All Nippon Airways Co said a domestic flight from Tokyo landed safely at Matsuyama airport in western Japan after a crack developed on the cockpit windscreen, and the plane’s return to Tokyo was cancelled.

The same airline later said oil was found leaking from an engine of a 787 Dreamliner after the plane landed at Miyazaki airport in southern Japan. An airline spokeswoman said it later returned to Tokyo after some delay. No one was injured in either incident.

The world’s first carbon-composite airliner, which has a list price of $207 million, has been beset by problems this week. Some analysts say these are normal teething issues as a new plane enters service under close scrutiny. Others say the incidents could erode public confidence in the mould-breaking aircraft.

U.S. transportation officials will hold a press conference in Washington at 0930 EDT (1430 GMT) to discuss issues related to recent electrical problems on the new plane, one person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bloomberg News said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would announce a review into the jet’s power system.

U.S. regulators have raised questions about the plane’s reliability on long transocean routes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight in late-2011, after a series of production delays put deliveries more than three years behind schedule. By the end of last year, Boeing had sold 848 Dreamliners, and delivered 49.

Earlier this week, a battery fire caused damage to an empty 787 jet operated by Japan Airlines while it was on the ground at Boston airport. The next day, another JAL 787 spilled 40 gallons of fuel onto the taxiway at the same airport after a problem that caused a valve to open, forcing the plane to delay its departure. On Wednesday, ANA cancelled a domestic Dreamliner flight due to a brake-control computer glitch.

Boeing’s top Dreamliner engineer, Mike Sinnett, was rolled out midweek to defend the 787, saying the plane’s problem rates were no higher than with Boeing’s successful 777 jet.

SPIDER WEB CRACK

ANA said crew noticed a spider web-like crack in a window in front of the pilot’s seat about 70 minutes into Friday’s flight, which was close to its destination.

“Cracks appear a few times every year in other planes. We don’t see this as a sign of a fundamental problem” with Boeing aircraft, a spokesman for the airline said.

On the later flight, the ANA spokeswoman said she could not specify how much oil leaked from the engine.

Later on Friday, ANA – which, with JAL flies 24 of the 49 Dreamliners delivered to end-December – launched its maiden service between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and San Jose, California with the Dreamliner.

Jun Akiyama, a plane enthusiast who was taking photos at the airport ahead of the San Jose departure, said: “It’s worrying. If there was a major accident lives would be at stake, and these defects are only increasing fears.”

But Yasushi Uesaka, a systems engineer from Osaka who was also taking pictures nearby, played down the incidents. “When new things come out, there will naturally be defects. That a lot of these defects didn’t occur during flight means they’re not too critical, I think.”

In India – where state-owned Air India has taken delivery of six Dreamliner jets and has more on order – a senior official at the aviation regulator said there was concern at the recent spate of Dreamliner glitches. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has not ordered any Dreamliner checks for now, but is waiting for a safety report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the official said.

Air India spokesman K. Swaminathan said the airline’s debut Dreamliner flight to Paris on Thursday went without a hitch.

FUEL SAVINGS

One of Boeing’s chief innovations with the 787 is its use of electrical power to run on-board functions such as hydraulics and air conditioning, instead of relying on heavier pneumatic systems used on other planes. The weight savings make the 787 more fuel efficient, a big advantage for airlines battling high jet fuel costs.

To power the electrical system, the 787 uses generators attached to the plane’s engines, which produce about 1.5 megawatts of power, enough to power about 300 hot water heaters. The system uses high-voltage distribution panels and powerful batteries, such as the one that caught fire in Boston on Monday.

Makoto Yoda, president of Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa Corp, which makes the Dreamliner batteries, said his company was looking into Monday’s fire, and was sending a team of engineers to cooperate with the U.S. investigation.

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For some reason, libido is lacking in the land of the rising sun. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research conducted a survey, reported by CNN,  that shows things are not too sexy in Japan right now.

First of all, the country faces a record number of single men between the ages of 18 and 34 in the country — 9.2 percent increase since 2005. About 61 percent of those unmarried men report not having any significant other in their life at all. In addition, half of the unmarried adult women who were surveyed also said they are totally unattached with no boyfriend.

