Robot probe detects high radiation at No.3 reactor

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has detected high levels of radiation in the basement of the No. 3 reactor, with a maximum dose of 360 millisieverts per hour. Tokyo Electric Power Company sent in a robot on Wednesday to the room where the suppression chamber is located. It was the first robot to probe this area of the plant. TEPCO released video taken inside. They show that a door on the southwestern side is broken. There is no other apparent damage or sign of water leakage. But high levels of radiation were detected. Readings exceeded 100 millisieverts per hour in a number of locations. Average levels were higher than those in the No.2 reactor. Engineers lost control of the remote-controlled robot after around 3 hours of operation. They say there are problems with the connecting cable and they've been unable to regain control. TEPCO officials say they have no option but to leave the robot where it is for the time being. This may pose a problem to the utility's efforts to decommission the reactor. The operators are in a hurry to identify and repair damage to the reactor's suppression chamber and containment vessel. They want to pump in water in order to remove the melted fuel lying at the bottom.

Ohi nuclear plant to go back line on Sunday

One of the reactors at the Ohi nuclear power plant in central Japan on Sunday will go back online. It will be the first to do so since reactors went offline due to safety concerns after the Fukushima accident last year. All nuclear reactors in Japan are now offline. New safety regulations were called for after the accident in March at the Fukushima plant. The government says the regulations are now just being met. Operator Kansai Electric Power Company has been making preparations for the restart since the government decided on June 16th to resume the No.3 and No.4 reactors at the plant in Fukui Prefecture. The company plans to start lifting control rods in the No.3 reactor at 9:00 PM in the presence of senior vice industry minister Seishu Makino and Ohi Town Mayor Shinobu Tokioka. The reactor is expected to reach criticality, starting a self-sustaining chain reaction, early on Monday. The utility says the reactor will start generating power on Wednesday, and begin operating at full capacity 4 days later. The facility was shut down about 15 months ago. The operator says it plans to restart the No.4 reactor as early as July 17th for full-capacity operations by the 24th. The Ohi plant has been under strict around-the-clock monitoring since June 16th. Nine minor problems have been reported since then, including an interruption in the power grid monitoring signal.

Largest Japanese-animation expo in US opens

An exposition of Japanese animation films and video games is being held in Los Angeles. The annual Anime Expo opened at Los Angeles Convention Center, California, on Friday. The US-based Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation organized the 4-day event for films and video games. The event is expected to draw 130,000 visitors. The expo features the latest versions of video games based on popular Japanese animation films. In some booths, fans were excited at being able to use online services to watch on their Smartphone handsets animation films aired in Japan less than an hour earlier. The films are shown with English subtitles. Drinks and snacks are available at a cafe that resembles the popular "maid cafes" in Japan's Akihabara electric town. In the Tokyo cafes, waitresses dressed as maids treat customers like masters or mistresses in high-status people's homes of several generations ago. Many fans also dressed themselves as their favorite animation character in what is known as cosplay. An American girl said she enjoyed meeting other cosplayers. She said the art of animation is very interesting and inspiring. A charity auction will be held for donations to the disaster-hit Tohoku region of Japan and other places around the world.

Ban on night pet displays

Pet stores in Japan will no longer be allowed to display dogs and cats in brightly-lit shop windows in the evening. A revised animal protection law that took effect on Friday bans pet shops from displaying dogs and cats from 8 PM to 8 AM. The law is aimed at protecting the animals from possible health hazards caused by exposure to bright lights until late in the evening. But the government will delay implementing the regulations for so-called cat cafes, where cat-lovers play and relax with cats. Such places can continue to operate until 10 PM for 2 more years. The law also states that facilities for older dogs and cats, as well as pet auction operators, must register with their prefectural governments. This is due to growing hygiene concerns at these facilities and the difficulty of tracing the medical records of pets sold at auction. Prefectural governments will issue warnings to this effect and fine violators. The Environment Ministry says it hopes the law will help ensure that pets are kept and sold in a humane manner.

Climax of Tokyo's "Sanja Matsuri" festival

People in Tokyo have enjoyed the climax of the annual 3-day early summer festival featuring 3 portable shrines. The event was held for the first time in 2 years. The "Sanja Matsuri" is one of the capital's largest festivals with a 700-year history and is held in the Asakusa district of downtown Tokyo. Last year, following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, the organizers decided to cancel most parts of the festival, including the parade. On Sunday, men and women wearing "happi" coats carried 3 golden portable shrines on their shoulders to take different routes for the 3 shrines that each weigh about one ton. Thousands of onlookers cheered the participants and took photos of the parade. A woman who carried one of the shrines said the town looked deserted last year. She said she feels even happier than before to take part in the festival after one year's absence. The organizer's representative, Nobuhisa Yoshioka, said the Tokyo Sky Tree will open soon and Tokyo will have a new tourist attraction along with traditional events like this festival. He said he hopes the festival will encourage people to find ways to boost the economy.

Annular eclipse seen across Japan

An annular solar eclipse was visible over a wide area of Japan on Monday morning, giving thrills to observers across the nation. For the first time in 932 years, the rare astronomical event could be seen from a wide area of Japan including Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. It was seen from Kagoshima Prefecture in the southwest to Fukushima in northeastern Japan. An annular eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and Earth are exactly in line. Instead of obscuring the sun, the eclipse creates a bright ring, called an annular, around the moon's silhouette. In Japan, the moon began sliding in front of the sun from around 6 AM. At Cape Muroto in western Japan, a partial eclipse began at around 6:15 AM, and the "ring of fire" was formed about one hour later. The point where the annular eclipse is visible moved from west to east in a quick succession, from Osaka to Nagoya to Tokyo and then Fukushima. The eclipse was visible in more places than anticipated because the weather cooperated at the last minute, despite forecasts for cloudy skies in many areas. In Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, NHK cameras caught a high-definition image of Baily's beads --- a spectacle only visible during fleeting moments of the annular eclipse. The image shows beads of sunlight shining through rugged valleys on the edge of the moon. Observation events were held on land, sea and in the air. Some elementary schools held viewing parties. Astronomers say the next time an annular eclipse can be seen across such a wide area will be 300 years from now, in 2312

Kyoto: Govt explanation on Ohi insufficient

A Kyoto prefectural official says the government's explanations on the safety of the Ohi nuclear power plant are insufficient to restart its reactors. The official spoke to a senior representative from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Tetsuya Yamamoto, at the Kyoto Prefectural hall on Tuesday. Yamamoto explained that the entire government is dedicated to putting fresh safety standards in place following the Fukushima accident. But the Kyoto official, who heads the crisis management team, replied that it is unclear to what extent the nuclear safety commission was involved in devising the standards. He said the government explanation is inconsistent with the demands of local people. In mid-April, the government decided that the Ohi plant's 2 reactors on the Japan Sea coast need to be restarted to ensure that the Kansai region does not suffer power shortages this summer. The reactors are offline for regular checkups. Tuesday, May 01, 2012 14:53 +0900 (JST)