Japan ups nuke crisis severity to match Chernobyl

Japan led the severity of the crisis of its crippled nuclear plant on Tuesday, the list is on par with the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, citing the loss of cumulative radiation pollute the air, tap water, vegetables and water sea.

Japan, the nuclear safety authorities said the rating was increased to 5-7 - the highest level on an international scale monitors the International Atomic Energy Agency - a new evaluation system of the radiation losses Fukushima Dai-ichi since was turned off March 11 tsunami.

The new classification is a "serious accident" that includes widespread effects on the environment and health, according to the IAEA in Vienna.

However, Japanese officials have downplayed the health effects to date. It said the amount of leakage on the tenth floor of Fukushima of the emitted radiation in the Chernobyl disaster, while recognizing that eventually could exceed the Chernobyl emissions, if the crisis continues.

"This confirms that a disaster is very important. Sorry for the public, people living near the nuclear complex and the international community for having caused a serious accident," said Chief of Staff Yuki Edan.

Edan but told reporters that "there is no direct health damage" to the extent of the crisis. "The accident itself is really bad, but we put our priority in order not to damage the health."

Hironobu Unesaki, a nuclear physicist Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, said the amendment would not worry, he had to do the whole release of radiation and had a direct risk to health. He said that most of the radiation was released at the beginning of a crisis and that the reactors are still largely intact vessels surrounding the heart.

The change was "not directly related to the effects of environment and health," said Unesaki. "From all of measurement data, it is quite under control. That does not mean that a large amount of emissions are continuing."

Review the day came after the government increased the five communities in May the list of places people should go out and avoid prolonged exposure to radiation. 12 nautical miles (20 kilometers) radius had already been cleared around the plant.

replicas megaquake long after the magnitude 9.0 on March 11 have been prevented from working in the stabilization of the plant in Fukushima - after a 6.3 magnitude that caused the factory Tuesday operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to remove temporary workers .

Officials of Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles in the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that are applied to a level 7 incident. Other factors include damage to factory buildings and accumulated radiation levels for workers.

"We have improved the level of severity to 7, as the impact of the leakage radiation was released into the air, vegetables, tap water in the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda official NISA.

The review is based on the duplication of assessments and data on radiation leaks of iodine-131 and cesium-137, the spokesman said Hidehiko Nishiyama NISA.

"We declined to make any statements until we have reliable data," Nishiyama said. "The notification is done now, because it was possible to examine and review the accumulated data evaluated in two different ways," he said, referring to measures of Nisa and Japan Nuclear Safety Council.

Nishiyama noted that, unlike the Chernobyl explosion was not in the core of the plant in Fukushima Dai-ichi, even if the explosions of hydrogen.

"In that sense, this situation is completely different from that of Chernobyl," he said.

He said the amount of radiation leakage from the plant in Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear was about 10 percent of the Chernobyl accident.

However, the plant operator TEPCO is still estimating the total amount of radioactive material that could be released, the company spokesman, said Junichi Matsumoto. He acknowledged that if the leak continues, the amount of radioactivity released could exceed the amount emitted by Chernobyl.

The company, under fire for his handling of the accident and its readiness before 11 March earthquake and tsunami, apologized second Tuesday.

"I humbly accept this. We deeply apologize for causing enormous problems for those living near the nuclear complex and the people of the prefecture," TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda.

Chernobyl, Ukraine, a reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing a cloud of radiation over much of the northern hemisphere. An area of ​​about 19 miles (30 kilometers) around the plant was declared uninhabitable, although some plant workers still live there for short periods and a few hundred people have returned despite the promotion of government to maintain away.

In 2005, the Chernobyl Forum - said fewer than 50 deaths could be confirmed as being associated with Chernobyl - a group comprising the International Atomic Energy Agency and several United Nations groups. He also said that the number of deaths related to radiation among the 600,000 people who helped to cope with the consequences of the accident was finally around 4,000.

Health agency of the United Nations says about 9,300 people are likely to die of cancers caused by radiation. Some groups, including Greenpeace, have put the number 10 times higher.

The plant in Fukushima was damaged in a massive tsunami on 11 March, which hit the cooling systems and backup diesel generators, which led to explosions and fire three reactors in the quarterfinals, which were during regular maintenance and has been emptied of fuel.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that caused the tsunami was immediately arrested the three reactors, but the carrots overheating and lack of cooling functions leading to further damage.

The engineers have pumped into the water damaged the reactors to cool them, but the losses have led to a combination of tons of contaminated, radioactive water that prevented workers to carry out further repairs.

One month after the disaster, more than 145,000 people still living in shelters. The earthquake and tsunami is believed to have killed over 25,000 people, but many bodies were swept into the sea, and over half of those were killed are still missing.