That might have something to do with the fact that one in four of the single adults in their late 30s surveyed are virgins!  

Proving that Japan is not a land of desperate romantics, 45 percent of those unmarried, unattached adults said they don’t really care about finding their one true love right now. Instead, marriage is a distant prospect, with 86 percent of single men and 89 percent of single women saying they would like to get married…. someday.   

About 40 percent of these singles also say that money worries are a main reason for avoiding the plunge in the present.

CNN reports, though, that Japan already has one of the lowest birthrates in the world at 1.34 children born per couple, but the country needs a birthrate of 2.1 children in order to get the workforce at a steady level in a rapidly aging population.

So get busy, Japan! Your country is counting on you!

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The dollar’s plunge below 80 yen to near record lows has hit profits at Japanese automakers such as Nissan, which exported 610,000, or 57 percent, of its domestically produced vehicles last year.

Despite the headwinds from tough exchange rates, high labor costs and risks of disruption from earthquakes, Nissan has vowed to keep production of at least 1 million vehicles a year in Japan to protect jobs and hone its manufacturing expertise.

By selling more cars in Japan and building more vehicles for other brands under original equipment manufacturing deals, Nissan aims to boost production of vehicles sold locally in Japan from 460,000 vehicles last year to 600,000, Executive Vice President Hiroto Saikawa said.

That would help the ratio of exports out of Japan fall to as low as 40 percent, he said, without specifying a time frame.

Nissan is Japan’s No. 2 brand with 13 percent of the world’s third-biggest auto market dominated by Toyota Motor Corp. In the business year to end-March 2011, Nissan sold 600,202 vehicles in Japan, of which 24 percent were Nissan-badged 660cc minivehicles built by other Suzuki Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Despite being Japan’s No. 2 brand, Nissan had just two models in the list of 10 best-selling vehicles last year excluding 660cc microcars, trailing Toyota with five and Honda Motor Co. with three.

To beef up its sales, Nissan was developing a new compact car that it hopes will make the top-10 list, Saikawa said, and eventually sell enough Leaf electric cars to join the top 20.

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Winning, it seemed, was as simple as burying an open shot from close range.

The Americans whiffed.

The U.S. blew opportunity after opportunity in the first half of the final against Japan, then gave away 1-0 and 2-1 leads on their way to a 3-1 PK loss.

“It’s obviously heartbreaking,” said U.S. striker Abby Wambach, who put the Americans ahead in extra time. “Japan played well. They never gave up.”

The U.S. didn’t, either. But the finishing failed. The defending failed. The goalkeeping failed.
And the Americans’ dreams of a third world title ended up in a Frankfurt dumpster, trumped by Japan’s inspiring run in the wake of this spring’s earthquake and tsunami.

The Japanese refused to cave after U.S. goals in the 69th and 104th minutes, equalizing in the 81st and 117th. The Americans had nothing left by the time PKs rolled around, missing their first three tries.

So, what’s next for the U.S.?

Most of the core will be back for next year’s London Olympics, though it’s unclear how much longer stalwarts Christie Rampone and Wambach will stick around. And with teams like Japan, Brazil and France rising fast, the U.S. doesn’t exactly have an easy path to a third straight gold medal.

The next major competition after that is the 2015 Women’s World Cup, in Canada.

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Radiation leaks from the three reactor meltdowns at Fukushima rank the accident on the same scale as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The 20-kilometer exclusion zone around Fukushima has forced the evacuation of 50,000 households, extermination of livestock and disposal of crops, drawing comparisons with the Ukraine plant.

About 90 percent of the world’s 270,000 tons in used nuclear fuel is stored at reactor sites, mostly in ponds seven meters deep, such as those exposed at the Fukushima site when hydrogen explosions blew the roofs off reactor buildings.

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The major Japanese automakers — Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd — are at risk for the biggest lost sales, according to the A.T. Kearney report, which was released on Tuesday.

U.S. automakers General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC as well as South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. stand to capture most of the consumers who defect from the Japanese brands, said Dan Cheng, head of A.T. Kearney’s American automotive practice.

Of the estimated 1.66 million units of lost production globally because of the Japan crisis, 341,000 would have been sold in the United States this year. Of those lost U.S. sales, 42 percent were buyers who likely will remain loyal to their current brands, said Cheng.

Of the remaining 197,000, an estimated 80 percent were with Toyota, Honda and Nissan, A.T. Kearney said. Another 36,000 are with other Japanese manufacturers.

If full production at Japanese plants does not resume until the fourth quarter, the number of new vehicle sales up for grabs will rise to 328,000, or the equivalent of 2 1/2 points of market share, Cheng said. Of those, 263,000 would be with Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

A.T. Kearney also expects U.S. new-vehicle sales to grow almost 14 percent to 13.2 million this year from 11.6 million in 2010, and reach 16 million in 2013 as consumers replace an aging fleet of vehicles. After that, growth will rise more slowly, hitting 16.7 million in 2016.

In the decade before the 2008-2009 industry downturn, U.S. auto sales averaged nearly 17 million in new vehicle sales a year.

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“The health and safety risks to areas beyond the 50-mile evacuation zone, and particularly to Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, nearby U.S. military facilities … and to prefectures which are outside a 50-mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are low and do not pose significant risks to U.S. citizens,” the most recent travel alert from the U.S. State Department says.

While flights into Tokyo have been adjusted due to lessened demand, there are still ample options — and the new route direct from New York to downtown Haneda Airport will resume this summer. Despite ongoing recovery in Northern Japan, experts say there is no radiation concern in Tokyo and other areas outside the area of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Attractions such as “the food scene, noodle shops, Izakayas and Tsukiji market are all open and remain just as exciting today as they were before the day of earthquake,” says Theo Panagiotoulias, an American Airlines executive based in Tokyo.

There is no shortage of food or water, and products distributed to the public are all safe.

GUEST EDITOR LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga has been supportive of the country since disaster struck: After participating in the “Songs for Japan” charity album and donating the proceeds of the sale of her “We Pray for Japan” wristband, she will visit the country in June to perform at the annual Video Music Awards. “I am writing about Japan, not only because we did the Japan bracelet and to highlight the way that pop culture can be used to provoke change, but to create awareness and not allow the media to perpetuate falseties about the conditions in Japan, so we can say everything’s OK, everyone’s rebuilding,” she says. “Go to Japan, it’s safe, continue to support the relief efforts but know that it’s only 0.1 percent of the country that was affected and that we’re doing more harm to Japan by staying away than by going. Enjoy their beautiful cities and landscapes. Always looking forward and not looking back, never operating from a place of fear.”

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No damage from Thursday’s quake was detected at the plant and NHK said workers had been evacuated without reports of any injuries.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage elsewhere but people in areas covered by the tsunami warning should evacuate to higher ground, Japan’s NHK public television said.

Japan is struggling to bring the Fukushima Daiichi plant under control after the March 11 quake and tsnumai, which killed, or left missing, about 28,000 people.

Japan’s neighbors have sounded increasingly alarmed over the risk of radiation from the plant, while tourists are staying away in what should be the peak season, and the country seeks ways to cut power use.

The world’s worst nuclear disaster in 25 years is also raising concern over safety in the United States, which has more atomic reactors than any other country, especially at one plant which is similar to the one in Fukushima wrecked by last month’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

Engineers, who sealed a leak this week that had allowed highly radioactive water into the sea, are pumping nitrogen into one reactor to prevent the risk of a hydrogen gas explosion, and want to start the process in another two reactors.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said late on Thursday it did not expect it would have to dump any more contaminated water into the ocean after Saturday.

Earlier, TEPCO said the chance of a repeat of the gas explosions that damaged two reactors in the first days of the disaster was "extremely small."

But as engineers battle multiple crises — some the result of efforts to try to cool reactors — officials admit it could take months to bring the reactors under control and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind at the plant 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

"Data shows the reactors are in a stable condition, but we are not out of the woods yet," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.

The government has already set up a 20 km (12 miles) exclusion zone around the plant, banned fishing along much of the northeast coast and set up evacuation centers for the tens of thousands forced to leave their homes following the crisis.

Trace levels of radioactive material have been detected in the air in 22 Chinese provinces but the amounts did not pose a threat to health or the environment, China’s state news agency Xinhua said.

Earlier, China’s Health Ministry said traces of radioactivity in spinach had been found in three provinces.

In South Korea, some schools closed because parents were worried that rain could be toxic.

"We’ve sent out an official communication today that schools should try to refrain from outdoor activities," an education official in South Korea said.

South Korea’s nuclear safety agency reported a small level of radioactive iodine and cesium particles in rain but said it was not enough to be a health concern. The few schools that closed were expected to reopen on Friday if the rain stopped.

UPDATE: Tsunami warnings for the northeast coast of Japan issued after a strong earthquake late on Thursday have been lifted, NHK public television reported on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Mayumi Negishi and Chizu Nomiyama in Tokyo, Sui-lee Wee in Beijing, Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington, Scott DiSavino in New York, Jack Kim in Seoul and Fredrick Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Jonathan Thatcher and Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Japan’s NHK public television repeatedly said those in areas where the tsunami warnings were issued should evacuate to higher ground.

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France — the most nuclear-dependent nation in the world — called for new global nuclear rules and proposed a global conference in France for May as President Nicolas Sarkozy paid a quick visit to Tokyo to show support.

It was the first visit by a foreign leader since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami battered northeast Japan, leaving nearly 28,000 people dead or missing.

An abnormal level of radioactive cesium appeared in beef from the area for the first time, but Japan’s nuclear safety agency wants to test it again as it had some doubts over test results, Kyodo added.

The Japanese disaster has appalled the world and revived heated debate over the safety and benefits of atomic power.

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Engineers have been battling to control the six-reactor Fukushima complex since it was damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that also left more than 27,000 people dead or missing across Japan’s devastated northeast.

Radiation at the plant has soared in recent days: Latest readings at the weekend showed contamination 100,000 times higher than normal in water at reactor No. 2 and 1,850 times higher than normal in the nearby sea. Those were the most alarming levels yet, experts said.

“It’s very worrying … there is something seriously wrong (at No. 2),” said Rianne Teule, a nuclear expert for environmental group Greenpeace based in South Africa.

Under-pressure plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. conceded what experts have long been saying: that Japan now faces a protracted and uncertain operation to contain overheating fuel rods and prevent a meltdown.

“Regrettably, we don’t have a concrete schedule at the moment to enable us to say in how many months or years (the crisis will be over),” TEPCO Vice President Sakae Muto said in the latest of round-the-clock briefings the company holds.

Japan says radiation reading was wrong

The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said yesterday a very high radiation reading that had sent workers fleeing the No. 2 reactor was erroneous.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Vice President Sakae Muto apologized for the error, which added to alarm inside and outside Japan over the impact of contamination from the complex which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Radiation in the water was a still worrying 100,000 times higher than normal, rather than 10 million times higher as originally stated, Muto said.

“I am very sorry … I would like to make     sure that such a mistake will not happen again.”

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The International Atomic Energy Agency also raised concerns about a lack of information from Japanese authorities, as workers battling to cool the nuclear reactors faced rising temperatures around the core of one reactor.

“We continue to see radiation coming from the site … and the question is where exactly is that coming from?” James Lyons, a senior official of the IAEA, told a news conference in Vienna.

Despite hopes of progress in the world’s worst nuclear crisis in a quarter of a century, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company said it needed more time before it could say the reactors were stabilized.

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Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, has been battling to bring an overheating nuclear plant under control after it was battered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that rattled global markets and prompted massive intervention in currency markets by the Group of Seven industrial nations.

“It will take some time to rebuild, but it will not change the economic future of Japan,” Buffett said yesterday on a visit to a South Korean factory run by a company owned by one of his funds. “If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them.

“Frequently, something out of the blue like this, an extraordinary event, really creates a buying opportunity. I have seen that happen in the United States, I have seen that happen around the world. I don’t think Japan will be an exception,” said the 80-year-old investor, dubbed the “Sage of Omaha” for his successful long-term investment strategy. 

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On a visit to South Korea Monday, the billionaire investor spoke of the possible positive economic outcomes from the tragedy:

"Frequently, something out of the blue like this, an extraordinary event, really creates a buying opportunity. I have seen that happen in the United States, I have seen that happen around the world. I don’t think Japan will be an exception."

In the wake of Buffett’s comments, AOL’s DailyFinance issued a rebuttal, "Japan is Not a ‘Buying Opportunity.’" Nice work, DailyFinance: Not everything has to be thought about in terms of financial gains. Way to stand up for human dignity!

If you decide to take the plunge and buy Japanese stocks, the high risk of those stocks means you should be prepared to wait a long time to reap those expected returns. If you are investing for a short-term killing, you are likely to be disappointed.

The markets are unforgiving. They extract a price for the possibility of high returns. That price is "risk." "Risk" is a two-way street. High risk can mean high returns, but it can also mean significant losses. Just ask anyone who bought the Nikkei 225 since December of 1989.

Oh. Perhaps we were wrong. Talk about what a great opportunity the Japan tragedy is all you want. But is it too much to ask everyone to avoid phrases like ‘short-term killing’ for now? (via MarketWatch)

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Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator, declared Units 5 and 6 safe after cooling water pumped into them reduced temperatures, The Associated Press reported. An electric cable was hooked up to the No. 5 reactor, Kyodo News said, also citing Tepco.

U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said the Obama administration believes the worst of the crisis is over. Unit 2 — where Tepco connected a mile-long power cable on Friday as it tried to revive cooling systems knocked out by the magnitude-9 temblor and tsunami — is the main source of concern, Chu said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

“Because of the higher levels of radiation there, we take that as evidence that there might be a breach in that containment vessel,” he said. “But they’re not extraordinarily high, so it appears if there is a breach, it would be a limited breach. But, again, we don’t really know.”

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As a crew of about 100 Japanese workers and soldiers battled to keep a string of six nuclear reactors from meltdown just short of a week into Japan’s nuclear crisis, the arsenal of weapons at their disposal remained improvised, low-tech and underpowered.

A police riot control truck was hauled in over uneven roads to keep a spray of water on the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors. In the air above, Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopters made runs with baskets of water in a desperate attempt to cool exposed fuel rods believed to have already partly melted down.

Meanwhile, technicians were dashing to complete what amounts to the world’s largest extension cord: an electric cable to connect the stricken plant from the north and allow Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, to restart critical water pumps taken out by the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Breaking with tradition

An examination of Japan’s effort to contain its escalating nuclear disaster reveals a series of missteps, bad luck and desperate improvisation. What also emerges is a country that has begun to question some of its oldest values. Japanese have long revered the country’s bureaucratic competence, especially when contrasted with its political dysfunction. Japan has proudly often chosen to go its own way and turn down outside assistance. But what happens when competence begins to break down? And what happens when a disaster is so overwhelming that outside help is vital?

The post After quake: Mistakes, misfortune, meltdown appeared first on Metro.us.

In a sign of desperation, police will try to cool spent nuclear fuel using a water cannon, 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 firms to help deliver supplies to tens of thousands of people evacuated from around the complex.

The European Union’s energy chief told the European Parliament that the plant was “effectively out of control” after breakdowns in the cooling system.

Workers cleared debris to build a road so fire trucks could reach reactor No. 4 at the Daiichi complex in Fukushima, 150 miles north of Tokyo. Flames were no longer visible at the building housing the reactor.

The plant operator described No. 3 — the only reactor at that uses plutonium in its fuel mix — as the “priority.” Plutonium, once absorbed in the bloodstream, can linger for years in bone marrow or liver and 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.

Refugees huddle in snowfall

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

Supplies of water and heating oil are low at evacuation centers, where many survivors wait bundled in blankets.

“It’s cold today so many people have fallen ill, getting diarrhea and other symptoms,” said Takanori Watanabe, a Red Cross doctor in Otsuchi, a low-lying town where more than half the 17,000 residents are still missing.

Damage to Japan’s manufacturing base and infrastructure is also threatening significant disruption to the global supply chain.

Tokyo: Metropolis is now ghost town

As Japanese authorities struggle to avert nuclear disaster 150 miles north, parts of Tokyo resemble a ghost town. Many stocked up on food and stayed indoors or simply left, transforming one of the world’s biggest and most populated cities into a shell of itself.

Radiation in Tokyo has been negligible, smaller than a dental X-ray. But that does little to allay public anxiety about an ailing 40-year-old nuclear comp-lex with three reactors in partial meltdown and a fourth with spent atomic fuel exposed to the atmosphere.

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The operator of the quake-crippled plant said workers were trying to put out the blaze at the building housing the No.4 reactor of the nuclear facility in Fukushima, 150 miles north of Tokyo.

Experts say spent fuel rods in a cooling pool at the reactor could be exposed by the fire and spew more radiation into the atmosphere. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said two workers were missing after blasts at the facility a day earlier blew a hole in the building housing the No. 4 reactor.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan yesterday urged people within 18 miles of the facility — a population of 140,000 — to remain indoors, as authorities grappled with the world’s most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

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.

Radiation may spread to food

SINGAPORE – Radioactive materials spewed into the air by Japan’s earthquake-crippled nuclear plant may contaminate food and water resources, with children and unborn babies most at risk of possibly developing cancer.

Experts said exposure to radioactive materials has the potential to cause various kinds of cancers and abnormalities to fetuses, with higher levels of radiation seen as more dangerous.

Airlines, travelers avoid Tokyo

Scores of flights to Japan were halted or rerouted yesterday, and air travelers were avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation from an earthquake-stricken nuclear plant.

Asian and European carriers were most affected. Deutsche Lufthansa said it was diverting flights away from Tokyo to Osaka and Nagoya, at least until the weekend. It said planes returning from Tokyo on Monday were not contaminated.

Quake-prone California questions nuclear safety

LOS ANGELES – Californians have long had an uneasy relationship with their two nuclear power plants, and the crisis in Japan raises new doubts about how long nuclear power will survive in the earthquake-prone state.

The first test of the Golden State’s support for nuclear power is coming soon, as the nuclear plants perched on the scenic but fault-laden California coastline since the early 1980s begin the process for 20-year license renewals.

California banned construction of new nuclear power plants in the 1970s, when the then-governor Jerry Brown joined ‘’no-nukes’’ activists in opposing construction of Diablo Canyon nuclear station on the Central Coast. Seismic safety worries played a prominent part in the campaign.

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A second explosion rocked the Fukushima nuclear complex and rapidly falling water levels exposed fuel rods in another reactor, but the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said the crisis was unlikely to turn into another Chernobyl.

Rescue workers combed the tsunami-battered region north of Tokyo, where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it.

The big fear at the Fukushima complex, 150 miles north of Tokyo, is of a major radiation leak. The complex has seen explosions at two of its reactors, which sent a huge plume of smoke billowing above the plant.

The worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 has drawn criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and revived debate in many countries about the safety of atomic power.

Switzerland put on hold some approvals for nuclear power plants and Germany said it was scrapping a plan to extend the life of its nuclear power stations. The White House said President Barack Obama remained committed to nuclear energy.

60 seconds with …

Dr. Thomas Cochran is the senior scientist in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s nuclear program. 

What caused the nuclear reactor to explode?

All reactors create energy through nuclear fission, which means that atoms split. When they split, they create heat and radioactive products. Even if you shut down the reactor immediately, as the Japanese did, it keeps producing heat. That’s why you have to cool the reactor.

So the real problem happened in the cooling of the reactor?

Yes. The tsunami that followed the earth­quake took out the generator that was supposed to cool the reactor.

Will Japan’s neighbors have to worry about nuclear radiation?

No. The wind has been blowing in the right direction, and the impact is small compared to what it would have been if the nuclear fuel had burned through the bottom.

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On one hand, I have witnessed the panicked buying and mass hysteria all too common in the aftermath of such events.

In Tokyo, restaurants are jam-packed with people but most supermarkets have no food to sell anymore, except soft drink cans and fresh salads.

"It’s because of the earthquake. The factory used by our suppliers was destroyed in the earthquake," whispers one shopkeeper, while smiling and apologizing unrelentingly to customers.

80 miles away from bustling Tokyo, in the coastal city of Mito, anger is rising. "Train are still blocked but rescuers are now cleaning the roads to let the trucks get in," a Finnish journalist told Metro via telephone. "In Mito, I saw people fighting for a bottle of water,"

Yet on the other hand, I see this famously stoic nation calmly getting on with the daily lives, only days after the most tragic event in Japanese history since WWII.

"You see? This Monday, it’s business as usual," Fujigo Nagana, a 78-year-old widow, tells me as she peers down from her apartment, watching office types walking to and fro in Yoyogi, a neighborhood in Tokyo’s central business district.

"My daughter lives in Germany. She is freaked out and wants me to join her but it’s so far away, so I am no going anywhere now," she says.

Down the street, I meet Akio Gondo, 60 years old. He works as a dental surgeon in the neighborhood but took a break to join the long queue in front of the local fuel station of Sendagaya.

"Now, whenever we have to leave the city, I will be ready," he says.

Akio shows a calm confidence about the nuclear crisis that threatens his country. "I support my government when it says the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant is still under control. And I trust the news reports from NHK [national radio and tv] or the Asahi Shimbun [national newspaper]. So unless an experienced Japanese atomic specialist comes up and tells us to escape, I am not worried".

But as he watches Prime Minister Naoto Kan give the latest TV speech on the situation at Fukushima, Akio wonders: "Well, 300 kilometers [186 miles] between Tokyo and Fukushima is quite a small distance, isn’t it?"

Voices from Tokyo:

Fujigo Nagana, 78 years old.

Q: Are you scared?
A: No I am not and I feel very lucky after the earthquake.

Q: Do you trust official information about Fukushima?
A: Yes, I do and I watch goverment statements on tv all day long.

Q: Would you leave Tokyo?
A: I don’t want to even if my children ask me to.

Akio Gondo, dental surgeon, 60 years old.

Q: Are you scared?
A: I was a little bit afraid tonight after our prime minister’ speech on Fukushima.

Q: Do you trust official information about Fukushima?
A: Yes, we have to or what else can we trust?

Q: Are you ready to leave Tokyo?
A: Yes, my fuel tank is full and I have another house in Nagano

Nosomi Adashi, nail artist, 29 years old.

Q: Are you scared?
A: I think my foreign friends on Facebook are more scared than me

Q: Do you trust official information about Fukushima?
A: Not at all, I think the situation is much worse but they don’t want us to panic.

Q: Are you ready to leave Tokyo?
A; If i did not have an important exam this week, I would join my older brother in Shimane.

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The world’s third-largest economy opened for business later in the day, a badly wounded nation that has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, leaving in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic proportion.

Officials have been working desperately to stop fuel rods in the damaged reactors from overheating. If they fail, the containers that house the core could melt, or even explode, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.

The most urgent crisis centers on the Fukushima Daiichi complex, where all three reactors are threatening to overheat, and where authorities say they have been forced to release radioactive steam into the air.

“Radiation has been released in the air, but there are no reports that a large amount was released,” Prime Minister Kan  said.

The nuclear accident has sparked criticism that authorities were ill-prepared for such a quake and the threat that one could pose to the country’s nuclear power industry.

Economic impact to be lasting

A triple blow of earthquake, tsunami and one of Japan’s worst nuclear accidents is set to damage the world’s third-largest economy, possibly more deeply and for longer than initially expected.

Power outages and possible tax increases are likely to hurt companies and households. Rolling blackouts will start today, affecting businesses and households as the country grapples with the crisis.

“Power supply is a critical factor,” said Michala Marcussen, head of global economics at Societe Generale. “If power production output is damaged in a sustainable fashion, that could have a durable impact on the economy.”

The world reaches out in solidarity

GENEVA – With foreign teams helping local rescuers to seek survivors from Japan’s quake and tsunami, countries offered further aid from field hospitals to atomic physicists to address an unfolding nuclear crisis.

Firefighters, sniffer dogs, clothing and food have been proposed in an outpouring of solidarity with Japan, with offers pouring in from nearly 70 countries, the U.N. reports.

Even the poor southern Afghan city of Kandahar announced it was donating $50,000 to the “brothers and sisters” of Japan.

A dozen countries have now deployed rescue teams following Japan’s request, including workers and dogs from Australia, China and the United States, the United Nations said. Seven senior U.N. disaster-relief officials arrived yesterday to help coordinate aid.

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