Radiation Plumes to reach California Today

AUnited Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific, and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late on Friday.

Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the West Coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

The projection, by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization , an arm of the UN in Vienna, gives no information about actual radiation levels but only shows how a radioactive plume would probably move and disperse. The forecast, calculated Tuesday, is based on patterns of Pacific winds at that time and the predicted path is likely to change as weather patterns shift.

The forecast shows radioactive plume will probably miss the agency's monitoring stations at Midway and in Hawaiian Islands but is likely to be detected in the Aleutians and at a monitoring station in Sacramento . The forecast assumes radioactivity in Japan is released continuously and forms a rising plume. It ends with the plume heading into Southern California and American Southwest, including Nevada, Utah and Arizona. The plume would have continued eastward if scientists had run the projection forward.

I didn't authorise anyone to purchase votes: PM Manmohan

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singhtoday appeared to raise doubts over the veracity of diplomatic correspondence cited by the Wikileaksand insisted that he had "not authorised anybody" to purchase votes nor was he involved in any such "transactions".

"I think, people who are affected by them (Wikileaks expose), they have already commented on them, casting serious doubts about the veracity of allegations made in these diplomatic despatches," Singh said here while commenting on the Wikileaks expose which alleged that MPs were purchased during the 2008 trust vote.

"I have no knowledge of any such purchases and I am absolutely categorical, I have not authorised anyone to purchase any votes. I am not aware of any acts of purchase of votes," he said while replying to questions at the India Today Summit.

"I am absolutely certain in asserting that I am not at all, I think, involved in any of these transactions," the Prime Minister insisted.

His response, however, did not categorically clarify whether or not the purchases took place at all during the Confidence Motion on July 22, 2008.

"As far as the events of the last few days (are concerned) and the so-called Wikileaks, I would not like to comment," Singh said about the Opposition onslaught on the government following the Wikileaks expose.

"I would not like to comment on what we are going to do right now or in days to come. These are the matters which are being discussed in Parliament. If I have anything to say, we would say in Parliament first," he said.

Pranab dares oppn to move court on 'cash-for-votes'

T20 Actions for the following years

NEW DELHI: After the World Cup, the subcontinent's cricket fans can continue to look forward to top-notch international cricket for the next five years. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were to stage the World Twenty20 Championships in 2012 and 2014; now India has been listed to host the 2016 edition of the tournament.

"India will host the World T20 in March 2016," a top ICC official told TOI on Thursday. India's name figures as the host of the event in the ICC's tentative Future Tour Programme 2012-20.

Sources said the ICC has given a copy of the schedule to all the cricket boards. "This is what the ICC board members have tentatively decided. It will be exciting to host the event here in the sub-continent because of the marketing prospects," another ICC source said.

It is also learnt that ICC has short listed England to host the best-of-four Test playing nations' playoffs in June 2013 and 2017. The next 50-over World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and sources say the 2019 edition will be held in England in July.

Bus Mishap in Maharashtra- 17 Killed

NAGPUR: Seventeen pilgrims were killed and 28 others injured when a bus carrying them fell off a bridge in Buldana district of Maharashtra today.

The mishap took place in the wee hours on the Nanganga bridge near Tandulwadi village in Malkapur town of the district, when the bus was on its way back from Shirdi and Shanishignapur, police said.

Most of the pilgrims were from Wardha district, police said.

Senior police officials from Buldana have rushed to the spot, they said adding further investigations are on.

Quake in Vanuatu near Sydney

SYDNEY: A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but no widespread tsunami warning was issued.

However, the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying the shallow quake could have the potential to generate a local tsunami and urged local authorities to be vigilant.

"No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the centre said.

"However, earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometres of the earthquake epicentre."

The quake hit 77 kilometres (48 miles) northwest of the nation's capital Port Vila at 1:48pm (0248 GMT) at a depth of 26.6 kilometres, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports of damage.

"We felt the quake but it wasn't too strong, we are used to them," Cedric Kapen, duty manager at the Iririki Island Resort in Port Vila told AFP. "There was no damage here or danger to guests."

Vanuatu is on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which on Friday saw a 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami strike off the coast of Japan, causing massive devastation.

Australia (Aus) vs Canada (Can):Australia beat Canada by 7 wickets

Australia (Aus) vs Canada (Can):Australia beat Canada by 7 wickets

RADIATION IN TOKYO NOT A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH

TOKYO: Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control on Wednesday after workers withdrew briefly from a stricken power plant because of surging radiation levels and a helicopter failed to drop water on the most troubled reactor.

In a sign of desperation, the police will try to cool spent nuclear fuel at one of the facility's reactors with water cannon, which is normally used to quell riots.

Early in the day another fire broke out at the earthquake-crippled facility, which has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo in the past 24 hours, triggering fear in the capital and international alarm.

Japan's government said radiation levels outside the plant's gates were stable but, in a sign of being overwhelmed, appealed to private companies to help deliver supplies to tens of thousands of people evacuated from around the complex.

