Powerful quake rocks Japan

[din]

Tsunami causes major damage after 8.9-magnitude quake strikes off the northeastern coast of the country.

Last Modified: 11 Mar 2011 07:25 GMT


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A massive 8.9 magnitude quake has hit northeast Japan, causing a four-metre tsunami along parts of the country's
coastline.
NHK television reported many injuries and showed pictures of major tsunami damage in the north, with cars, trucks, houses being swept away in Onahama city in Fukushima prefecture.
Many people were injured after a roof caved in during a school graduation ceremony at a hall in east Tokyo, the fire department in the capital said, after the quake hit on Friday.

The quake shook buildings in Tokyo for several minutes and sent people out onto the streets.
The news agency AFP said multiple injuries, but no immediate deaths, were reported from the Pacific coastal area of Miyagi on the main Honshu island.
Japan's NHK television showed black smoke billowing from a building in Odaiba, a suburb of Tokyo.
The quake that struck at 2:46pm was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one about 30 minutes later.
Tremors were felt as far away as in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The country's meteorological agency warned that a tsunami as high as six metres could strike the coast near Miyagi prefecture, closest to the epicentre.
There was a warning of a 10-metre tsunami following the quake, Japan's biggest in 7 years.
The US Geological Survey issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the
US state of Hawaii.
An 7.2 earthquake hit Japan on Wednesday.
"Japan has been on high alert since the earthquake on Wednesday," Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, following developments from Kuala Lumpur, said
"Japan is very well equipped to deal both with the initial tremors caused by an earthquake: buildings are systematically built with in-built allowances for sway so that they are less likely to fall down. Also coastal cities have long had tsunami protection measures in place."
Yukiko Shimahara, a Japanese journalist, told Al Jazeera that the airports and trains in Tokyo have been shut down following the quake.
Friday's quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres, about 125 kilometres off the eastern coast, the meteorological agency said.
Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire"- an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 per cent of the world's quakes occur.
Several earthquakes have hit the region in recent days, including a 7.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday.

[din]

Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans Struggle to Find Jobs

March 11, 2011
Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans Struggle to Find Jobs

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — These are hard times for military veterans to find a job.
The Labor Department is expected to release new unemployment numbers Friday for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans ages 18 to 24. More than 20 percent were reported unemployed in 2009, and veterans' advocates say the number is expected to be just as high for 2010.
Concerns that Guard and Reserve troops will be gone for long stretches and that veterans might have mental health issues or lack civilian work skills appear to be keeping many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans out of work.
The problem persists despite government and private initiatives designed to help them.

[din]

India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 11, 2011
India Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has tested the naval version of a short-range missile capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, a defense ministry official said Friday.
The missile was test fired Friday from a navy warship in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of eastern Orissa state, said defense ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar.
"The missile test was a success and hit the intended targets," Kar said.
The home-developed Dhanush, or Bow missile, can hit a target up to 220 miles (350 kilometers) away.
Friday's test was part of routine trials that defense scientists conduct to test various parameters of the missile, the official said.
India is developing a range of missiles to strengthen its defense capability, including the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Agni and Akash missiles, the anti-tank Nag, and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.
India's missiles are mostly intended for any confrontation with neighboring archrival Pakistan. Friday's test was unlikely to aggravate tensions between India and Pakistan as both countries routinely conduct missile tests.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, two over control of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
The countries normally inform each other before carrying out long-distance missile tests. It was not immediately clear if Pakistan had been informed about Friday's test.

[din]

