Monday's powerful earthquake tipped over barrels of nuclear waste at a power plant and officials yesterday were investigating whether there were any radioactive leaks, a day after they said the quake spilled radioactive water into the sea.
The death toll stood at nine a day after Monday's 6.6-magnitude quake.
One person was missing and 13,000 quake victims were crowding emergency shelters as rescue workers rushed to locate survivors amid new fears of landslides.
PHOTO: EPA
While the quake had triggered a leak of water with radioactive material on Monday at the world's largest nuclear power plant, officials said it caused no harm to the environment.
Yesterday, however, officials were investigating a possible second leak at the Kashiwazaki- Kariwa plant, saying about 100 drums containing low-level nuclear waste fell during the quake and were found yesterday.
Some of the barrels' lids were open, said Masahide Ichikawa, an official with the Niigata Prefecture government.
A spokesman at Tokyo Electric Power Co said it was still trying to determine whether any hazardous material had spilled but said there was no effect outside the plant.
Another leak at the Kashiwazaki plant would sow further doubts about the safety of Japan's nuclear power plants, which have suffered a string of accidents and cover-ups amid deep concerns they are vulnerable in earthquakes.
"Whenever there is an earthquake, the first thing we worry about is the nuclear plant. I worry about whether there will be a fire or something. We have no information, it's really frightening," said Kiyokazu Tsunajima, who spent the first night sleeping in his car, afraid an aftershock might cause his damaged house to collapse.
The quake triggered a small fire at an electrical transformer in the plant. But it was announced only 12 hours later that the temblor also caused a leak of water containing radioactive material.
Plant officials said the water leak was harmless and well within safety standards, but the delay in notifying the public spurred concern among anti-nuclear activists and triggered criticism from top government officials.
"They raised the alert too late. I have sent stern instructions that such alerts must be raised seriously and swiftly," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo. "Those involved should repent their actions."
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari said the plant must not resume operations until a thorough safety check has been conducted.
Later yesterday, Tokyo Electric said a small amount of radioactive materials cobalt-60 and chromium-51 had been emitted into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack, but posed no danger to the environment. It was unclear if that leak was caused by the quake.
Elsewhere in Kashiwazaki, refugees packed school gymnasiums and community centers. While many said their homes were intact, they still sought shelter because water and electricity had yet to be restored.
Also see stories:
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS