he told the paper.

Hosono, Member of the Democratic Party of the Japan to power said that it was not the right time to decide whether the country should turn to non-nuclear energy sources or continue to continue to use atomic power.

I just don ' t think we can make a judgment dispassionate in the current atmosphere, "the cited book telling him."

"For the moment, we must maintain options and let the people decide in time".

DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada Friday, said the Government would review its policy of energy in the light of the disaster, but could be established with nuclear energy.

Japan poor in resources, very dependent on oil from the Middle East, brings about a third of its energy needs, nuclear power, but its high-tech companies are also world leaders in numerous environmental and energy technologies.

Copyright ? AFP 2011. All rights reserved. "More".

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The Canadian to be reviewed nuclear power safety

The Canada has five nuclear power plants in different States of operation.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has established a working group to assess the impact of operational, technical and regulatory of the nuclear disaster at the Japan for the Canadian plants.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex was severely damaged by the March 11 earthquake and the tsunami that hit the northeastern coast of the Japan and continues to release radiation into the environment as officers work desperately to get the reactors under control.

The geese of the standing Canada near Pickering Ontario Hydro nuclear power station. Ontario Hydro is the most important power in North America. Andy Clark/Reuters.

The Canadian commission has decided to implement the Working Group at its meeting of March 30.

"The members of the Working Group will examine the responses of the licensees at the request of CNSC information under subsection 12 (2) the General nuclear safety and regulation of review to review the respective cases of the safety of their nuclear installations."", underlying in-depth defence against externesscénarios of serious accidents and guidelines and emergency procedures," said a press release of the CNSC.

The Canada has seven nuclear power plants located at five locations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Employment of the Working Group will be recommending short and long term measures to address Canadian nuclear Central significant deficiencies and determine if design changes are necessary.

The Fukushima Daiichi crippled nuclear plant sees this picture Tokyo Electric Power Co., exit on April 14. The utility giant still works on a plan to end the nuclear crisis a month after the start. Tokyo Electric Power Co./Reuters

The Working Group recommends that, if appropriate, potential changes in regulatory requirements, for inspection and programs policies for CANDU reactors and for potential new nuclear power plants, according to the release of the commission.

Members will also determine priorities for the implementation of corrective actions based on lessons learned and the need, if any, for further examination. The Working Group will present its findings to the commission at a public forum, even if the date has not yet been decided.

The Working Group will be chaired by Greg Rzentkowski, the Director-General of regulation of nuclear power, and members will consist of senior experts in the design of the reactor, security assessment and the emergency preparedness and response.

The most recent accident at a Canadian nuclear power plant was in mid-March when 73 000 litres of water demineralized leak in Lake Ontario of the Pickering a nuclear power plant.

Ontario Power Generation, which operates the plant, located 35 kilometres east of Toronto, told the CNSC that seal of pump failure was the cause.

Ontario Power Generation, said that the risk was minimal, but that these leaks are not supposed to happen.

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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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updatedJapan may prohibit access nuclear plant - CBC.ca

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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Japanese researchers closer to moving plant nuclear

A new glitch in the cooling of spent nuclear plant fuel crippled the Japan has prompted a surge of radiation, but a general decline in leaks allowed police Thursday to search for missing of the victims of the tsunami more closely to the complex than ever before.

Pickled protective policing a radius of 10 kilometres on the Fukushima Daiichi for the first time Thursday in their search for thousands of missing victims even after the March 11 earthquake and the tsunami.

A steel fence is installed to cover a door to prevent the spread of radioactive water in the canal of contribution to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power in this photo taken Tuesday. TEPCO/Reuters "we must work very carefully to avoid rip our combinations of radiation with debris, metal and pieces of concrete scattered around the area" a police officer who gave only his nickname, Sato, said in a telephone interview.

Although Japanese authorities have insisted that the improvement of the situation to the crippled plant, the crisis has dragged on, accompanied by a nearly nonstop series of misadventures and replicas of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hampered debris clearing work and restoring the plant disabled cooling systems.

A Japan recognized this week the total radioactivity of leak already has catapulted the crisis in the greater severity internationally, on an equal footing with Chernobyl, although always involving only one-tenth of the radioactivity emitted in this disaster of 1986.