Japan fears nuclear plant meltdown

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Radiation has leaked from a Japanese nuclear reactor and authorities say there is a possibility of a meltdown at a plant about 250km north of the capital, Tokyo.
But the government insisted on Saturday that radiation levels have reduced since pressure built rapidly last night near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where five reactors were earlier under a state of emergency.
The cooling system of the plant was damaged in the massive earthquake that struck northeastern Japan and triggered a tsunami, killing hundreds of people.
An explosion at the nuclear facility tore down the walls of one building on Saturday, leaving smoke billowing out. But authorities said the explosion did not affect the reactor core container.
LIVE BLOG However, local media reported that three workers have suffered radiation exposure.
"We are now trying to analyse what is behind the explosion," Yukio Edano, a government spokesman, said. "We ask everyone to take action to secure safety.
"We've confirmed that the reactor container was not damaged. The explosion didn't occur inside the reactor container. As such there was no large amount of radiation leakage outside, so we'd like everyone to respond calmly."
He added that engineers planned to fill the reactor container with sea water to cool the fuel rods and avert a melt down, after parts of the No.1 reactor's fuel were exposed.
State of emergency
Television channels warned nearby residents to stay indoors, turn off air-conditioners and not to drink tap water. People going outside were also told to avoid exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks and wet towels.
Peter Hayes, the executive director of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable development in Melbourne, described the situation as "dire".
"It's still possible that the reactor workers can stabilise the situation if power is brought back, if coolant is brought into the reactor," he told Al Jazeera, but warned that "we're really right at the precipice of a massive nuclear crisis".
Steam containing low-level radiation has been released to relieve pressure and tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated from surrounding areas near the two sites in Fukushima.
Radiation 1,000 times above normal was detected in the control room of one plant in the early hours of the morning.
The quake, which measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, cut the supply of off-site power to the plant and diesel generators intended to provide back-up electricity to the cooling system.
"The events that occurred at these plants, which is the loss of both offsite power and onsite power, is one of the rarest events to happen in a nuclear power plant, and all indications are that the Japanese do not have the situation under control," said Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a US-based nonprofit organisation.
'No Chernobyl possible'
However, Naoto Sekimura, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said a major radioactive disaster was unlikely.

Nuclear expert Peter Hayes discusses possible scenarios for Japan's earthquake-hit nuclear plants
"No Chernobyl is possible at a light water reactor. Loss of coolant means a temperature rise, but it also will stop the
reaction," he said.
"Even in the worst-case scenario, that would mean some radioactive leakage and equipment damage, but not an explosion. If venting is done carefully, there will be little leakage. Certainly not beyond the 3 km radius."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said securing the nuclear plants was Japan's top priority. Early on Saturday morning, he left on a helicopter ride to Fukushima to assess the situation at the plants operated by Tokyo Electric Power, and in other areas in the disaster zone.
When Friday's quake hit, the plants immediately shut down, along with others in quake-hit parts of Japan, as they are designed to do - but cooling systems at some reactors failed, the government said.
When reactors shut down, cooling systems must kick in to bring down the very high temperatures. This is key to prevent a "nuclear meltdown" and radioactive release. Japan's network of advanced nuclear power plants are designed to shut down as soon as the earth shakes.
The quake was one of the strongest ever recorded and triggered a devastating tsunami, up to 10-metre-high along parts of the country's northeastern coastline.

Media reports estimate at least 1,300 people may have been killed, most of whom appeared to have drowned by churning waters.
"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," an official at the national police agency said.
Massive destruction
The Japanese army has deployed about 50,000 troops for search and rescue operations.

Al Jazeera's meteorologist explains Japan's quake

A towering wall of water, generated by the quake, pulverised the northeastern city of Sendai, where 200-300 bodies have reportedly been found on the coast. The wave of black water sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets of Sendai and across open farmland, while a tidal wave of debris-littered mud destroyed everything in its path.
The northeastern Japanese city of Kesennuma, with a population of 74,000, was hit by widespread fires and one-third of the city was under water, Jiji news agency said.
More than eight million homes lost power, mobile and landline phone systems broke down for many and gas was cut to more than 300,000 homes, meaning many people could not heat their dark homes during the cold night.
The unfolding natural disaster prompted offers of search and rescue help from 50 countries.
The towering wave set off alerts across the Pacific, sparking evacuations in Hawaii and the US West Coast, and devastating at least one California port.
Chile said it was evacuating coastal areas and Ecuador's state oil company announced it had suspended crude oil exports due to risks posed by the tsunami.
Unfolding disaster

More than 300 houses were destroyed in the remote city of Ofunato and a dam broke in the northeast prefecture of Fukushima, with homes washed away.
In Tokyo, office workers who were stranded in the city after the quake forced the subway system to close early slept alongside the homeless at one station.
Scores of men in suits lay on newspapers, using their briefcases as pillows. Kyodo said at least 116,000 people in Tokyo had been unable to return home on Friday evening due to transport disruption.
The quake, which lasted about two minutes, rattled buildings in greater Tokyo. It was felt in Beijing, about 2,500 km away.
The first quake struck just under 400km northeast of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey said. It was followed by more than 70 powerful aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.