White House: Obama to lay out spending plan

One budget deal down, President Barack Obama and Congress began to pivot Sunday from the painful standoff over this year's spending to a pair of defining debates over the nation's borrowing limit and the election-year budget.

Much will be revealed at midweek, when the House and Senate are expected to vote on a budget for the remainder of this fiscal year and Obama reveals his plan to reduce the deficit, in part by scaling back programs for seniors and the poor. Across the dial on Sunday, messengers from both parties framed the series of spending fights as debates over cuts — a thematic victory for House Republicans swept to power by a populist mandate for smaller, more austere government.

"We've had to bring this president kicking and screaming to the table to cut spending," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., on "Fox News Sunday."

Presidential adviser David Plouffe said Obama has long been committed to finding ways for the nation to spend within its means. He confirmed that the president would unveil more specifics for deficit reduction with a speech Wednesday that would reveal plans to reduce the government's chief health programs for seniors and the poor.

"You're going to have to look at Medicare and Medicaid and see what kind of savings you can get," Obama adviser David Plouffe said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, called Obama's planned speech "an apparent recognition that the budget plan he submitted to Congress ... fails to address our dire fiscal challenges."

In a press release Sunday, Sessions said any revision to the 2012 budget submitted by Obama in February "must be presented in a detailed, concrete form" for scrutiny by the House and Senate budget committees and the Congressional Budget Office.

The presidential speech on Wednesday is part of official Washington's shift from the standoff over spending through September to next year's budget and beyond. Alone and together, the prospects of raising the debt ceiling and passing a 2012 spending plan are politically perilous, a knot that lawmakers will spend the coming months trying to unravel. That means competing plans to shore up the nation's long-term fiscal health in a debate many predict will make Friday's nail-biter look minor.

For all the forward focus Sunday, congressional officials still were analyzing Friday's 348-70 vote to fund the government through the week. Operating under it, aides were putting to paper the longer-term bipartisan accord to fund the government through September. It wasn't clear that the vote would remain the same on the spending bill for the next six months.

The late hour of Friday's handshake left lawmakers little time to react. House members of both parties who voted for the funding through the week could not say on Sunday that they'd vote for the plan to fund the government through September.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who voted "yes" Friday to extend funding this week while the final compromise was written, said he was nonetheless undecided on whether he'd vote for the final deal. On ABC's "This Week," he said he didn't think the six-month compromise would pass.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., also a "yes" vote on Friday, would not commit to voting for the six-month deal either.

Pence praised House Speaker John Boehner for fighting "the good fight."

"It sounds like John Boehner got a good deal, probably not good enough for me to support it, but a good deal nonetheless," Pence said on ABC.

Friday's tally also offered a look at Republicans likely to be the staunchest opponents of any compromises on spending and policy.

Twenty-eight of the "no" votes were cast by Republicans. Sixteen of those are members of the 87-member freshman class. Also voting no: Tea Party star and possible presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

"This short-term was just `same ol', same ol" for Washington," one newcomer who voted "no," Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, wrote on his Facebook page.

The $38.5 billion in cuts, Huelskamp wrote, "barely make a dent" in years of trillion-dollar deficits and the nation's $14 trillion debt. Additionally, the measure lacked the policy riders he sought, such as one to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding, though by law no federal money goes to its abortion services.

All told, Huelskamp wrote, the measure "ignores the fundamental reasons I and my fellow freshmen members of Congress were sent to Washington in November of last year."

Plouffe said the president understands the mandate to dramatically cut spending. On talk show after talk show, he pointed to December's bipartisan deal on tax cuts with Friday night's agreement on this year's budget as evidence that both parties can govern together when they want to.

"Compromise is not a dirty word," Plouffe said on ABC.

The president, Plouffe said, would address ways to reduce the deficit and the long-term, $14 trillion debt. He gave few specifics, but he said the president believes taxes should go up on higher-income Americans and cuts to Medicare and Medicaid will be necessary.

Obama's speech will come as the debate shifts to the far more delicate ground of the government budget for next year — when the president and most of Congress are up for re-election.

Republicans said Friday night's deal in no way means they're ready to compromise on the fiscal debates ahead, starting with the House Republicans' $3.5 trillion spending plan for next year.

The GOP blueprint, unveiled last week by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would slash federal spending by $5 trillion or more over the coming decade and repeal Obama's signature health care law. It would leave Social Security untouched but shift more of the risk from rising medical costs from the government to Medicare beneficiaries. It also calls for sharp cuts to Medicaid health care for the poor and disabled and to food aid for the poor.

International alliance divided over Libya command

President Barack Obama, speaking in Santiago, Chile on Monday defended its decision to order U.S. attacks Libyan military targets, and insisted that the mission is clear.