Police in white suit, delicately picked through rubble near the plant in an area where up to 1,000 organizations would be filed in tsunami debris, said Sato. Overall, more than 26 000 people would have died on 11 March, although only approximately 11,250 bodies have been recovered so far.

"Many families have asked for their close disappeared." I want to recover the body as quickly as possible and to return to their families, "says.

Glitch this week at the plant involved falling levels of water in the pool for the bars of irradiated fuel in the building of reactor unit 4.

Water sprayed inadvertently in a tank overflow prompted a false that the main pool was full when he was not reading. That prompted the workers to suspend the injection water in the main basin for several days until Wednesday, when resumption of spraying.

Also, strong aftershocks could affect reading, said responsible.

The suspension of spraying allowed temperature and radiation levels to rise, if rods were believed still to be covered with water, said Hidehiko Nishiyama Japanese nuclear and industrial safety agency.

"I believe that the fuel in the pool bars are largely intact, or to keep the normal form of what they should look like," said Nishiyama. "If they were fully involved, we would have considered different sets of numbers of sampling water."

A new burst of radiation leaks this week in the pool of fuel of Unit 4 suggests damage to the fuel rods and complicates efforts to stabilize the said officials. TEPCO Manager Junichi Matsumoto, has said the analysis of the water of the swimming pool has detected higher levels of radioactive iodine 131, cesium-134 and caesium-137. Normally, these elements would not be found in the swimming pool.

Three of the reactors have also approximately 20,000 metric tonnes of stagnant water, contaminated by radiation and it is difficult to reduce spilling reactors, Nishiyama said.

Workers operate a modified Putzmeister 70Z, most large concrete pump mounted on a truck, world for pumping contaminated water from the reactor No. 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power. TEPCO/ReutersUntil cooling systems can be fully restored, flooding the engines with water are the only way to prevent overheating, but these many tons of water, of radioactivity, are a distinct threat.

"This is the problem to be stuck with reactors which must constantly be fed with water", Nishiyama said. Setbacks in the preparation of the tanks for storing contaminated water mean new options can be considered, he said. It was not specified.

The operator of plant at Bay, Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, is looking for ways to finally remove fuel rods from storage pools reactor that the plant is closed for good. The unit 4 glitch makes these more urgent plans.

Finally the stems must be stored permanently in dry casks, radiation-resistant, but this process is far away, he said.

Meanwhile, TEPCO, works to stabilize conditions at the No. 1 engine of the plant by pumping of nitrogen in its containment vessel to reduce the risk of explosion of hydrogen. He is also install plates of steel and the screens of silt along the coast to help reduce radiation leaks into the sea.

Hesitant progress at the plant have deepened the misery of residents who were forced to leave their homes and jobs near Fukushima Daiichi.

A 102-year-old man committed suicide Tuesday, a day after the Government includes Iitate village where he lived all his life, as an area to be evacuated to avoid exposure to radiation. A local police official, who refused to be named because he was not allowed to speak to the media, confirmed the man had killed himself but would give no further details.

About 140,000 people still live in shelters after losing their homes or be advised to evacuate their nuclear crisis and disaster on 11 March.

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Japan raises the nuclear crisis at the same level as Chernobyl - The Guardian

The Japan has increased the level of seriousness of the nuclear crisis to be on an equal footing with Chernobyl. Photography: Ho / Reuters.

Japan has increased the level of seriousness of the nuclear crisis to a maximum seven, involving the emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi electric power on an equal footing with Chernobyl.

Representatives of the nuclear and industrial safety agency [NISA] confirmed that the level of crisis had been raised from five to seven on the scale of the nuclear event and radiological international [INES].

But they said that the new rating reflects the initial impact of the nuclear crisis, adding that radiation levels have fallen since dramatically.

Scale, designed by the international agency of Atomic Energy [IAEA], incidents class and nuclear and radiological accidents by severity from one to seven.

Level seven incidents involve a major update of the radiation with widespread health and the environment, in accordance with the IAEA.

These days, Japanese officials had suggested it was not necessary to raise the level of severity of five, which applies to the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.