YouTube - Japan fears nuclear plant meltdown -

[din]

Libyan rebels in retreat

Gaddafi forces reverse rebels' advances as they recapture key towns and now threaten Benghazi, an opposition stronghold.

Last Modified: 12 Mar 2011 14:30 GMT


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Government forces continue to bomb rebel hideouts near Ras Lanuf, a strategic oil town [Al Jazeera] Libyan rebels, who for weeks had rapidly advanced to the capital Tripoli in a bid to oust Muammar Gaddafi, appear to be losing momentum as the better armed government forces regain control of several towns in the east of the vast country.
Brega, the scene of a fierce battle just over a week ago, was the latest town recaptured by Libyan government forces on Saturday, as rebel fighters retreated in the face of intense air and ground firepower.
Al Jazeera's Nick Clark, reporting from the town of Tobruk, said that Gaddafi's forces "are now in a good position to take on Benghazi," Libya's second largest city and a rebel stronghold.

Diplomatic pressure is having little impact on the fighting, as forces loyal to the Libyan leader continue to push eastward into territory held by the rebels.
Gaddafi's forces, with air supremacy and a big advantage in tanks, are maintaining the momentum on the ground.
But while his forces were advancing eastward, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from Benghazi that they were facing resistance from the rebels and that their progress had been slowed.
Gaddafi's forces have not used the full clout of their superior airpower, raising fears in the Benghazi of an aerial attack.
"When all that is employed, as the full might of his force is unleashed, there’s concern here," Birtley reported.
'Global inaction'
There were conflicting reports on which side controls Ras Lanuf, the main oil port town, where the opposition's advance stalled on Thursday.
"We're hearing the opposition forces are back in control of Ras Lanuf at the moment, although during the day, Gaddafi forces came back in," Clark said.
Neither side had full control on Saturday, as fighting continued. Gaddafi's warplanes were carrying out air strikes seemingly unhindered by rebel anti-aircraft guns mounted on pick-up trucks.
Flashpoint cities across Libya Many rebels were angry at what they perceive as international inaction.
"Where is the West? How are they helping? What are they doing," shouted one fighter.
The resurgent Gaddafi forces have already crushed the revolt in Az Zawiyah, a town 50km west of Tripoli and held by rebels for days against a major offensive.
Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reported that pro-Gaddafi forces appeared to be in full control of the town on Saturday, though rebels vowed to keep fighting.
Foreign journalists brought to the city centre by government forces on Friday saw buildings scorched, patches of fresh paint and loyalists chanting "I love Gaddafi".
"The situation is that nothing is happening. It's just some gangs and people who like to destroy the country," Mohamed Ali, a Gaddafi supporter, said.

"Then the Libyan army came and cleaned everything up as though nothing had happened."

Witnesses said government forces had destroyed a graveyard where rebels had buried their dead.

Journalists were instructed to film what appeared to be hastily made graves.

It is unclear how many people, whether rebel fighters or Gaddafi forces, were killed in the fighting in Az Zawyiah.
The only town now holding out in western Libya is Misurata, about 200km east of Tripoli. It was calm on Friday, but rebels said they were expecting an attack in the near future.
YouTube - Libyan rebels in retreat

[din]

طالبان : د غوږونو پرېکول سخت غندو

خپروونکی : لراوبر ډاټ کام ( کاناډا )
ليک : (ن . صمد )
نېټه : ٢١ / ١٢ / ١٣٨٩ | 2011-03-12
طالبانو په هغه اعلامیه کی چی رسنیو ته لیږلې ، ویلی چی وړمه ورځ په ځینو رسنیو کی راغلي وو چی د کندهار ولایت د ژړۍ ولسوالۍ په مربوطاتو کی نامعلومو وسلوالو د څلورو کسانو څخه غوږونه پرې کړي وو او چارواکو هغه پر طالبانو تاوان کړي وو . طالبان وایی چی دا جنایت او غیر اسلامی عمل دی او موږ د دې کار سخت پر ضد یو . اعلامیه وایی چی د طالبانو د لایحې د دوولسم فصل اویایمه ماده داسی وایی : « د انسان مثله کول ( غوږونه ، شونډی ، پزه پرې کول ) په اسلامی شریعت کی منع دی . »


اعلامیه زیاتوی چی موږ به کوښښ وکړو چی د دې پیښی عاملین د خلکو په کومک ونیسو او جزا ورکړو خو موږ ګومان کوو چی دا کار پخپله د هغو کسانو د عُمالو دی چی پر موږ یې تاوانوی ، خو خلک اوس پوه سوي دي او په دغسی پروپاګنډ نه غولیږی .

[din]

دوه بهرني پوځیان له منځه ولاړل

خپروونکی : لراوبر ډاټ کام ( کاناډا )
ليک : (ن . صمد )
نېټه : ٢١ / ١٢ / ١٣٨٩ | 2011-03-12

ناټو لیکی چی پرون د افغانستان په جنوب کی دوه بهرني پوځیان له منځه ولاړل . لومړنی ماین والوزاوه او دوهم د غیر جنګی فعالیتونو له امله له منځه ولاړ ، خو دا یې و نه ویل چی څنګه غیر پوځی فعالیتونه .
په دې سره د مارچ په ۱۲ ورځو کی د بهرنیو پوځیانو تلفات ۱۲ ته ورسېدل .

|

[IamDZJ]

chi daa khalak yaw zal wonewal shey no pa kar dey chi da do ghuwagona aow pozey prey krral shey. che doi bia dasey kar wonakari...

[emkhan]

yes they must be caught and given the same punishment so that they could not do such brutality with innocent peoplel...
actually such things are done with people so that the real people are given bad names....
da talibano da bad naamolo da paara daasi kawi.

[din]

طالبان : د غوږونو پرېکول سخت غندو

http://www.pashtunforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=360812

[din]

World sends relief teams to Japan


Asia-Pacific
World sends relief teams to Japan
Natural disaster prompts offers of search and rescue help from 50 nations, with UN helping to co-ordinate response.

Last Modified: 12 Mar 2011 17:01 GMT


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Switzerland is sending a team of about 25 rescue and medical experts accompanied by nine sniffer dogs [Reuters] The international community has started to send disaster relief teams to help Japan in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami, with the UN sending a group to help co-ordinate work.
The team of disaster relief officials from the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) includes several Japanese speakers and an environmental expert.
"We are in the process of deploying nine experts who are among the most experienced we have for dealing with catastrophes," Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UNOCHA, said on Saturday.
"They will help evaluate needs and co-ordinate assistance with Japanese authorities."
The 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest recorded in Japan, sent a 10-metre high tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast on Friday.
Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed. Japan's army has deployed about 50,000 troops for search and rescue operations.
'Simply heartbreaking'
The unfolding natural disaster has so far prompted offers of search and rescue help from 50 countries.
The UN announced late on Friday that four foreign search and rescue teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and the US were on their way after Japan requested help.
LIVE BLOG China said rescuers were ready to help with earthquake relief, while Barack Obama, the US president, has mobilised the country's military to provide emergency aid after the disaster which he described as "simply heartbreaking".
Washington, which has nearly 40,000 military personnel in Japan, has ordered a flotilla including two aircraft carriers and support ships to the region to provide aid following the tsunami.
Singapore is also deploying an urban search and rescue team in Japan, UNOCHA spokeswoman Byrs said, as Switzerland announced it was sending a team of about 25 rescue and medical experts accompanied by nine sniffer dogs.
The team from Switzerland will be charged with searching for victims underneath the debris of the tsunami, Toni Frisch, head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, said.
The Swiss unit comes from a pool of at least 700 people ready for duty whose skills range from engineering, seismology, telecommunications and war surgery.
Britain said it would be flying out 63 search and rescue personnel and two dogs to Japan later on Saturday in response to a request from Tokyo.
The team will take up to 11 tonnes of equipment, including heavy lifting and cutting equipment.
"People will have seen the scale of it, it's truly devastating, so we will need a really big co-ordinated international response and Britain is playing a full part in that," Jeremy Browne, from the country's foreign ministry, told the UK's Sky News.
He also said William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, had spoken to his counterpart in Japan and offered help if necessary following the explosion at the Japanese nuclear reactor.
Britain recently sent disaster search and rescue teams to New Zealand to assist after last month's earthquake in Christchurch which killed at least 166 people.

Source:
Agencies


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Topics in this article People

• Jeremy Browne
• Elisabeth Byrs
• Barack Obama
• William Hague
• Toni Frisch

Country

• Japan
• Britain
• Switzerland
• United States
• New Zealand
• Australia
• China
• Singapore
• South Korea

City

• Tokyo
• Washington

Organisation

• Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit
• United Nations
• UN Office

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[din]

Exodus from Japan nuclear plant

12 March 2011 Last updated at 08:44 ET Share this page

• F
• 
  

Exodus from Japan nuclear plant

• Latestsurvivors By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

Police are trying to clear residents from the evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant
Continue reading the main story Japanese Earthquake

• Japan tsunami Live
• Health effects of radiation
• Timeline: Power station blast
• Country at the mercy of nature

The word "meltdown" goes to the heart of the big nuclear question - is nuclear power safe?
The term is associated in the public mind with the two most notorious accidents in recent memory - Three Mile Island, in the US, in 1979, and Chernobyl, in Ukraine, seven years later.
You can think of the core of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), such as the ones at Fukushima Daiichi, as a massive version of the electrical element you may have in your kettle.
It sits there, immersed in water, getting very hot.
The water cools it, and also carries the heat away - usually as steam - so it can be used to turn turbines and generate electricity.
If the water stops flowing, there is a problem. The core overheats and more of the water turns to steam.
The steam generates huge pressures inside the reactor vessel - a big, sealed container - and if the largely metal core gets too hot, it will just melt, with some components perhaps catching fire.
In the worst-case scenario, the core melts through the bottom of the reactor vessel and falls onto the floor of the containment vessel - an outer sealed unit.
This is designed to prevent the molten reactor from penetrating any further. Local damage in this case will be serious, but in principle there should be no leakage of radioactive material into the outside world.
But the term "in principle" is the difficult one.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

The job of keeping dangerous materials sealed in falls to the containment vessel inside.”

End Quote

• Timeline: Japan power plant explosion

Reactors are designed to have "multiply redundant" safety features: if one fails, another should contain the problem.
However, the fact that this does not always work is shown at Fukushima Daiichi.
The earthquake meant the three functioning reactors shut down. But it also removed the power that kept the vital water pumps running, sending cooling water around the hot core.
Diesel generators were installed to provide power in such a situation. They did cut in - but then they cut out again an hour later, for reasons that have not yet been revealed.
In this case, redundancy did not work.
And the big fear within the anti-nuclear movement, as used in the film The China Syndrome, is that the multiple containment of a molten core might not work either, allowing highly radioactive and toxic metals to burrow into the ground, with serious and long-lasting environmental impacts - total meltdown.

However, the counter-argument from nuclear proponents is that the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island did not cause any serious effects.
Yes, the core melted, but the containment systems held.
And at Chernobyl - a reactor design regarded in the West as inherently unsafe, and which would not have been sanctioned in any non-Soviet bloc nation - the environmental impacts occurred through explosive release of material into the air, not from a melting reactor core.
To keep things in perspective, no nuclear accident has caused anything approaching the 1,000 short-term fatalities stemming from Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
'Subcritical' reactors Whether a partial meltdown is under way at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet clear.
The most important factor is summed up in a bulletin from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) that owns the facility: "Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)."
A large explosion was seen at the plant with debris blown out from the building
Control rods shut off the nuclear reaction. Heat continues to be produced at that stage through the decay of radioactive nuclei - but that process in turn will begin to tail off.
Intriguingly, Ryohei Shiomi, an official at Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission, is widely quoted as having said a meltdown was possible and that officials were checking.
Meanwhile, a visually dramatic explosion in one of the reactor buildings has at least severely damaged the external walls.
In principle, this should not cause leakage of radioactive material because the building is just an outside shell; the job of keeping dangerous materials sealed in falls to the the metal containment vessel inside.
Chief cabinet secretary Chief Yukio Edano confirmed this was the case, saying: "The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn't explode."
He attributed the explosion to a build-up of hydrogen, related in turn to the cooling problem.
Under pressure The only release of any radioactive material that we know about so far concerns venting of the containment vessel.
When steam pressure builds up in the reactor vessel, it stops some of the emergency cooling systems working, and so some of the steam is released into the containment vessel.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

The whole incident so far contains more questions than answers”

End Quote Richard Black
However, according to World Nuclear News, an industry newsletter, this caused pressure in the containment vessel to rise to twice the intended operating level, so the decision was taken to vent some of this into the atmosphere.
In principle, this should contain only short-lived radioactive isotopes such as nitrogen-16 produced through the water's exposure to the core. Venting this would be likely to produce short-lived gamma-ray activity - which has, reportedly, been detected.
One factor that has yet to be explained is the apparent detection of radioactive isotopes of caesium.
This is produced during the nuclear reaction, and should be confined within the reactor core.
If it has been detected outside the plant, that could imply that the core has begun to disintegrate.
"If any of the fuel rods have been compromised, there would be evidence of a small amount of radioisotopes in the atmosphere [such as] radio-caesium and radio-iodine," says Paddy Regan, professor of nuclear physics at the UK's University of Surrey.
"The amount that you measure would tell you to what degree the fuel rods have been compromised."
It is an important question - but as yet, unanswered.
Cover-ups and questions In fact, the whole incident so far contains more questions than answers.
Parallels with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl suggest that while some answers will materialise soon, it may takes months, even years, for the full picture to emerge.
How that happens depends in large part on the approach taken by Tepco and Japan's nuclear authorities.
As with its counterparts in many other countries, Japan's nuclear industry has not exactly been renowned for openness and transparency.
Tepco itself has been implicated in a series of cover-ups down the years.
In 2002, the chairman and four other executives resigned, suspected of having falsified safety records at Tepco power stations.
Further examples of falsification were identified in 2006 and 2007.
In the longer term, Fukushima Daiichi raises several more very big questions, inside and outside Japan.
Given that this is not the first time a Japanese nuclear station has been hit by earthquake damage, is it wise to build such stations along the east coast, given that such a seismically active zone lies just offshore?
And given that Three Mile Island effectively shut down the construction of civilian nuclear reactors in the US for 30 years, what impact is Fukushima Daiichi likely to have in an era when many countries, not least the UK, are looking to re-enter the nuclear industry?

[din]

