Tag: Tsunamis

UN nuclear agency chief says he’s satisfied with Japan’s plans to release Fukushima wastewater

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FUTABA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic agency toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater and receive a final test sampling. It will then be released 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore through an undersea tunnel.

“I was satisfied with what I saw,” Grossi said after his tour of equipment at the plant for the planned discharge, which Japan hopes to begin this summer. “I don’t see any pending issues.”

South Korea’s military says the satellite North Korea failed to put into orbit in May wasn’t advanced enough to conduct military reconnaissance from space as it claimed.

The U.N. nuclear agency has given its endorsement to Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are.

Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms.

The wastewater release still faces opposition in and outside Japan.

Earlier Wednesday, Grossi met with local mayors and fishing association leaders and stressed that the IAEA will be present throughout the water discharge, which is expected to last decades, to ensure safety and address residents’ concerns. He said he inaugurated a permanent IAEA office at the plant, showing its long-term commitment.

The water discharge is not “some strange plan that has been devised only to be applied here, and sold to you,” Grossi said at the meeting in Iwaki, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the plant. He said the method is certified by the IAEA and is followed around the world.

The IAEA, in its final report on the Fukushima plan released Tuesday, concluded that the treated wastewater, which will still contain a small amount of radioactivity, will be safer than international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

Local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety concerns and political reasons.

Fukushima’s fisheries association adopted a resolution on June 30 reaffirming its rejection of the plan.

The fishery association chief, Tetsu Nozaki, urged government officials at Wednesday’s meeting “to remember that the treated water plan was pushed forward despite our opposition.”

Grossi is expected to also visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands to ease concerns there. He said his intention is to explain what the IAEA, not Japan, is doing to ensure there is no problem.

In an effort to address concerns about fish and the marine environment, Grossi and Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, signed an agreement on a joint project to determine whether they are impacted by tritium, the only radionuclide officials say cannot be removed from the wastewater by treatment.

In South Korea, officials said in a briefing Wednesday that it’s highly unlikely that the released water will have dangerous levels of contamination. They said South Korea plans to tightly screen seafood imported from Japan and that there is no immediate plan to lift the country’s import ban on seafood from the Fukushima region.

Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Seoul plans to comment on the IAEA findings when it issues the results of the country’s own investigation into the potential effects of the water release, which he said will come soon.

China doubled down on its objections to the release in a statement late Tuesday, saying the IAEA report failed to reflect all views and accusing Japan of treating the Pacific Ocean as a sewer.

“We once again urge the Japanese side to stop its ocean discharge plan, and earnestly dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, safe and transparent manner. If Japan insists on going ahead with the plan, it will have to bear all the consequences arising from this,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Grossi said Wednesday he is aware of the Chinese position and takes any concern seriously. “China is a very important partner of the IAEA and we are in close contact,” he said.

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has leaked continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and TEPCO, the plant operator, say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the plant’s decommissioning.

Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection last week, and TEPCO is expected to receive a permit within days to release the water.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

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Associated Press video journalist Haruka Nuga in Tokyo and reporter Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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July 4, 2023
IAEA chief will visit Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant before radioactive water is released

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TOKYO — The U.N. nuclear chief is to visit Japan‘s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Wednesday after the agency affirmed the safety of a contentious plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea.

On his way to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a highlight of his four-day Japan visit, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi will join government and utility officials to hear the concerns of mayors and fishing association leaders and to assure them of the plan’s safety.

The IAEA, in its final report released Tuesday, concluded the plan to release the wastewater — which would be significantly diluted but still have some radioactivity — meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

But local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety concerns and political reasons.

Fukushima’s fisheries association on June 30 adopted a resolution saying their rejection to the treated water discharge plan remains unchanged.

Grossi told a news conference Tuesday that the IAEA will continue to monitor and assess the release of the water, which will be done over decades. “I believe in transparency, I believe in open dialogue and I believe in the validity of the exercise we are carrying out,” he said.

The report is a “comprehensive, neutral, objective, scientifically sound evaluation,” Grossi said. “We are very confident about it.”

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has leaked continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the plant’s decommissioning.

Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection last week, and TEPCO is expected to get the permit for the release in coming days. It could then begin gradually discharging the water any time through an undersea tunnel from the plant to a location 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. But the start date is undecided due to protests at home and abroad.

Grossi said treating, diluting and gradually releasing the wastewater is a proven method widely used in other countries, including China, South Korea, the United States and France, to dispose of water containing certain radionuclides from nuclear plants.

Much of the Fukushima wastewater contains cesium and other radionuclides, but it will be filtered further to bring it below international standards for all but tritium, which is inseparable from water. It then will be diluted by 100 times with seawater before it is released.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides remains unknown and urge a delay in the release. Others say the discharge plan is safe but call for more transparency in sampling and monitoring.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

Grossi is also expected to visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands after his visit to Japan to ease concerns there.

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July 4, 2023
IAEA chief will visit Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant before radioactive water is released

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TOKYO — The U.N. nuclear chief is to visit Japan‘s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Wednesday after the agency affirmed the safety of a contentious plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea.

On his way to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a highlight of his four-day Japan visit, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi will join government and utility officials to hear the concerns of mayors and fishing association leaders and to assure them of the plan’s safety.

The IAEA, in its final report released Tuesday, concluded the plan to release the wastewater — which would be significantly diluted but still have some radioactivity — meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

But local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety concerns and political reasons.

Fukushima’s fisheries association on June 30 adopted a resolution saying their rejection to the treated water discharge plan remains unchanged.

Grossi told a news conference Tuesday that the IAEA will continue to monitor and assess the release of the water, which will be done over decades. “I believe in transparency, I believe in open dialogue and I believe in the validity of the exercise we are carrying out,” he said.

The report is a “comprehensive, neutral, objective, scientifically sound evaluation,” Grossi said. “We are very confident about it.”

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has leaked continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the plant’s decommissioning.

Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection last week, and TEPCO is expected to get the permit for the release in coming days. It could then begin gradually discharging the water any time through an undersea tunnel from the plant to a location 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. But the start date is undecided due to protests at home and abroad.

Grossi said treating, diluting and gradually releasing the wastewater is a proven method widely used in other countries, including China, South Korea, the United States and France, to dispose of water containing certain radionuclides from nuclear plants.

Much of the Fukushima wastewater contains cesium and other radionuclides, but it will be filtered further to bring it below international standards for all but tritium, which is inseparable from water. It then will be diluted by 100 times with seawater before it is released.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides remains unknown and urge a delay in the release. Others say the discharge plan is safe but call for more transparency in sampling and monitoring.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

Grossi is also expected to visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands after his visit to Japan to ease concerns there.