And, as a parade of the Pentagon in recent days, Obama has stressed that the U.S. military role will be also called "days, not weeks," the international command, that the U.S. is only a part.

The only problem: none of the countries in the international coalition can not yet agree on where or how the U.S. must provide the broad liability.

Urgency between White House officials to resolve the dispute in-depth command: every hour in the United States will meet again in the Middle East, military intervention, Congress intensify criticism that Obama went to war in Libya, before being his blessing, and not to define precisely what the final game. (Mo ', Obama sent a letter of formal notice to Congress that he had ordered the U.S. Army two days before the start of operations "to prevent a humanitarian disaster" in Libya and support the international coalition of UN Security Council resolution 1973.)

Next, an explanation of the military mission in Libya, the dispute over who should command after its initial phase, and if the army is concerned about mission creep.

What U.S. military task Libya?

The military mission in Libya is the implementation of Resolution 1973 which calls for forces to withdraw from the cities Gaddafi by the rebels, and the creation of a no-fly zone to protect civilians from attacks by Libya's Gaddafi, and that civilians are allowed access to food, water and other humanitarian supplies.

It is the U.S. army is trying to kill Gaddafi?

No, the U.S. military not allowed to kill Gaddafi, said Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command in a press conference in Stuttgart, Germany on Monday. Order of Ham is currently leading in the first phase of the international coalition efforts to establish a no-fly zone in Libya, the United Kingdom and France. Nor is the U.S. military currently coordinating with the rebel anti-Qaddafi or authorized to provide military support, "said Ham.

The main objective Ham said, is to protect civilians against attacks. "The military mission is very clear, honest. What is expected of us to do is to establish a no-fly zone to protect civilians, secure the withdrawal of ground forces scheme of Benghazi, "said Ham." What we look forward to the transition to the designation of siege "command in the next phase of operations.

How to reconcile a military coalition that could allow Qadhafi to power with the many calls for his dismissal?

On Monday, Obama responded to this emphasis on the language of Resolution 1973 which calls for the protection of civilians against attacks. The close military mission is different, "Obama said, in order to show the broad political landscape Gaddafi by a call that Obama has echoed repeatedly, with the main stakeholders Western diplomats as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The international community has other nonmilitary tools to achieve this goal, Obama said, as economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, the international investigation of war crimes, and cutting off access to the Gaddafi regime financial assets abroad .

"First and foremost, I think it is very easy to place our military actions and our declared policy," Obama said in Chile on Monday. "Our military action in support of an international mandate of the Security Council UN specifically focused on the humanitarian threat posed by Qaddafi for his people."

Who is currently the head of the international military coalition?

U.S. African Command (AFRICOM), the regional U.S. military command to deal with the African continent, and its commander, Gen. Carter Ham, the initiative's first phase of what the Pentagon called "Operation Dawn Odyssey" to suppress the Libyan air defenses set up a no-fly zone over Libya.

Other early members of the international coalition to impose an air exclusion zone over Libya includes France and the United Kingdom, joined Monday Belgium and Canada.

Ham and other Pentagon officials have said that the U.S. is eager to turn the lead in the race for international coalition partners, but not yet control the next step has not been accepted.

What is really at issue in the dispute over who should control the next phase of the international mission in Libya?

In short, members of the international coalition is divided over whether the command of the international coalition should have a structure of NATO, or a non-NATO structure.

French, Turks and Germans reportedly opposed to the NATO structure-based, all for their own reasons. The Italians, Britain and the United States, among others, seem to think that NATO is better able to quickly take control of the task.

"There's only one problem. Every player has his point of view, sensitivity, priority," said a European military official on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the dispute on Monday. "You're weak, delicate, strong, opportunistic."

"The problem is that Italians are asking, is a NATO operation, but it is not clear to NATO's support," said Anthony Cordesman, a veteran defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It 's also clear that the French part of this operation began. And behind it is a fact that only the United States, which is a combination of satellite targeting and precision strike capabilities of cruise missiles, which are critical for command and control and general awareness of the situation. "

Why the French and other objects in a command structure of NATO as possible?

"There are technical and political ones," said Justin Vaisse, Brookings Institution and the central United States and Europe. Sarkozy has two central arguments, Vaisse said. "One, NATO is radioactive in the Arab world and is seen as a tool for U.S. imperialism Two, there is also the question is not between Turkey and Germany, [who have expressed reservations about the military mission in Libya], to prevent "international mission in Libya, because NATO is an organization of consent.

