JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS: OFFICIALS RAISE SEVERITY LEVEL TO EQUAL CHERNOBYL

Japan's Nuclear and engineering Safety Agency Tuesday raised the level of severity at theFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from 5 to level 7 – the highest level on the international scale and equal to the Chernobyl disaster.

The agency says the level 7 ranking was made after the damaged reactors have been releasing large amounts of radioactive posing a menace to humans and the environment in a much wider area. "Echelon 5 is Three Mile Desert Island. Level 7 is Chernobyl. This doesn't mean it's as bad as Chernobyl. But that's the last time I think 7 was used. It's the highest set by the IAEA (intercontinental Atomic Energy Agency)," said physicist Michio Kaku.

{..Click to Continue..}

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI: 7.0 AFTERSHOCK RATTLES NORTHEAST ON MONTH ANNIVERSARY

Moments of Silence Observed in Country for Victims a 7.0 aftershock rattled Japan today on the one month anniversary of the clone disaster that left at least 25,000 dead along with officials scrambling to prevent a meltdown at damaged nuclear reactors.

A 3-foot tsunami warning was issued after the temblor hit the northeast coast 5:16 p.m. local time. All advisories and warning were later lifted about an hour later according to local Japanese TV. The aftershock was presently downgraded to a 7.0 by means of Japanese officials and USGS calculates the quake to subsist closer to a magnitude 6.6.

{..Click to Continue..}

PREVENTING BLASTS A FOCUS AT JAPAN NUCLEAR PLANT

After notching a rare victory by stopping highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific, workers at Japan's snowed under nuclear power many-sided turned to their next task early Thursday: injecting nitrogen to prevent more hydrogen explosions.

Nuclear officials said Wednesday there was no immediate threat of explosions like the three that rock the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant not long after a massive tsunami hit on March 11, but their plans are a reminder of how much occupation remains to stabilize the complex. Workers are racing to cool downstairs the plant's reactors, which have been overheating since power was knocked out by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that killed as many as 25,000 people along with destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline.

{..Click to Continue..}

JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS: REACTORS HAVE DAMAGED FUEL RODS

As radiation in seawater close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear place increases, Japanese officials said the reactors have damaged fuel rods and may be in partial meltdown.

In a recently released video, smoke can be seen billowing from reactors two and three  the only visible sign of the catastrophe happening inside. On Monday, workers continued to pump out Radioactive hose down inside the plant, according to the Associated Press. Officials said the contaminated water must be in use out before human resources can restart and restore the plant's cooling system. Radioactive water has been found in all four of the reactors at the plant.

{..Click to Continue..}

DANGEROUS BREACH FEARED AT JAPANESE NUKE PLANT

A possible breach of the reactor core at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant could lead to further contamination in what would live a major setback to efforts to bring the post-earthquake disaster under control, Japanese officials said today.

The uncertainty led to work being halt again today at the nuclear complex 40 miles northeast of Tokyo, where dozens of people enclose been working to cool reactors at the overheating plant. A sober Prime Minister Naoto Kan today called the situation "grave and serious," adding "we be not in a position to be optimistic."

{..Click to Continue..}

JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS: HELICOPTER OPERATION SUSPENDED

High Radiation Levels delay Latest Attempts to cool anxious Fukushima Reactors, Fuel Ponds Japanese officials suspended helicopter flights spraying water over Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear fix due to high emission levels, the latest foiled attempt to contain the nuclear crisis.

The two helicopters had dropped about 30 tons of water on the plant overnight. In addition, 11 water gun trucks arrived at the Fukushima Daiichi plant though they were too far from the plant to be helpful.

{..Click to Continue..}

JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS: RADIATION EXPOSURE FEARS GROW AFTER BLAST, FIRE

The threat of radiation exposure rose Tuesday following an explosion and fire at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which prompted officials to warn people within a 19-mile radius to stay indoors. “Give pleasure to do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight. Don't turn lying on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors," Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano said to the residents in the danger zone. "These are statistics that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that." 

The International Atomic Energy Agency said radiation measured quantity rates of up to 400 millisievert per hour had be reported at the Fukushima power plant site. That compares with a normal background level of about 3 millisieverts.According to the Associated Press, the caution covered about 140,000 people near the plant, which was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan last week.

{..Click to Continue..}

SECOND EXPLOSION AT STRICKEN JAPANESE NUKE PLANT

The second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant today, sending a massive column of smolder into the air and wounding 11 employees. Hours later, the U.S. said it had shifted its offshore forces away from the plant after detecting low-level radioactive contagion.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles offshore when it detected the radiation, which U.S. officials said was about the same as one month's usual exposure to natural background emission in the environment. It was not clear if the radiation had leaked during Monday's explosion. That blast was feeling 25 miles away, but the plant's operator said emission levels at the reactor were still within legal limits.http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=991311&pid=991310&uts=1300050178

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

Japan Earthquake Triggers Tsunami

People ride bicycles near a flooded road in Shiogama, Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan, on Sunday. Click through for more images from the disaster.

AP

Kyodo News

{..Click to Continue..}

EXPLOSION AT JAPAN NUCLEAR PLANT, DISASTER TOLL RISES

An explosion at a nuclear power station Saturday destroyed a building accommodation the reactor, but a emission leak was decreasing notwithstanding fears of a meltdown from damage caused by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, officials said.

Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the angry outburst destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the actual metal housing enveloping the reactor.That was receive news for a fatherland suffering from Friday's double disaster that pulverized the northeastern coast, leaving at least 574 people dead by official reckon.

{..Click to Continue..}

60 KILLED IN MAJOR TSUNAMI AFTER 8.9 JAPAN QUAKE

A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes increasingly recorded slammed Japan's eastern seaside Friday, killing at least 60 people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control. Tsunami warnings blanketed the entire Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.

The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami and was follow by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.Police supposed at least 60 people were killed and 56 were missing. The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.

{..Click to Continue..}