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July 4, 2023
Regulators begin final safety inspection before treated Fukushima wastewater is released into sea

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Japanese regulators have begun a final inspection before treated radioactive wastewater is released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean

ByMARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

An equipment to be used to dilute the water with seawater is shown to media at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, Monday, June 26, 2023. All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns.(Kyodo News via AP)

The Associated Press

TOKYO — Japanese regulators began a final inspection Wednesday before treated radioactive wastewater is released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The inspection began a day after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings installed the last piece of equipment needed for the release — the outlet of the undersea tunnel dug to discharge the wastewater 1 kilometer (a thousand yards) offshore.

TEPCO said the Nuclear Regulation Authority inspectors will examine the equipment related to the treated water discharge and its safety systems during three days of inspections through Friday. The permit for releasing the water could be issued about a week later, and TEPCO could start discharging the water soon after, though an exact date has not been decided.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing groups concerned about safety and reputational damage. The government and TEPCO promised in 2015 not to release the water without consent from the fishing groups, but many in the fishing community say the plan was pushed regardless. Neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations have also raised safety concerns.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Wednesday that the government “abides by its policy of not carrying out a release without the understanding” of fishing groups in Fukushima. He said the government will continue to communicate closely with them and others involved, while ensuring safety and addressing the issue of reputational damage. Fishing groups fear the wastewater release will cause consumers to stop buying seafood from the area.

Government and utility officials say the wastewater, currently stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant, must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and to make room for the plant’s decommissioning. They say the treated but still slightly radioactive water will be diluted to levels safer than international standards and will be released gradually into the ocean over decades, making it harmless to people and marine life.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides is unknown and the release should be delayed. Others say the release plan is safe but call for more transparency, including allowing outside scientists to join in sampling and monitoring the release.

Japan has sought support from the International Atomic Energy Agency to gain credibility and ensure that safety measures meet international standards. IAEA has dispatched several missions to Japan since early 2022, and its final evaluation report is expected soon, though the organization has no power to stop the plan. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi is expected to visit Japan in early July to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visit the plant.

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and their cooling water to be contaminated and leak continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in the tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

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June 28, 2023
Regulators begin final safety inspection before treated Fukushima wastewater is released into sea

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Japanese regulators are making the final inspection before treated radioactive wastewater is released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean

ByMARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

An equipment to be used to dilute the water with seawater is shown to media at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, Monday, June 26, 2023. All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns.(Kyodo News via AP)

The Associated Press

TOKYO — Japanese regulators began the final inspection Wednesday before treated radioactive wastewater is released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The inspection began a day after the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings had installed the last piece of equipment needed for the release — the outlet of the undersea tunnel dug to discharge the wastewater 1 kilometer (1,094 yards) offshore.

TEPCO said the Nuclear Regulation Authority inspectors were to examine the equipment related to the treated water transfer and its safety systems as part of their three-day inspection through Friday. The permit for releasing the water could be issued about a week later, and TEPCO could start discharging the water soon after, though an exact date has not been decided.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing groups concerned about safety and reputational damage. The government and TEPCO in 2015 promised not to release the water without consent from the fishing community, but many in the fishing community say the plan was pushed regardless. Neighboring South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations have also raised safety concerns.

Government and utility officials say the wastewater, currently stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant, must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and to make room for the plant’s decommissioning. They say the treated but still slightly radioactive water will be diluted to levels safer than international standards and will be released gradually into the ocean over decades, making it harmless to people and marine life.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides is unknown and the release should be delayed. Others say the release plan is safe but call for more transparency, including allowing outside scientists to join in sampling and monitoring the release.

Japan has sought support from the International Atomic Energy Agency to gain credibility and ensure that safety measures meet international standards. IAEA has dispatched several missions to Japan since early 2022, and its final evaluation report is expected soon, though the organization has no power to stop the plan. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi is expected to visit Japan in early July to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visit the plant.

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and their cooling water to be contaminated and leak continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in the tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

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June 27, 2023
Was that actually a tsunami that hit Florida? Yes, but not the kind you think

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A meteotsunami was recorded in Florida last week as a line of thunderstorms tracked onto the coast

ByISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press

FILE – Waves crash at Outlook Beach in Hampton, Va., Sept. 30, 2022. Storms with strong gusting winds sometimes cause a phenomenon known as a meteotsunami, in which the winds push on the water and increase the wave height near the coast before it eventually crashes onto shore. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)

The Associated Press

An unexpected culprit toppled beach chairs along the sand at normally calm Clearwater Beach, Florida, last Wednesday. West Coast surfers might snicker at the cause, but the National Weather Service confirms the rare 4-foot wave was caused by a kind of tsunami, just not the kind you usually hear about.

It was a meteotsunami, a type caused by storms with strong gusting winds, rather than the dramatic tsunamis triggered by earthquakes.

WHAT IS A METEOTSUNAMI?

According to Paul Close, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in the Tampa Bay area, when a line of storms tracks over the ocean, there can be 30- to 50-mph winds near the leading edge. The winds push the water, increasing the wave height near the coast before it eventually crashes onto shore.

Meteotsunamis only last about an hour because once the leading edge of the storm passes onto land, the action subsides.

The meteotsunami was about 2.5 feet higher than the forecast wave height and around 4 feet higher than average sea level.

Six-foot and higher meteotsunamis have been recorded around the world.

The weather service does not issue specific advisories for meteotsunamis. If the agency forecasts that a storm will have substantial impact, it issues a coastal flood watch or warning.

WHEN DO METEOTSUNAMIS FORM?

Close said that stronger storms and squall lines — groups of storms that track in a line with intense winds and heavy rain — are more common during the winter around Florida.

“They don’t happen that often this time of year, but the current atmospheric pattern has been kind of unusual with all the heat out in Texas and the cool and damp weather in the Northeast.” This time of year, winds from the east are more common, he said. But the winds have been from the west almost all of June.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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June 26, 2023
Was that actually a tsunami that hit Florida? Not the kind you’re used to

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A meteotsunami was recorded in Clearwater Beach, FL on June 21 as a line of thunderstorms tracked onto the coast

ByISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press

FILE – Waves crash at Outlook Beach in Hampton, Va., Sept. 30, 2022. Storms with strong gusting winds sometimes cause a phenomenon known as a meteotsunami, in which the winds push on the water and increase the wave height near the coast before it eventually crashes onto shore. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)

The Associated Press

An unexpected culprit toppled beach chairs along the sand at normally-calm Clearwater Beach, Florida on June 21. West Coast surfers might snicker at the cause, but the National Weather Service confirms the rare 4-foot wave was caused by a kind of tsunami, just not the kind you’re used to.

It was a meteotsunami, which are caused by storms with strong gusting winds, unlike more dramatic tsunamis triggered by earthquakes.

WHAT IS A METEOTSUNAMI?

According to Paul Close, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay, when a line of storms track over the ocean, there can be 30-50 mile per hour winds near the leading edge. The winds push the water, increasing the wave height near the coast. before it eventually crashes onto shore.