Turkey believes that the French president did not invite Sarkozky Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Paris summit in Libya on Saturday with other world leaders. (The insult that is perceived is "totally absurd," said a French official as saying the summit was open to any country wishing to implement the UN resolution on Libya, and France did not "send 200 invitations to all members UN. "A Turkish official, Ankara and we will gladly send a representative if they had been invited.)

Germany is reportedly interested in taking part in military operations in Libya, but may opt-out, but to accept NATO's participation in any other way.

NATO ambassadors met in Brussels on Monday to discuss the issue.

When the command is unlikely to solve the problem?

U.S. officials claim that is resolved soon - the "days, not weeks," as Deputy National Security Advisor Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said Sunday.

"I would not put a date on the matter," General Carter Ham, said on Monday. "The first thing that needs to happen is to identify what this organization is. We were in the early planning of how to make the transition once the monitoring headquarters is located. This is not as simple as a handshake hands and say, "now in charge."

Is the concern the U.S. commander on mission creep?

"No, do not worry too much mission creep," Ham said after a pause on Monday. "I think the mission is clear, and go ahead and achieve military objectives in line with our mission."

Major tsunami damage in N. Japan after 8.9 quake Today news

Major tsunami damage in N. Japan after 8.9 quake Today news. TOKYO - A 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of northern Japan on Friday, causing a 13 feet (4 meters) by the tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and thousands of miles of debris into the interior. Fires caused by the earthquake burned control up and down the coast.

At least one person died and there were reports of several wounded in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers (miles), where buildings shook violently by the main shock and aftershocks of the massive wave that followed.

Television footage showed waves of muddy water swept farmland near the city of Sendai, the performance of buildings, some in flames inside the car tried to drive away.

"This is a rare major earthquake, and the damage can quickly lead to a minute," said Junichi Sawada, an official of the Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The authorities have tried to assess the damage, injuries and deaths, but gave no immediate details. Police said at least one person died in a house collapse in the Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo.

A large fire broke out at Cosmo Oil refinery in Ichihara City Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo and burned out of control.

Public broadcaster NHK showed footage of a large ship, which was swept by the tsunami and the damage directly into a dock in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. Similar destruction was seen in dozens of communities along the coast.

At various places along the coast, found massive damage from the images of the tsunami, with cars, boats and even buildings, being transported by water.

The quake struck 2:46 p.m. ET was followed by five powerful aftershocks for about an hour, the strongest measuring 7.1. U.S. Geological Survey updated the strength of the first earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, while Japan's Meteorological Agency measured at 8.4.

The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for Japan's Pacific coast. NHK has been warning those near the coast to safer ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in force in Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami warning was issued for Guam, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.

The quake struck at a depth of six miles (10 km), about 80 miles (125 km) off the east coast, the agency said. The area is 240 km (380 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The center of Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the streets safer. TV picture was a large building in flames and smoke bellowing Odaiba district of Tokyo.

In central Tokyo, the trains were stopped and passengers along the tracks of platforms. NHK, more than 4 million buildings without electricity in Tokyo and its surroundings.

The ceiling of Kudan Kaikan, a hall in Tokyo, collapsed, injuring an undetermined number of people, according to NHK.

Osamu Akiya, 46 years working in Tokyo, where a commercial office when the earthquake struck.

She sent libraries and computers to the ground and cracks appeared in walls.

"I've been through many earthquakes, but I've never felt anything like this," he said. "I do not know if we will be able to get home tonight."

NHK Sendai video showed the employees a stumbling block over, and books and cards fall from the table. It also showed the glass to protect the station was completely destroyed by earthquake in Tokyo, and a woman cries near the comforting another woman.

More aftershocks hit the same region in recent days, including a magnitude of 7.3 on Wednesday.

Thirty minutes of the earthquake were still swaying tall buildings in Tokyo and mobile networks do not work. Japan Coast Guard has established a task force and officials are ready for the expenditure of emergency, the Coast Guard official said Yosuke Oh.

"I fear that soon we will know the damage of the earthquake was so strong," he said.

Tsunami roared over the levees of the city of Sendai, washing cars, houses and farm equipment on the streets before reversing directions and take them to the sea. Flames shot some of the houses, which is probably due to the pipes burst.

Tokyo, hundreds of people were evacuated from Shinjuku Station is the busiest in the world, to a nearby park. The trains were stopped.

Tokyo's main airport was closed. Much of the roof at the airport at 1 year of Ibaraki, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Tokyo, fell with a loud noise.

TV announcers urged viewers to switch to a strong close to the beach and concrete buildings to remain above the third floor.

Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency said, still assessing the damage, but had not confirmed any deaths.

One person was injured in a baseball stadium in Sendai, but his condition was not immediately known.

Dozens of fires reported in the northern prefecture of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Houses collapsed and landslides have also been reported in Miyagi.