Gates: Arab Nations Must Enact Democratic Reforms

March 12, 2011
Gates: Arab Nations Must Enact Democratic Reforms

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday he believes leaders in Persian Gulf ally Bahrain are serious about addressing grievances that have spawned a growing protest movement, but swift action is needed to deny rival Iran the chance to exploit the current instability.
Gates told reporters on his flight home from the Mideast that he urged rulers in the kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, to view their crisis as a chance to show other Arab governments how political change can prove successful.
"I told them that in this instance, time is not our friend" in light of Iran's interest in capitalizing on the unrest, the Pentagon chief said in an interview after meetings in Manama, the capital.
"We have no evidence that suggested that Iran started any of these popular revolutions or demonstrations across the region, but there is clear evidence that as the process is protracted — particularly in Bahrain — that the Iranians are looking for ways to exploit it and create problems," Gates said.
Gates offered no examples of that. But a senior defense official traveling with Gates said U.S. intelligence has evidence that Iran is working to persuade some hard-line Shiite opposition figures in Bahrain to reject the government's offer to begin a political dialogue on how to address a range of grievances.
The senior official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence information.
Iran, a Shiite power in the region, is seen by Sunni-led countries such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a serious threat.
Coinciding with Gates' visit, tens of thousands of protesters encircled one of the royal family's palaces west of the capital, demanding political freedom and the king's ouster.
A similar march south of Manama on Friday met with a violent response from security forces. But there was no repeat Saturday.
Bahrain's monthlong uprising has deepened the sectarian divide between Sunni Muslims backing Bahrain's ruling dynasty and the Shiite protesters demanding it give up its monopoly on power.
Shiites — about 70 percent of the population — have long sought rights equal to those of the nation's Sunnis and the naturalized Sunnis from Arab states. The current political unrest is unprecedented, though tensions have simmered for years.
Gates held talks with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The king has assigned the crown prince to lead talks with the political opposition and ordered the creation of 20,000 government jobs.
In remarks to Gates, with reporters standing nearby, the crown prince said the protesters should respect the views of the Sunni side.
"There is another point of view in the country that a significant portion of the electoral base feels that their voice is unheard and they want the respect due to them to be given to them by the opposition," he said. "They want to sit and talk with them."
It was Gates' final stop on a weeklong trip that took him also to Afghanistan, Germany and NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he warned allies against a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
On the flight to Washington, Gates said he came away encouraged by prospects for avoiding further instability in Bahrain, just one of the countries in the Arab world experiencing protest movements that began in January and have toppled longtime rulers in Egypt and Tunisia.
Gates said he was convinced that Bahrain's king and crown prince "are serious about real reform," he said.
He spoke sympathetically of the king's complaint that he was having a hard time getting the Shiite opposition to hold talks on prospective political reforms. He described them as being "between a rock and a hard place." But at the same time, Gates said he pressed his argument that half-measures would fall short.
"Baby steps probably would not be sufficient" to resolve the grievances being expressed by protesters in Bahrain, he added.
The turmoil in Bahrain poses a special challenge for the Obama administration because of the strategic importance of this island nation as host to the 5th Fleet and the prospect of increased Iranian influence as a regional Shiite power.
There also is concern about how further instability in Bahrain could affect Saudi Arabia, whose authoritarian monarch already is facing a measure of popular unrest.
Gates said he told Bahrain's leaders that they and rulers elsewhere in the Arab world face a stark choice: lead the way toward real democratic change or have it imposed upon them by popular revolt.
"I told both the king and the crown prince that across the region I did not believe there could be a return to the status quo," he said. "Obviously leading reform and being responsive is the way we would like to see this unfold."
Asked about the prospect of instability leading to the ouster of the 5th Fleet from its decades-long headquarters, Gates said he saw little immediate chance of that.
"I don't see any evidence that our (military) presence will be affected in the near- or middle-term," he said.
___

[faye]

gates, us defense secretary, standing in bahrain complaining about irans interference in the middle east? that's funny......

[din]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvcak9_W2JU&feature=player_embedded#at =29

خپروونکی : د لراوبر اداره

ليک : افغان فزيک پوه رحمت الله تنها
نېټه : ٢٢ / ١٢ / ١٣٨٩ | 2011-03-13


په یوه هستوي بټۍ کې د یورانیم ۲۳۵ هستو د انشقاق په پایله کې ستره تودوښه تولیدیږﺉ.د ریکټور په مرکزي برخه کې یو ځنځیري هستوي تعامل رامینځ ته کیږي چې بیا دا ځنځیري تعامل د کنټرول میلو په واسطه کنټرولیږي.

په نړۍ کې ډول ډول هستوي بټۍ شته چې پیژندل شوی او ډیر د کار وړ ډول یې تر فشار لاندې اوبو هستوي بټۍ ده چې د دوو کړیو بټۍ هم ورته ویل کیږي او هغه ځکه چې دا ډول بټۍ د اوبو دوه کړیی کاروي. لمړی کړی یې هغه تودې اوبه کاروي چې د هستوي تعامل په پایله کې رامینځ ته شوې دي. دا اوبه د سانتی ګراد تر ۳۰۰ درجو پورې په بخار نه اوړی ځکه چې د دې ابو فشار ډیر لوړ ساتل شوی.

دوهمه کړۍ چې د پرانیستې کړۍ په نامه هم یادیږي د لمړۍ کړۍ د اوبو له تودوښې څخه د تودوښې اړونکی په واسطه خپلې اوبه په بخار اوړي چې دا بخار بیا د بریښنا جنراټور ګرځوي.

بخار د جنراټور له ګروځولو څخه وروسته بیرته په اوبو اوړي چې دا اوبه بیرته یوه پرانیستی سیسټم چې معمولا سیندونه دی ځي.

دجاپان اټومي بټۍ د سړيدونکي سيسټم توضيحات