Meteotsunamis only last about an hour because once the leading edge of the storm passes on to land, the action subsides.

The meteotsunami was about two and a half feet higher than the forecasted wave heights and around four feet higher than average sea level.

Six-foot and higher meteotsunamis have been recorded around the world.

The National Weather Service does not issue specific advisories for meteotsunamis. If the agency forecasts that a storm will have substantial impact, it issues a coastal flood watch or warning.

WHEN DO METEOTSUNAMIS FORM?

Close said that stronger storms and squall lines — groups of storms that track in a line with intense winds and heavy rain — are more common during the winter months around Florida.

“They don’t happen that often this time of year, but the current atmospheric pattern has been kind of unusual with all the heat out in Texas and the cool and damp weather in the Northeast. This time of year people usually have winds from the east, but we have had west winds almost all of June,” Close said.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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June 26, 2023
Fukushima nuclear plant operator says equipment to release treated wastewater into sea is complete

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Officials say all equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for an inspection by Japanese regulators this week

ByMARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

An equipment to be used to dilute the water with seawater is shown to media at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northern Japan, Monday, June 26, 2023. All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns.(Kyodo News via AP)

The Associated Press

TOKYO — All equipment needed for the release into the sea of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed and will be ready for a safety inspection by Japanese regulators this week, the plant operator said Monday, as opposition to the plan continues in and outside Japan over safety concerns.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said it installed the last piece of an undersea tunnel dug to release the water offshore, completing the construction of the necessary equipment that began last August.

A mandatory safety inspection of the equipment will begin Wednesday, said Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shinichi Yamanaka, who visited the Fukushima Daiichi plant last week.

If everything goes well, TEPCO is expected to receive a safety permit for the release about a week after the inspection ends, officials said. Discharge of the treated water is expected to begin this summer, although the exact date has not been set.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing groups concerned about safety and reputational damage. Nearby countries, including South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns.

Government and utility officials say the wastewater, currently stored in about a thousand tanks at the plant, must be removed to prevent any accidental leak in case of an earthquake and to make room for the plant’s decommissioning. They say the treated but still slightly radioactive water will be diluted to safe levels and will be released gradually into the ocean over decades, making it harmless to people and marine life.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides is unknown and the release should be delayed. Others say the release plan is safe but call for more transparency, including allowing outside scientists to join in sampling and monitoring the release.

Japan has sought support from the International Atomic Energy Agency to gain credibility and ensure that safety measures meet international standards.

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and their cooling water to be contaminated and leak continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in the tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

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June 26, 2023
7.7 magnitude earthquake in far Pacific creates small tsunami off Vanuatu

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A 7.7 magnitude earthquake Friday in the far Pacific created small tsunami waves in Vanuatu

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake Friday in the far Pacific created small tsunami waves in Vanuatu.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves less than .5 meters (1.5 feet) were measured off Lenakel, a port town in the island nation. Smaller waves were measured elsewhere off Vanuatu and off New Caledonia.

New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said it was still assessing the potential for a tsunami.

The PTWC also said small waves were possible for Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Guam and other Pacific islands.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was near the Loyalty Islands, southwest of Fiji, north of New Zealand and east of Australia where the Coral Sea meets the Pacific. It was 37 kilometers (23 miles) deep.

The area is part of the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

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May 18, 2023
Ambitious agenda for Biden on upcoming three-nation Indo-Pacific trip as debt default looms at home

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has an ambitious agenda when he sets off this week on an eight-day trip to the Indo-Pacific.

He’s looking to tighten bonds with longtime allies, make history as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the tiny island state of Papua New Guinea and spotlight his administration’s commitment to the Pacific. The three-country trip also presents the 80-year-old Biden, who recently announced he’s running for reelection, with the opportunity to demonstrate that he still has enough in the tank to handle the grueling pace of the presidency.

But as he prepares to head west, Biden finds himself in a stalemate with Republican lawmakers over raising America’s debt limit. If the matter is not resolved in the coming weeks, it threatens to spark an economic downturn.

A look at what’s at stake in Biden’s upcoming trip:

WHERE IS BIDEN GOING?

Biden first heads to Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven summit. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is this year’s host for the annual gathering of leaders from seven of the world’s biggest economies. He picked his hometown of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945.

The bombing destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. The United States dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

The significance of Hiroshima resonates deeply today, given that Russia has made veiled threats of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, North Korea has stepped up ballistic missile tests and Iran pushes forward with its nuclear weapons program.

Biden will then make a brief and historic stopover in Papua New Guinea. Biden has sought to improve relations with Pacific Island nations amid growing U.S. concern about China’s growing military and economic influence in the region.

Finally, Biden travels to Australia for a summit with his fellow Quad leaders: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kishida.

The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming to office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific.

THE BIG ISSUES

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and provocative actions by China in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait are expected to be front and center throughout Biden’s trip.

At last month’s G-7 ministers’ meeting, the alliance pledged a unified front against Chinese threats to Taiwan and Russia’s war. The G-7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Biden administration officials have been troubled by China’s increasing threats against and military maneuvers around Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own. The U.S.-China relationship has also been strained by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last August. Those ties were further inflamed after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon in February after it traversed the United States.

The G-7 foreign ministers said in their communique that the alliance would look toward “intensifying sanctions” against Russia. How far the G-7 is willing to go remains to be seen.

IS AMERICA BACK?

The looming potential for a debt default by the U.S. government raises a difficult dynamic for Biden as he heads overseas for the first time since announcing his 2024 campaign.

Since the start of his presidency, Biden has repeatedly told world leaders that “America is back.” That’s a short-handed way to assure allies that the United States was returning to its historic role as a leader on the international stage following the more inward-looking “America First” foreign policy of President Donald Trump.

But Biden has also acknowledged that skeptical world leaders have asked him, “For how long?”

To that end, top administration officials have said the looming debt limit crisis is a troubling sign.

“It sends a horrible message to nations like Russia and China, who would love nothing more than to be able to point at this and say, ‘See the United States is not a reliable partner. The United States is not a stable leader of peace and security around the world,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

The Congressional Budget Office said on Friday that there was a “significant risk” that the federal government could run out of cash sometime in the first two weeks of June unless Congress agrees to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing cap.

PACIFIC ISLAND RESPECT

With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden gets the chance to show the United States is serious about remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands.

The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum — through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that he’s committed to changing that dynamic.

Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati.

He’ll be the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation of about 9 million people. Chinese President Xi Jinping made a visit to Papua New Guinea in 2018.

QUALITY TIME WITH MODI

Biden is going to be spending plenty of time with the Indian prime minister in the coming weeks.

Modi is among eight leaders of non-G-7 countries who were invited by Kishida to join the meeting of major industrial nations in Hiroshima. He’ll also join Biden’s meeting with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea.

Then Biden, Modi, and Kishida will all make their way to Australia for a meeting of the Quad to be hosted by Albanese in Sydney. Biden won’t have to wait long to see Modi again. The president is hosting Modi for a state visit on June 22.