A spokesman for Nisa said the decision to raise the level of the major accident status does not mean that the Japanese factory was the same threat to public health or similarly big releases of radiation than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in question.

"Chernobyl has exploded so that the reactors were still in activity, which is completely different from the situation in Fukushima,"Hidehiko Nishiyama said.""

He added that the decision was taken one month after the accident because the experts needed time to analyze the data.

The Japan Nuclear Safety Commission estimated that the reactors of Fukushima had released up to 10 000 terabequerels 131 of radioactive iodine in the air for several hours after that they were damaged in the earthquake on March 11 and the tsunami.

Emissions of radioactive substances from Fukushima Daiichi was approximately 10% of that of Chernobyl has detected, Nishiyama said.

The nuclear safety commission said emissions have fallen since to below a terabecquerel per hour, adding that he was considering the total amount of radioactive material was released.

Some experts criticized the move as excessive. "I think it raise the level of Chernobyl is excessive," said Murray Jennex, an associate professor at San Diego State University. "It is far from this level." Chernobyl was terrible - it blew and they had no containment and they were blocked.

"Containment [Japan] was holding, the only thing that does not have is the swimming pool of fuel that caught fire.". I do not see those as the same event. If they want to do, that is. "I think that they are currently too pessimistic."

Tuesday decision was taken after the Government said it would expand the evacuation area near the plant to include five communities located outside the current prohibited zone of 20 kilometres.

About 70,000 people living within a radius of 20 kilometres of the plant were already evacuated, while the 130,000 living between 20 and 30 km learned it to leave voluntarily or stay indoors.

The latest evacuation, which could take at least a week to complete, was invited by the lack of progress in fixing the damaged plant cooling systems and concerns about the effects on public health.

"These new evacuation plans are intended to ensure safety against the risks of life [in the affected communities] for half a year or a year," Government spokesman Chief, Yukio Edano said.

The Japan East and northeast regions were hit by two big aftershocks in the past 24 hours.

Shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chiba Prefecture of coast was followed by reports of a fire exit at the Fukushima Daichi No. 4 reactor. The fire was extinguished quickly, said responsible.

Earthquake is one of the more than 400 aftershocks above magnitude 5 have hit the region since March 11.

In one of the few signs of progress, operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco], said that he had ceased to low-level radioactive water pumping in the buildings of the reactor in the sea.

The measure controversial, which has attracted criticism from neighbouring China and the Korea of the South, was designed to release highly contaminated water storage space.

But engineers say they are not more close to restoration of the plant cooling system; until they do, they will be unable to cool the overheating of the fuel rods and stabilize the six reactors at the installation.

Monday, the President of the Tepco, Masataka Shimizu, made his first visit to Fukushima Prefecture since the beginning of the crisis.

"I would like to apologize deeply once more for causing physical and psychological difficulties," he said. However, the Governor of the Prefecture, refused to meet him.

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The Japan see them more great Hit of economy as its nuclear crisis deepens

April 12, 2011, 12: 52 pm EDT by Aki Ito and Keiko Ujikane

April 12 (Bloomberg) — the Japan Economic and fiscal policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said that the earthquake on March 11 can result in a greater success of the economy than previously estimated, indicating appetite superior Government to stimulate a month after the disaster.