"People would not be in immediate danger if they went outside with these levels. I want people to understand this," chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told a televised news conference, referring to people living outside a 30 km (18 miles) exclusion zone. Some 140,000 people inside the zone have been told to stay indoors.

Workers were trying to clear debris to build a road so fire trucks could reach reactor No 4 at theDaiichi complex in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Flames were no longer visible at the building housing the reactor.

High radiation levels prevented a helicopter from flying to the site to drop water into the No. 3 reactor -- whose roof was damaged by an earlier explosion and where steam was seen rising earlier in the day -- to try to cool its fuel rods.

The plant operator described No 3 as the "priority". No more information was available, but that reactor is the only one at Daiichi which uses plutonium in its fuel mix.

According to US government research, plutonium is very toxic to humans and once absorbed in the bloodstream can linger for years in bone marrow or liver and can lead to cancer

The situation at No 4 reactor, where the fire broke out, was "not so good", the plant operator added, while water was being poured into reactors No 5 and 6, indicating the entire six-reactor facility was now at risk of overheating.

Nuclear experts said the solutions being proposed to quell radiation leaks at the complex were last-ditch efforts to stem what could well be remembered as one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

"This is a slow-moving nightmare," said Dr Thomas Neff, a physicist and uranium-industry analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Japanese Emperor Akihito, delivering a rare video message to his people, said he was deeply worried by the country's nuclear crisis which was "unprecedented in scale".

"I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times," the emperor said.

Panic over the economic impact of last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami knocked $620 billion off Japan's stock market over the first two days of this week, but the Nikkei index rebounded on Wednesday to end up 5.68 percent.

Nevertheless, estimates of losses to Japanese output from damage to buildings, production and consumer activity ranged from between 10 and 16 trillion yen ($125-$200 billion), up to one-and-a-half times the economic losses from the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Damage to Japan's manufacturing base and infrastructure is also threatening significant disruption to the global supply chain, particularly in the technology and auto sectors.

Scores of flights to Japan have been halted or rerouted and air travellers are avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation. On Wednesday, both France and Australia urged their nationals in Japan to leave the country as authorities grappled with the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyldisaster in Ukraine in 1986.

In a demonstration of the qualms about nuclear power that the crisis has triggered around the globe, China announced that it was suspending approvals for planned plants and would launch a comprehensive safety check of facilities.

China has about two dozen reactors under construction and plans to increase nuclear electricity generation about seven-fold over the next 10 years.

In Japan, the plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake and devastating tsunami that followed worsened overnight following a cold snap that brought snow to some of the worst-affected areas.

While the death toll stands at around 4,000, more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

At the Fukushima plant, authorities have spent days desperately trying to prevent water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the reactors from evaporating, which would lead to overheating and possibly a dangerous meltdown.

Until the heightened alarm about No.3 reactor, concern had centred on damage to a part of the No.4 reactor building where spent rods were being stored in pools of water, and also to part of the No 2 reactor that helps to cool and trap the majority of cesium, iodine and strontium in its water.

Japanese officials said they were talking to the US military about possible help at the plant.

Concern has mounted that the skeleton crews dealing with the crisis might not be big enough or were exhausted after working for days since the earthquake damaged the facility. Authorities withdrew 750 workers on Tuesday, leaving only 50.

All those remaining were pulled out for almost an hour on Wednesday because radiation levels were too high, but they were later allowed to return.

Arnie Gundersen, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry who worked on reactor designs similar to Daiichi plant, said 50 or so people could not babysit six nuclear plants.

"That evacuation (of 750 workers) is a sign they may be throwing in the towel," Gundersen said.

RADIATION IN TOKYO NOT A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH

In the first hint of international frustration at the pace of updates from Japan, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he wanted more timely and detailed information.

"We do not have all the details of the information so what we can do is limited," Amano told a news conference in Vienna. "I am trying to further improve the communication."

Several experts said the Japanese authorities were underplaying the severity of the incident, particularly on a scale called INES used to rank nuclear incidents. The Japanese have so far rated the accident a four on a one-to-seven scale, but that rating was issued on Saturday and since then the situation has worsened dramatically.

France's nuclear safety authority ASN said on Tuesday it should be classed as a level-six incident.

Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.

Many Tokyo residents stayed indoors. Public transport and the streets were as deserted as they would be on a public holiday, and many shops and offices were closed.

Winds over the plant were forecast to blow from the northwest during Wednesday, which would take radiation towards the Pacific Ocean.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Japanese media have became more critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticised the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co for their failure to provide enough information on the incident.

"This government is useless," Masako Kitajima, a Tokyo office worker in her 50s, said as radiation levels ticked up in the city.

Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts on Tuesday. A Kyodo news agency reporter quoted the prime minister demanding the power company executives: "What the hell is going on?".

Nuclear radiation is an especially sensitive issue for Japanese following the country's worst human catastrophe -- the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The full extent of the destruction was slowly becoming clear as rescuers combed through the tsunami-torn region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

There have been hundreds of aftershocks and more than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.