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May 14, 2023
Japan, South Korea eye visit by team of experts as Fukushima nuclear plant prepares water release

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Officials from Japan and South Korea eyed a potential visit by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water to sea. It’s one of their major sticking points between the two sides that are quickly thawing long-strained ties.

Discussions were to take place later Friday, and the Japanese government was expected to give updates on the status of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which is preparing for a release of the water, saying it’s an unavoidable step to move its decommissioning process forward.

The government and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the release will begin between spring and summer and take decades to finish.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings and was collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that now cover much of the plant.

The government and TEPCO say the tanks must be removed so that facilities can be built for the plant’s decommissioning, while minimizing risks of leaks in case of another major disaster. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons in spring 2024.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during his May 7-8 visit to Seoul for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced that Japan will receive a team of experts to visit the plant later in May to address South Korea’s concerns in a show of his enthusiasm to further improve relations.

Seoul wants to send some 20 government experts to visit Fukushima Daiichi plant May 23-24, although the group’s size would be determined after talks with Japan, according to South Korean officials. Japan was reluctant to accept private experts, saying it’s a government-to-government matter.

Japan is expected to give them a tour — not a safety inspection — of the plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday the visit would not affect the timing of a planned release of the water and that Japan continues to give explanation about safety measures to gain understanding.

Japanese officials say the water will be safely filtered to below releasable levels by international standards and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it unharmful to human health or to marine life.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities that are concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighboring countries, including South Korea, China and the Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release should be delayed.

Japan has been assisted by the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure credibility and transparency.

Historical disputes have strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul — most recently over compensation of wartime Korean forced laborers during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relationship has thawed rapidly since March, when Yoon’s government announced a local fund to compensate some of the former laborers. Tokyo and Seoul, under pressure from Washington, share a sense of urgency to mend ties amid growing security threats in the region.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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May 11, 2023
Japan, US, S. Korea discuss sharing of N. Korea missile data

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TOKYO — Japan, the United States and South Korea are negotiating an agreement on sharing real-time data on North Korean missile launches, as cooperation among the three nations becomes increasingly important amid growing nuclear and missile threats from the North, Japan’s chief government spokesperson said Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there has been no agreement yet, but “I understand that defense authorities are vigorously proceeding to set up an arrangement.”

“The security environment surrounding Japan and South Korea is becoming more severe and more complex, and coordination between the two countries as well as trilaterally with the United States has become increasingly important,” Matsuno said.

Japan and South Korea are both key U.S. allies and their cooperation is key to Washington’s security strategy in the Indo-Pacific as tensions grow with China, North Korea and Russia.

Japan and South Korea have been separately linked to data from U.S. radar systems but not directly to each other due to difficult relations strained by disputes over history, most recently over South Korean court rulings in 2018 ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean workers for wartime abuses including forced labor. Leaders of the three countries agreed last November to speed up information sharing on North Korean ballistic missile launches.

Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that Japan and South Korea are nearing agreement on connecting their radars via a U.S. system to share real-time North Korean missile warning information, which would help strengthen Japanese missile defense capabilities.

The Yomiuri said the three countries are expected to reach an agreement in early June on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense ministers’ conference being held in Singapore. Japanese and South Korean defense ministers will hold bilateral talks during the conference, the Yomiuri said.

Ties between Japan and South Korea have rapidly thawed in recent months, largely because of their shared sense of urgency over escalating regional security threats.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government announced in March a domestically contentious plan to use local corporate funds to compensate Korean victims of forced labor without demanding contributions from Japan. Yoon then visited Tokyo and agreed with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to overcome their disputes over history to deal with more pressing concerns, prompting a resumption of defense, trade and other talks.

Kishida visited Seoul this week, where he avoided making a new, direct apology over Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula but sympathized with Korean victims over their ordeals in an apparent effort to maintain the momentum for improving ties.

Kishida said he and Yoon will pay respects at a memorial for Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima during this month’s summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, where Yoon has been invited as a guest. Tokyo will allow South Korean experts to inspect preparations at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant for the release of treated but still slightly radioactive wastewater, which many Koreans oppose, Kishida said.

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May 9, 2023
Indonesia lifts tsunami alert after powerful undersea quake

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia lifted a tsunami alert Tuesday following a magnitude 7.1 undersea earthquake that hit off Mentawai Island, triggering panic in a region prone to fatal quakes but apparently causing no major damage or casualties.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centered 170.4 kilometers (105.6 miles) southeast of Teluk Dalam, a coastal town in the South Nias Regency, North Sumatra province, at a depth of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) under the sea, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The earthquake was followed by at least 5 aftershocks measuring magnitude between 5.8 and 4.6, it said.

After an initial tsunami alert, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency lifted the warning hours after the quake. The agency initially put a preliminary magnitude at 7.3, but later revised it to 6.9. Variations in early measurements are common.

The agency’s head of the Earthquake and Tsunami Center, Daryono, who goes by a single name, said that based on sea-level observations, minor tsunamis of 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) were detected in Tanah Bala coastal area of South Nias regency.

Residents in parts of West Sumatra province, including the provincial capital of Padang, felt the earthquake strongly for about 30 seconds, causing panic, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said. Some places ordered evacuations to higher ground.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 270 million people, is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that arcs the Pacific.

The last major earthquake was in November last year, when a magnitude 5.6 killed at least 340 people and more than 7,700 were injured while more than 62,600 homes were damaged across 16 districts in West Java’s Cianjur regency and the surrounding region.

In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

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April 24, 2023
North Korea claims ‘radioactive tsunami’ weapon test at sea

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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea claimed Friday to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval strike groups and ports. Analysts were skeptical that the device presents a major new threat, but the test underlines the North’s commitment to raising nuclear threats.

The test this week came as the United States reportedly planned to deploy aircraft carrier strike groups and other advanced assets to waters off the Korean Peninsula. Military tensions are at a high point as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in the past year in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the new weapon, which can be deployed from the coast or towed by surface ships, is built to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami through an underwater explosion to destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports of the enemy.”

The North Korean report came hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to make North Korea pay for its “reckless provocations” as he attended a remembrance service honoring 55 South Korean troops killed during major clashes with the North near their western sea border in past years.

The testing of the purported “nuclear underwater attack drone” was part of a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on unspecified South Korean targets, which also included cruise missile launches on Wednesday.

KCNA said that the drills were supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who condemned the U.S.-South Korean drills as invasion rehearsals and vowed to make his rivals “plunge into despair.”

The drone is named “Haeil,” a Korean word meaning tidal waves or tsunamis. The North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published photos of Kim smiling next to a large torpedo-shaped object at an unspecified indoor facility, but didn’t identify it.

Other photos published with the same article showed sea-surface tracks supposedly caused by the drone’s underwater trajectory and a pillar of water exploding up into the air, possibly caused by what state media described as an underwater detonation of a mock nuclear weapon carried by the drone.

KCNA said the North’s latest tests were aimed at alerting the United States and South Korea of a brewing “nuclear crisis” as they continue with their “intentional, persistent and provocative war drills.”

The U.S. and South Korea completed an 11-day exercise that included their biggest field training in years on Thursday, and are preparing another round of joint naval drills that will reportedly involve a U.S. aircraft carrier.

KCNA said North Korea’s latest drills verified the operational reliability of the drone, which it said the North has been developing since 2012 and tested more 50 times in the past two years, although the weapon was never mentioned before in state media until Friday.

KCNA said the drone was deployed off the North’s eastern coast on Tuesday, traveled underwater for nearly 60 hours, and detonated a test warhead at a target standing for an enemy port.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies, said that it’s impossible to verify North Korea’s claims about the drone’s capabilities or that it had tested the system dozens of times. But, he said, the North is intending to communicate that the weapon has enough range to reach all South Korean ports.

Ankit Panda, a senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, questioned the wisdom of North Korea devoting resources to the drone system as a means of delivery versus its ballistic missiles when it has limited amounts of nuclear materials suitable for weapons.

“This un-crewed underwater vehicle will be vulnerable to anti-submarine warfare capabilities if it were to deploy beyond North Korea’s coastal waters. It will also be susceptible to preemptive strikes when in port,” said Panda.

“Indeed, the U.S. and South Korea would have incentives in a crisis to preempt any such systems before they could deploy.”

North Korea is believed to have dozens of nuclear warheads and may be capable of fitting them on older weapons systems, such as Scuds or Rodong missiles. However, there are different assessments on how far it has advanced in engineering those warheads to fit on the new weapons it has developed at a rapid pace, which might require further technological upgrades and nuclear tests.

Speaking to lawmakers on Thursday, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup said the North probably hasn’t yet mastered the technology to place nuclear arms on its most advanced weapons, although acknowledging that the country was making “significant progress.”

On Wednesday, North Korea also test-fired cruise missiles in launches that were detected and publicized by South Korea’s military. It also staged another nuclear attack simulation with a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday and flight-tested an intercontinental ballistic missile last week that may be able to reach the continental United States.

KCNA said Wednesday’s tests were of four cruise missiles and two different types. The missiles flew for more than two hours in patterns over the sea while demonstrating an ability to strike targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) and 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) away. It said the missiles’ mock nuclear warheads were detonated 600 meters (1,968 feet) above their targets, which supposedly verified the reliability of their nuclear explosion control devices and warhead detonators.

KCNA said Kim Jong Un was satisfied with the three-day drills and directed unspecified additional tasks to counter the “reckless military provocations” of his rivals, indicating North Korea will further ramp up its military displays.

He “expressed his will to make the U.S. imperialists and the (South) Korean puppet regime plunge into despair” with powerful demonstrations of his military nuclear program to make his rivals understand “they are bound to lose more than they get” with the expansion of their joint drills.

Kim issued similar language Sunday after a test-firing of a short-range ballistic missile from what was possibly a silo dug into the ground. The North’s media said a mock nuclear warhead placed on the missile detonated 800 meters (2,624 feet) above water, an altitude that would maximize damage.

The North has fired over 20 ballistic and cruise missiles across 10 launch events this year as it tries to diversify its delivery systems and display the ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in testing activity, with more than 70 missiles fired in 2022, as Kim accelerated a campaign aimed at negotiating badly needed sanctions relief from a position of strength and forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power.

___

Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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March 24, 2023
Japan marks 12 years from tsunami and nuclear disaster

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TOKYO — Japan on Saturday marked the 12th anniversary of the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster with a minute of silence, as concerns grew ahead of the planned release of the treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and the government’s return to nuclear energy.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that ravaged large parts of Japan’s northeastern coast on March 11, 2011, left more than 22,000 people dead, including about 3,700 whose subsequent deaths were linked to the disaster.

A moment of silence was observed nationwide at 2:46 p.m., the moment the earthquake struck.

Some residents in the tsunami-hit northern prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi walked down to the coast to pray for their loved ones and the 2,519 whose remains were never found.

In Tomioka, one of the Fukushima towns where initial searches had to be abandoned due to radiation, firefighters and police use sticks and a hoe to rake through the coastline looking for the possible remains of the victims or their belongings.

At an elementary school in Sendai, north of Fukushima, participants released hundreds of colorful balloons in memory of the lives lost.

In Tokyo, dozens of people gathered at an anniversary event in a downtown park, and anti-nuclear activists staged a rally.

The earthquake and tsunami that slammed into the coastal Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant destroyed its power and cooling functions, triggering meltdowns in three of its six reactors. They spewed massive amounts of radiation that caused tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.

Over 160,000 people had left at one point, and about 30,000 are still unable to return due to long-term radiation effects or health concerns. Many of the evacuees have already resettled elsewhere, and most affected towns have seen significant population declines over the past decade.

At a ceremony, Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori said decontamination and reconstruction had made progress, but “we still face many difficult problems.” He said many people were still leaving and the prefecture was burdened with the plant cleanup and rumors about the effects of the upcoming release of the treated water.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, and the government are making final preparations to release into the sea more than 1.3 million tons of treated radioactive water, beginning in coming months.

The government says the controlled release of the water after treatment to safe levels over several decades is safe, but many residents as well as neighbors China and South Korea and Pacific island nations are opposed to it. Fishing communities are particularly concerned about the reputation of local fish and their still recovering business.

In his speech last week, Uchibori urged the government to do utmost to prevent negative rumors about the water release from further damaging Fukushima’s image.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida renewed his pledge to support the ongoing reconstruction efforts. Speaking at the ceremony, he did not mention his policy to maximize nuclear power or address the water discharge.

Kishida’s government has reversed a nuclear phase-out policy that was adopted following the 2011 disaster, and instead is pushing a plan to maximize the use of nuclear energy to address energy supply concerns triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine while meeting decarbonization requirements.

Uchibori’s goal is to bolster the renewable energy supply to 100% of the Fukushima prefectural needs by 2040. He said last week that while the energy policy is the central government’s mandate, he wants it to remember that Fukushima continues to suffer from the nuclear disaster.

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March 11, 2023
Today in History: MARCH 11, Earthquake and tsunami in Japan

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Today in History

Today is Saturday, March 11, the 70th day of 2023. There are 295 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history:

On March 11, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis.

On this date:

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln removed Gen. George B. McClellan as general-in-chief of the Union armies, leaving him in command of the Army of the Potomac, a post McClellan also ended up losing.

In 1918, what were believed to be the first confirmed U.S. cases of a deadly global flu pandemic were reported among U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; 46 soldiers would die. (The worldwide outbreak of influenza claimed an estimated 20 to 40 million lives.)

In 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, where he vowed on March 20, “I shall return” — a promise he kept more than 2 1/2 years later.

In 1954, the U.S. Army charged that Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., and his subcommittee’s chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had exerted pressure to obtain favored treatment for Pvt. G. David Schine, a former consultant to the subcommittee. (The confrontation culminated in the famous Senate Army-McCarthy hearings.)

In 1985, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Konstantin U. Chernenko as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

In 1997, rock star Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2002, two columns of light soared skyward from Ground Zero in New York as a temporary memorial to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks six months earlier.

In 2004, ten bombs exploded in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.

In 2006, former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic (sloh-BOH’-dahn mee-LOH’-shuh-vich) was found dead of a heart attack in his prison cell in the Netherlands, abruptly ending his four-year U.N. war crimes trial; he was 64.

In 2010, a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency.

In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan’s northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and severely damaging the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station.

In 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced in New York to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse.

Ten years ago: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) was convicted of a raft of crimes, including racketeering conspiracy (he was later sentenced to 28 years in prison). North Korea said it was no longer bound by the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, following days of increased tensions over its latest nuclear test. (A U.N. spokesman said that North Korea could not unilaterally dissolve the armistice.)

Five years ago: The White House pledged to help states pay for firearms training for teachers, and renewed its call for an improved background check system, as part of a new plan to prevent school shootings like the one that left 17 people dead at a Florida high school four weeks earlier; the plan did not include a push to boost the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons to 21. Lawmakers in China abolished presidential term limits that had been in place for more than 35 years, opening up the possibility of Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) holding power for life.

One year ago: Russia widened its offensive in Ukraine, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial city in the east, while the huge armored column that had been stalled for over a week outside Kyiv went on the move again. A grand jury declined to indict Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson following a police investigation sparked by lawsuits filed by 22 women who accused him of harassment and sexual assault. Officials said actor and singer Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that he staged himself.

Today’s birthdays: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 92. Former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 89. Musician Flaco Jimenez (FLAH’-koh hee-MEH’-nez) is 84. Actor Tricia O’Neil is 78. Actor Mark Metcalf is 77. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 76. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 73. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 73. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 72. Actor Susan Richardson is 71. Recording executive Jimmy Iovine (eye-VEEN’) is 70. Singer Nina Hagen is 68. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 68. Actor Elias Koteas (ee-LY’-uhs koh-TAY’-uhs) is 62. Actor-director Peter Berg is 61. Singer Mary Gauthier (GOH’-shay) is 61. Actor Jeffrey Nordling is 61. Actor Alex Kingston is 60. Actor Wallace Langham is 58. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is 58. Actor John Barrowman is 56. Singer Lisa Loeb is 55. Neo-soul musician Al Gamble (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 54. Singer Pete Droge is 54. Actor Terrence Howard is 54. Rock musician Rami Jaffee is 54. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 52. Rock singer-musicians Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte; The Madden Brothers) are 44. Actor David Anders is 42. Singer LeToya Luckett is 42. Actor Thora Birch is 41. TV personality Melissa Rycroft is 40. Actor Rob Brown is 39. Actor Jodie Comer is 30.

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March 10, 2023
What’s happening at Fukushima plant 12 years after meltdown?

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OKUMA, Japan — Twelve years after the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan is preparing to release a massive amount of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea.

Japanese officials say the release is unavoidable and should start soon.

Dealing with the wastewater is less of a challenge than the daunting task of decommissioning the plant. That process has barely progressed, and the removal of melted nuclear fuel hasn’t even started.

The Associated Press recently visited the plant. Here’s an update on what’s happening.

___

HOW ARE WATER DISCHARGE PREPARATIONS PROCEEDING?

During their visit, AP journalists saw 30 giant tanks for sampling and analyzing the water for safety checks. A concrete facility for diluting the water after it is treated and tested is in the final stages of construction. From there, the water will be released via an undersea tunnel.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, aims to have the facilities ready by spring. TEPCO needs a safety approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The International Atomic Energy Agency, collaborating with Japan to ensure the project meets international standards, will send a mission to Japan and issue a report before the discharge begins.

___ WHAT IS TREATED WATER?

A magnitude 9.0 quake on March 11, 2011, triggered a massive tsunami that destroyed the plant’s power supply and cooling systems, causing reactors No. 1, 2 and 3 to melt and spew large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the reactors’ cores leaked into the basements of the reactor buildings and mixed with rainwater and groundwater.

The 130 tons of contaminated water created daily is collected, treated and then stored in tanks, which now number about 1,000 and cover much of the plant’s grounds. About 70% of the “ALPS-treated water,” named after the machines used to filter it, still contains Cesium and other radionuclides that exceed releasable limits.

TEPCO says the radioactivity can be reduced to safe levels and it will ensure that insufficiently filtered water is treated until it meets the legal limit.

Tritium cannot be removed from the water but is unharmful in small amounts and is routinely released by any nuclear plant, officials say. It will be also diluted, along with other radioactive isotopes, they say. The water release will be gradual and tritium concentrations will not exceed the plant’s pre-accident levels, TEPCO says.

___ WHY RELEASE THE WATER?

Fukushima Daiichi has struggled to handle the contaminated water since the 2011 disaster. The government and TEPCO say the tanks must make way for facilities to decommission the plant, such as storage space for melted fuel debris and other highly contaminated waste. The tanks are 96% full and expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons in the fall.

They also want to release the water in a controlled, treated way to avoid the risk that contaminated water would leak in case of another major quake or tsunami. It will be sent through a pipe from the sampling tanks to a coastal pool to be diluted with seawater and released through an undersea tunnel to a point 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) offshore.

__ WHAT ARE THE SAFETY CONCERNS?

Local fishing communities say their businesses and livelihoods will suffer still more damage. Neighboring countries such as China and South Korea and Pacific Island nations have raised safety concerns.

“It would be best if the water isn’t released, but it seems unavoidable,” said Katsumasa Okawa, owner of a seafood store in Iwaki, south of the plant, whose business is still recovering. Okawa said he hopes any further setbacks will be short-lived and that the releases might reassure people about eating fish from Fukushima.

“I find those massive tanks more disturbing,” Okawa said. “The next time the water leaks out by accident, Fukushima’s fishing will be finished.”

The government has earmarked 80 billion yen ($580 million) to support Fukushima fisheries and to address “reputation damage” from the release.

TEPCO has sought to reassure people by keeping hundreds of flounder and abalone in two groups — one in regular seawater and another in the diluted treated water. The experiment is “for people to visually confirm the treated water we deem safe to release won’t adversely affect creatures in reality,” said Tomohiko Mayuzumi, TEPCO’s risk communicator.

Radioactivity levels in the flounder and abalone rose while they were in the treated water but fell to normal levels within days after they were returned to regular seawater. That supports data showing a minimal effect on marine life from tritium, said Noboru Ishizawa, a TEPCO official overseeing the experiment.

Officials say the impact of the water on humans, the environment and marine life will be minimal and will be monitored before, during and after the releases which will continue through the 30-40 year decommissioning process. Simulations show no increase in radioactivity beyond 3 kilometers (1.8 mile) from the coast.

Scientists say health impacts from consuming tritium and other radioisotopes through the food chain may be worse than from drinking it in water and further studies are needed.

Cross-checks are another concern: TEPCO says water samples are shared with IAEA and the government-funded Japan Atomic Energy Agency, but experts would like to see independent cross-checks.

University of Tokyo radiologist Katsumi Shozugawa said his analysis of groundwater in multiple locations in no-go zones near the plant has shown that tritium and other radioactive elements have been leaking into groundwater.

If highly radioactive water escapes and is dispersed into the sea it becomes impossible to trace, a concern not only for Japan but also for countries in the Pacific, he said. “There should be a continuous, science-based effort to show other countries that it’s thoroughly handled, which I think is lacking the most.”

Environmental groups including Friends of the Earth oppose the release. They have proposed long-term storage of the water by solidification, as used at the Savannah River waste repository in the U.S.

___ ANY PROGRESS WITH THE MELTED REACTORS? Massive amounts of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the reactors. Robotic probes have provided some information but the status of the melted debris is largely unknown.

Akira Ono, who heads the cleanup as president of TEPCO’s decommissioning unit, says the work is “unconceivably difficult.”

Earlier this year, a remote-controlled underwater vehicle successfully collected a tiny sample from inside Unit 1’s reactor — only a spoonful of about 880 tons of melted fuel debris in the three reactors. That’s 10 times the amount of damaged fuel removed at the Three Mile Island cleanup following its 1979 partial core melt.

Trial removal of melted debris will begin in Unit 2 later this year after a nearly two-year delay. Spent fuel removal from Unit 1 reactor’s cooling pool is to start in 2027 after a 10-year delay. Once all the spent fuel is removed the focus will turn in 2031 to taking melted debris out of the reactors.

___ IS A 2051 COMPLETION TARGET REALISTIC?

Ono says the goal is a good “guidepost” but too little is known. The government has stuck to its initial 30-40 year target for completing the decommissioning, without defining what that means.

An overly ambitious schedule could result in unnecessary radiation exposures for plant workers and excess environmental damage, said Ryo Omatsu, an expert on legal aspects of nuclear plant decommissioning.

Some experts say it would be impossible to remove all the melted fuel debris by 2051.

___

Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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March 9, 2023
Earthquakes Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at earthquakes worldwide.

The US Geological Survey describes an earthquake as “the ground shaking caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth’s outer layer push the sides of the fault together. Stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the earth’s crust and cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake.”

Earthquakes are measured using seismographs, which monitor the seismic waves that travel through the Earth after an earthquake strikes.

Scientists used the Richter Scale for many years to measure earthquakes but now largely follow the “moment magnitude scale,” which USGS says is a more accurate measure of size.

(selected timeline of earthquakes around the world with death tolls exceeding 100)

June 4, 2000 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes southern Sumatra, Indonesia, killing an estimated 103 people.

January 13, 2001 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquakes hits near San Miguel, El Salvador, killing an estimated 852 people.

January 26, 2001 – An estimated 20,000 people are killed by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered in Gujarat, India.

February 13, 2001 – Another earthquake strikes El Salvador, magnitude 6.6. Three hundred and fifteen people are estimated to have been killed.

June 23, 2001 – An estimated 138 people are killed in Peru by an 8.4-magnitude earthquake.

March 3, 2002 – In the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, an estimated 166 people are killed by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake.

March 25, 2002 – Another earthquake in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, this one a magnitude 6.1, kills 1,000 people.

June 22, 2002 – A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes western Iran, killing an estimated 261 people.

February 24, 2003 – In southern Xianjiang, China, a magnitude 6.3 quake leaves an estimated 263 people dead.

May 1, 2003 – A 6.4-magnitude quake strikes eastern Turkey, killing approximately 177 people.

May 21, 2003 – An estimated 2,266 people are killed by a magnitude 6.8 quake in northern Algeria.

December 26, 2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake strikes the city of Bam in southeast Iran. Around 31,000 people die in the quake.

February 24, 2004 – Approximately 631 people are killed in Morocco by a magnitude 6.4 quake.

December 26, 2004 – A magnitude 9.1 earthquake strikes off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake and tsunamis generated by the earthquake kill 227,898 people in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Bangladesh. The quake releases an amount of energy equal to a 100-gigaton bomb and lasts between 500-600 seconds.

February 22, 2005 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes central Iran, killing at least 612 people.

March 28, 2005 – A magnitude 8.6 earthquake strikes off the coast of Indonesia, on the same fault line that originated a December 26 earthquake that launched a deadly tsunami. At least 1,300 people are killed.

October 8, 2005 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes Pakistan. At least 86,000 people are killed.

May 26, 2006 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs in central Java, Indonesia, killing at least 5,749 people.

July 17, 2006 – A magnitude 7.7 quake strikes Java, Indonesia, killing an estimated 730 people.

August 15, 2007 – A magnitude 8.0 earthquake hits Peru, about 100 miles south of the capital of Lima. Approximately 514 people are reported dead.

May 12, 2008 – A magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes in central China, killing more than 87,000 people.

October 28, 2008 – A 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Pakistan, killing an estimated 166 people.

April 6, 2009 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes central Italy, killing 295 people.

September 29, 2009 – A magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the Samoa Islands kills 192 people.

September 30, 2009 – A magnitude 7.6 earthquake strikes Sumatra, Indonesia, killing more than 1,000 people.

January 12, 2010 – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake strikes 14 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. USAID estimates the death toll to be about 230,000, but other estimates are as high as 316,000.

February 27, 2010 – An 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes central Chile, killing an estimated 547 people.

April 13, 2010 – A 6.9-magnitude earthquake strikes China’s Qinghai province. Approximately 2,968 people are reported dead.

October 25, 2010 – At least 503 people die due to a magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Indonesia and a subsequent tsunami.

February 21, 2011 – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake strikes Christchurch, New Zealand. An estimated 181 people are killed.

March 11, 2011 – A 9.1-magnitude earthquake strikes near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, causing a massive tsunami. The quake’s epicenter is 231 miles away from Tokyo. The total of confirmed deaths and missing is over 22,000.

September 18, 2011 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes Sikkim, India, killing an estimated 111 people.

October 23, 2011 – A 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Turkey. The death toll is 604 people.

February 6, 2012 – A 6.7-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of Negros, Philippines, killing at least 113 people.

August 11, 2012 – Two earthquakes hit northern Iran. The first to strike is a 6.4-magnitude earthquake. 11 minutes later, a second earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 hits. At least 306 people are killed.

November 7, 2012 – A 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Guatemala kills an estimated 139 people.

April 20, 2013 – An earthquake strikes the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, killing at least 192 people. The USGS gauges it at 6.6-magnitude and the China Earthquake Networks Center estimates it at 7.0-magnitude.

September 24, 2013 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits the Balochistan province of Pakistan. More than 300 people are reported killed.

August 3, 2014 – An earthquake hits China’s Yunnan province, killing at least 615 people and injuring more than 2,400. The USGS gauges the quake at 6.1 magnitude and the China Earthquake Networks Center estimates it at 6.5 magnitude.

April 25, 2015 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal, and is centered less than 50 miles from its capital Kathmandu. The death toll is more than 8,000, with 366 missing, according to Nepal’s National Emergency Operations Center. Weeks later on May 12, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake strikes the already reeling country of Nepal, killing at least 125 in Nepal, India and Tibet.

October 26, 2015 – A 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits South Asia, killing at least 364 people and injuring more than 2,000 others. The epicenter is in northeastern Afghanistan, but most of the deaths – at least 248 – are reported in Pakistan.

April 16, 2016 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes coastal Ecuador, killing 663 people.

August 24, 2016 – A 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes central Italy, killing at least 290 people.

September 19, 2017 – A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Mexico City and surrounding states, killing at least 369 people.

November 12, 2017 – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hits the border region between Iraq and Iran. More than 600 people are killed.

September 28, 2018 – A 7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. More than 2,100 people are killed and 1,300 missing from the earthquake and resulting tsunami.

August 14, 2021 – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest Haiti. Two days later, Tropical Storm Grace brings strong winds and heavy rain to the same region, complicating relief efforts. Approximately 2,248 people are killed and 12,763 injured.

June 22, 2022 – A 5.9-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Afghanistan. More than 1,000 people are killed and at least 1,500 are injured.

November 21, 2022 – A 5.6-magnitude earthquake hits the Cianjur region in West Java, Indonesia, killing more than 334 people.

February 6, 2023 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria. The epicenter is 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province. More than 50,000 people are killed and tens of thousands injured.

(from the USGS)

May 22, 1960 – Chile, 9.5

March 28, 1964 – Prince William Sound, Alaska, 9.2

December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia, 9.1

March 11, 2011 – Honshu, Japan, 9.1

November 4, 1952 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 9.0

February 27, 2010 – Chile, 8.8

January 31, 1906 – Ecuador, 8.8

February 4, 1965 – Rat Islands, Alaska, 8.7

August 15, 1950 – Assam, Tibet, 8.6

April 11, 2012 – Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6

March 28, 2005 – Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.6

March 9, 1957 – Andreanof Islands, Alaska, 8.6

April 1, 1946 – Unimak Island, Alaska, 8.6

February 1, 1938 – Banda Sea, Indonesia, 8.5

November 11, 1922 – Chile-Argentina Border, 8.5

October 13, 1963 – Kuril Islands, 8.5

February 3, 1923 – Kamchatka, Soviet Union, 8.4

September 12, 2007 – Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, 8.4

June 23, 2001 – Arequipa, Peru, 8.4

March 2, 1933 – Sanriku, Japan, 8.4

January 12, 2010 – Haiti – 316,000 killed (magnitude 7.0). Other sources report 230,000.

July 27, 1976 – Tangshan, China – 255,000 killed (7.5)

December 26, 2004 – Sumatra, Indonesia – 227,898 killed in quake and resulting tsunami (9.1)

December 16, 1920 – Haiyuan, China – 200,000 killed (7.8)

September 1, 1923 – Kanto, Japan – 143,000 killed (7.9)

October 5, 1948 – Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – 110,000 killed (7.3)

May 12, 2008 – Eastern Sichuan, China – 87,587 killed (7.9)

October 8, 2005 – Pakistan – 86,000 (7.6)

December 28, 1908 – Messina, Italy – 70,000 (7.2)

May 31, 1970 – Chimbote, Peru – 66,000 killed (7.9)

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February 24, 2023
The world’s deadliest earthquakes since 2000

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The Associated Press — A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 3,400 people in the two countries. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers search through the frigid night.

Here is a list of some of the world’s deadliest earthquakes since 2000:

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June 22, 2022: In Afghanistan, more than 1,100 people die in magnitude 6.1 earthquake.

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Aug. 14, 2021: In Haiti, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake kills more than 2,200 people.

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Sept. 28, 2018: A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Indonesia, killing more than 4,300 people.

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Aug. 24, 2016: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake in central Italy kills more than 300 people.

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April 25, 2015: In Nepal, more than 8,800 people are killed by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

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Aug. 3, 2014: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake near Wenping, China, kills more than 700 people.

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Sept. 24, 2013: A magnitude 7.7 quake strikes southwest Pakistan, killing more than 800 people.

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March 11, 2011: A magnitude 9.0 quake off the northeast coast of Japan triggers a tsunami, killing more than 20,000 people.

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Feb. 27, 2010: A magnitude 8.8 quake shakes Chile, generating a tsunami and killing 524 people.

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Jan. 12, 2010: In Haiti, a staggering 316,000 people are killed by a magnitude 7.0 quake, according to government estimates.

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Sept. 30, 2009: More than 1,100 people die when a magnitude 7.5 quake hits southern Sumatra, Indonesia.

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April 6, 2009: A magnitude 6.3 quake kills more than 300 people in and around L’Aquila, Italy.

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May 12, 2008: A magnitude 7.9 quake strikes eastern Sichuan in China, resulting in over 87,500 deaths.

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Aug. 15, 2007: A magnitude 8.0 earthquake near the coast of central Peru kills more than 500 people.

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May 26, 2006: More than 5,700 people die when a magnitude 6.3 quake hits the island of Java, Indonesia.

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Oct. 8, 2005: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake kills over 80,000 people in Pakistan’s Kashmir region.

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March 28, 2005: A magnitude 8.6 quake in northern Sumatra in Indonesia kills about 1,300 people.

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Dec. 26, 2004: A magnitude 9.1 quake in Indonesia triggers an Indian Ocean tsunami, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

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Dec. 26, 2003: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits southeastern Iran, resulting in 50,000 deaths.

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May 21, 2003: More than 2,200 people are killed in a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Algeria.

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March 25, 2002: About 1,000 people are killed in a magnitude 6.1 quake in northern Afghanistan.

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Jan. 26, 2001: A magnitude 7.7 quake strikes Gujarat in India, killing 20,000 people.

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Source: U.S. Geological Survey

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February 6, 2023
Strong earthquake shakes western Indonesia, no tsunami alert

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JAKARTA, Indonesia — A strong undersea earthquake shook western Indonesia Monday morning. But there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.

The magnitude 6.0 earthquake was centered 48 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Singkil, a coastal district in Aceh province at a depth of 48 kilometers (30 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

No tsunami alert was issued by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 270 million people, is frequently hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake on Nov. 21 killed at least 331 people and injured nearly 600 in West Java’s Cianjur city. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a 2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed about 4,340 people.

In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

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January 15, 2023