"Damage to the economy can be greater than originally planned," Yosano told reporters today in Tokyo. "In addition to disruptions in the supply chain, we have the added gravity of the situation with the nuclear power," referring to the accident at installation of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Fukushima crippled, said today the Government has a corresponding to the Chernobyl disaster 1986 separately severity rating, the minutes of the meeting today showed Bank of Japan officials refrained from discussing measures specific stimulation beyond the expansion of its Fund for the purchase of goods at its meeting in three days after the temblor, a sign that Prime Minister Naoto Kan may need to rely on sales of bond or tax increases for finance the reconstruction. "Consumers will be unwilling to spend until the funds are deployed in the Northeast and reconstruction of Government take hold, according to economist Noriaki Matsuoka.""We are talking about a tax hike, but risks exacerbating the decline of consumer confidence," said Matsuoka, an economist at Daiwa Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. "The Bank of the Japan will likely be want to avoid raising its monthly bond purchases because they think that this would be similar to monetize debt.".The Central Bank is prohibited by the right to directly purchase the public debt of the Government and buys rather 1.8 billion yen ($21 billion) of the titles of the lenders, each month an amount that is unchanged for two years.SlipsConfidence of confidence among the nearest merchants of consumers of the Japan dropped at the fastest pace in March of the cabinet since the tracking data in 2000, a survey revealed last week."Analysts of Capital Economics Ltd. are now forecasting the economy will decline 1.5% this year, revised by a previous estimate for domestic product gross to be unchanged."GDP will then bounce as activity covers the initial shock and the reconstruction of kicked in spending, but recovery will be held back by the increase in taxes and cuts in other expenditure required to help pay the contribution of the Government"," economists led by Julian Jessop, Economist at Capital Economics Chief international, said in a note last week.Damage EstimateThe Government last month estimated that damage by the earthquake and the tsunami be as much as 25 billion yen, which prompted several lawmakers to call for a recovery plan as large as 20 billion yen. These projections covered destruction to the infrastructure, while excluding the broader implications of the economy, including how radiation will affect food and water supply.The Japan increased the rating of the severity of the crisis nuclear Fukushima Tokyo Electric plant at 7 today, the highest reading. Increase the radiation has prompted the Government to expand the evacuation area and stop shipments of contaminated vegetables produced in regions surrounding the facility.Kan aims to compile the first stimulus plan this week that chief spokesman Yukio Edano said can be as much as 4 billion yen. The Minister of finance Yoshihiko Noda said he wants to avoid new obligations to finance this first package of sale and reiterated today to the legislators that it was important for the country of its commitment to fiscal discipline.

-With the help of Mayumi Otsuma in Tokyo. Editors: Lily Nonomiya, Ken McCallum

% JPY

To contact the reporter on this story: Aki Ito in Tokyo at the aito16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Panckhurst in the ppanckhurst@bloomberg.net

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Bonds rise on Fukushima nuclear alert, earthquakes in the Japan

April 12, 2011, 1: 36 pm EDT by Wes Goodman

April 12 (Bloomberg) — Treasuries have increased after a nuclear warning and earthquakes to the sent Japan lower Asian stocks, boosting demand for the relative safety of the public debt.

Thirty years broken link a slide of five days as the earthquakes of magnitude 6 to hit the Japan, where the Government has raised the rating of the gravity of the nuclear accident at the level corresponding to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Dragged yields the United States were preparing to sell a 32 billion of notes to 3 years old today, 10 years tomorrow debt $ 21 billion and 13 billion of bonds to 30 April 14. "There is a flight to quality in support of government bonds, said Tomohisa Fujiki, a strategist at interest rates at the BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. BNP U.S. Unit is one of 20 primary dealers that trade directly with the Federal Government Reserve.U.S. 10-year rate fell three basis to 3.56% points from 6 h 23 in London, according to the Bloomberg Bond Trader price. The score of 3.625% planned for February 2021 advanced 7/32, or $2.19 per the nominal value of $1,000 to 100 18/32.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares fell 1.4 percent defined for the greatest daily slide since March 15.Japan of the nuclear agency raised the seriousness of the nuclear crisis to 7the highest level. The accident at the station of Fukushima Dai-Ichi was already rated 5 to world-wide, the same as the collapse of reactor partial 1979-Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. Earthquake swayed buildings in Tokyo today and yesterday.CommentsTreasuries of Fed officials climbed also after that officials of the Federal Reserve William Dudley and Janet Yellen said that the US economy is not strong enough to facilitate recovery.New York Fed President Dudley said yesterday that the Central Bank should not be too enthusiastic about the idea of deletion of registration it provides for the economy. The Fed bought 600 billion dollars in Treasury bonds in June and has held its benchmark interest rate at zero to 0.25% since December 2008 to support the growth. "We are probably going to have soft excessive in the labour market of the United States at least until the end of 2012,"Dudley said at a forum in Tokyo.Fed Vice President Yellen said increase in commodities will have a temporary effect on inflation and does justify a reversal of the stimulus." The US economy does not appear to be faced with the kind of "rebound sharp" which usually follows a deep recession, she said in a speech York.The new notes of three years provided for sale today given 1.35% in trade auction, 1.298 up % at the previous auction of the titles on March 8. investors bid for 3.22 times the amount of available debt last month. The average for the past 10 auction is 3.14.Indirect bidders, which include foreign central banks, bought 34.4% of the titles, compared to the average of 10-sale of 37.2%.

-Editor in Chief: Swift Rocky

To contact the reporter on this story: Wes Goodman at Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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Japan ups nuclear crisis rating at high level

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反序列化操作“Translate”的响应消息的正文时出现错误。读取 XML 数据时，超出最大字符串内容长度配额 (8192)。通过更改在创建 XML 读取器时所使用的 XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas 对象的 MaxStringContentLength 属性，可增加此配额。 第 1 行，位置为 9050。

Japan has raised the severity rating for its tsunami-stricken nuclear reactor from Level 5 to Level 7, the highest grade, equal to the 1986 disaster at Chornobyl in the former Soviet Union.

The country's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency made the decision Monday, saying that while the radiation emission rate at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is about 10 per cent of that at Chornobyl, the crippled Japanese facility has emitted a huge amount of radioactive substances that pose a risk over a large area.

Location of Fukushima Daiichi plant

"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," agency spokesman Minoru Oogoda said Tuesday.

Agency officials said one of the factors behind the decision was that the total amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 disaster.

The Chornobyl disaster is the only previous time that an event has been rated Level 7 — or "major accident" — on the international and radiological events scale, which starts at zero and is designed to express the severity of nuclear mishaps.

The Fukushima crisis was previously rated Level 5, equalling the 1979 Three Mile Island incident in Pennsylvania. Each level higher is considered to be roughly 10 times more severe.

A small fire broke out at the Fukushima nuclear facility on Tuesday in a box that holds batteries, but it was quickly extinguished. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the flames had no effect on radiation levels or any critical systems, and the fire had nothing to do with the decision to hike the incident rating at the plant.

The news came as two new earthquakes rattled Japan's east and northeast, and as the government urged more people living near the Fukushima Daiichi generating station to leave, citing concerns about long-term health risks from radiation.

A magnitude 6.3 aftershock struck an area neighbouring Tokyo just after 8 a.m. local time Tuesday, the country's meteorological agency reported, though there were no initial reports of injuries or damage. No tsunami warning was issued.

An earlier magnitude 7.0 aftershock on Monday trapped some people in collapsed homes, and came just hours after residents bowed their heads and wept in ceremonies to mark a month since the massive earthquake and tsunami killed up to 25,000 people and set off radiation leaks at the nuclear plant by knocking out its cooling systems.

"Even after a month, I still cry when I watch the news," said Marina Seito, 19, a student at a junior college who recalled being in a basement restaurant in Sendai when the original 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit on March 11. Plates fell and parts of the ceiling crashed down around her.

The epicentre of Monday's aftershock was just inland and about 160 kilometres north of Tokyo. A warning was issued for a one-metre tsunami, but it was subsequently lifted.

In Iwaki, a city close to the epicentre of Monday's tremor, a landslide brought down three houses, trapping up to seven people. Four were rescued alive, but one of those — a 16-year-old girl — died at the hospital, a police official said. He would not give his name, citing policy.

Kiyoko Takahashi, 81, holds a moment of silence on a burial ground at 2:46 p.m. Monday, exactly a month after a massive earthquake struck the area in Higashimatsushima in northeastern Japan. (Yomiuru Shimbun/Kota Kawasaki/Associated Press)

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it generated on March 11 are believed to have caused as much as $310 billion in damage. The nuclear power plant they disabled has been spewing radiation since, and even a month on, officials say they don't know how long it will take to cool reactors there.

In a move unrelated to Monday's aftershock, the Japanese government is expanding the evacuation zone around the plant to 30 kilometres from 20, citing the risks of cumulative radiation exposure.

"This isn't an immediate evacuation," CBC's Craig Dale reported from Tokyo. "Over a month's period they're hoping that people living 30 kilometres away from Fukushima Daiichi will leave those areas, or at least stay indoors."

The latest calculations from Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission found that an area stretching 60 kilometres north of the nuclear plant and 40 kilometres south have, in the month since the earthquake, already been exposed to radiation equivalent to the annual dosage limit. Within the old 20-kilometre evacuation zone, radiation exposure has reached up to 100 times the annual limit.

People being targeted in the evacuation are children, pregnant women and patients in hospitals. Dale said the evacuation zone is not a perfect circle and stretches up to 40 kilometres from the plant in at least one place.

A nuclear safety official said the repeated strong aftershocks were slowing work at the plant, and said that if one of them were to spawn a tsunami, the complex would be just as vulnerable as on March 11.

"At the moment, no tsunami resistance has been added to the plant. At the moment, there is nothing we can do about it," the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's Hidehiko Nishiyama said.

Monday's aftershock briefly forced Tokyo's main international airport to close both of its runways. There were no new reports of damage.

'My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused.'—Yuhei Sato, governor of Fukushima

Aftershocks have repeatedly rattled the disaster-weary region, but there is little left in the northeast to ruin. Last Thursday's 7.1 magnitude aftershock, which had been the strongest tremor since the day the original quake hit, did sink hundreds of thousands more households into darkness, however. Electricity has been restored to most of those homes.

With workers still far from bringing the nuclear plant under control, the bodies of thousands of tsunami victims yet to be found and more than 150,000 people living in shelters, there was little time for reflection on Japan's worst disaster since the Second World War.

People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46 p.m., the exact moment of the massive quake a month earlier.

Participants offer a silent of prayer during a charity concert in Tokyo on Monday to raise funds for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. (Shuji Kajiyama/Associated Press)

"My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture," said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and is home to the damaged plant at the centre of the nuclear crisis. "I have no words to express my sorrow."

Japan's government marked the one-month period by putting an ad in newspapers in China, South Korea, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States — a letter from Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanking people for the outpouring of support that followed the tsunami. The Red Cross alone said it has collected $102 million Cdn from overseas.

Kan described the outpouring as "kizuna," the bond of friendship.

"We deeply appreciate the kizuna our friends from around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity, and you personally, from the bottom of my heart."

With files from The Associated Press Back to accessibility links

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Abu Dhabi plans to go nuclear

By Anthony DiPaola

(Corrects place of Bruce Smith of employment).

Even when radiation leaks from paralyzed to Fukushima plant, China in the Middle East countries are moving ahead with nuclear energy. March 28, Abu Dhabi has confirmed that it would proceed with plans for a civilian reactor despite the Japan disaster. "It is a technology that we bring to the region," said Abdulla Saif al-Nuaimi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority, when the Arabian Power & water Summit. Nuclear remains the most realistic option, said Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist at the National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia: "" it's competitive, addresses some of the environmental risks involved in burning crude and can be built on a large scale. ""

Abu Dhabi power demand rises to about 10% per year, and nuclear energy is needed to help offset a lack of natural gas to burn in new generators, al-Nuaimi said: "with a shortage of gas iciNous must find other ways to produce energy." Plans are a reactor to be operational in 2017.

Efforts to increase the power of sources such as solar are not likely to be sufficient to meet the demand. The rise to generate approximately 7% of its power from renewable energy by 2020. This would require 1,500 megawatts of projects such as wind and solar power plants, says Bruce Smith, Adviser to the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority.

Saudi Arabia is facing, rapidly rising demand with domestic electricity needs of growth which is two times faster than its economy. By 2020, it plans to have spent more than 100 billion on power plants and distribution networks, with about one-third will plants and the rest to the national grid, said Abdullah al-Shehri, Governor of Electricity & cogeneration Regulatory Authority Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has recently ordered 500,000 new built homes that the Government is trying to prevent problems, which will add to the growing demand for electricity. The Kingdom also seeks to sources such as solar and nuclear power plants to boost energy production.

The bottom line: Far from backing away from nuclear energy, Abu Dhabi plans to construct its first civil nuclear plant to meet growing energy demand.

DiPaola is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

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