Crews Work to Restore Power at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Repair crews were back at work Tuesday seeking to restore cooling systems at Japan's quake-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a day after being evacuated as smoke rose from two of the plant's six reactors.

Officials said electrical power cables have been laid to all six reactors and that they hope to restore some functions at all the reactors within days. However it remains unclear how much damage has been done to the pumps used to keep the reactors' nuclear fuel rods from overheating, or how soon they can be repaired or replaced.

Investors took heart at the improved prospects for averting a catastrophe, driving the benchmark Nikkei stock index up by more than 3 percent in morning trading.

However massive problems remain, with more than 21,000 people dead or missing and 350,000 left homeless by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The World Bank has estimated the economic cost of the twin disasters at up to $235 billion, more than twice as much as Japan's 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Japanese officials said white smoke continued to rise at two of the Fukushima plant's reactors Tuesday, but that it was probably water vapor and not an impediment to continued repair work. Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said at a press conference that dark smoke seen rising from one of the reactors on Monday may have been caused by burning oil.

Officials said radiation levels outside the plant had receded since a brief spike on Monday. Constant monitoring is under way after elevated radiation levels have been detected in some food and tap water and in sea water outside the plant.

Japan's nuclear regulatory agency said it hopes to reconnect power to the Number 1 and Number 2 reactor units and to the plant's central control center by the end of Wednesday, and to restore power to the Number 3 and 4 units by the end of Thursday. Officials said Monday that the number 5 and 6 units have already been stabilized.

However the Associated Press quoted plant officials saying critical pumps at the Number 2 unit will need to be replaced. It was not clear how quickly the new pumps can be delivered.

Problems at the plant began when the earthquake and tsunami knocked out the main and auxiliary systems for pumping water into the reactors and adjacent cooling ponds where used fuel rods are stored. If the rods become too hot, they can burn off their outer casings and release dangerous radiation into the air.

Fuel rods in the inner core of two or three of the reactors are believed to have partially melted, but their radiation is contained by heavy concrete chambers. There are fears that the earthquake and several subsequent explosions may have damaged two of the containment chambers as well as one or more of the cooling ponds.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Tuesday that officials are closely monitoring radiation levels in sea water near the plant after unusual levels of radioactive iodine and cesium were detected. He said the iodine will quickly lose its radioactivity but that the cesium can build up over time in fish.

On Monday, the government suspended all raw milk shipments from Fukushima prefecture and spinach from four prefectures surrounding the plant after unacceptably high radiation levels were found in the products. Officials said the levels did not pose an immediate health risk.

Residents in one town have also been warned against drinking tap water after elevated radiation levels were found in the water supply.

Troubles Mount at Quake-Stricken Japanese Nuclear Reactor

An explosion blew the roof and outer walls off of the number 3 unit Monday at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in earthquake-stricken northern Japan.

A similar explosion struck the number 1 unit on Saturday at the plant, where cooling systems were knocked out by Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Officials said the inner containment vessel remained intact after Monday's explosion and they did not believe there had been a major release of radiation.

However engineers were still struggling to gain control of a new threat at the number 2 unit, where officials reported a total failure of the cooling system. The operators of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said the coolant had evaporated exposing the fuel rods, raising the risk of them melting down.

If the heat from a meltdown ruptures the containment vessel, that could permit a major release of radiation with serious health consequences. Engineers were desperately pumping sea water into all three units at Fukushima in an effort to cool them down.

Engineers have also vented steam from the plants to release a build-up of pressure. Hydrogen in the steam is believed to have mixed with oxygen, causing the two explosions.

Evacuations

Almost 200,000 people have already been evacuated from areas around Fukushima and other troubled nuclear power stations. About 600 people still in homes near the Fukushima plant were advised to remain indoors.

The commander of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which has been assisting in relief efforts from about 160 kilometers offshore, said the American fleet had moved away from the Fukushima plant after low levels of radiation were detected on 17 crewmen. He said the radiation was easily washed off.

The nuclear crisis has diverted attention away from a massive rescue and relief effort. The total death toll from the quake and tsunami is expected to reach more than 10,000.

The search for survivors

About 100,000 Japanese troops, backed by relief teams from more than a dozen countries, are searching for survivors in the debris of Friday's earthquake and tsunami, which reduced whole towns and villages to rubble. Power shortages and massive damage to infrastructure are complicating efforts to reach the hardest-hit areas.

More than 1,000 bodies were found Monday along the shores of one northeastern province, and the Kyodo news agency said another 1,000 bodies were found at a second location in hard-hit Miyagi province.

Also Monday, officials sounded tsunami warnings and ordered residents to head for higher ground along the devastated northeastern coast near the city of Sendai following a major aftershock. The alert turned out to be a false alarm but further jangled the nerves of a frightened population.

Markets tumble

In Tokyo, residents returned to shops and offices at the start of a new work week, coping with rolling blackouts and reduced transit service as authorities deal with limited power-generating capacity. Fears that industrial production will be disrupted helped push the main stock index to its lowest levels since November.

There is no electricity at all in vast stretches of the northeast region, where tens of thousands of homeless residents spent a third night in near-freezing temperatures without heat or running water. Relief crews are rushing to provide food and water, but are hard-pressed to reach many of those in greatest need.

Two U.S. search-and-rescue teams with 144 staff and 12 dogs were among the teams that began clawing through the ruins at first light Monday in search of survivors. A 15-member Chinese team was also at work and Japan's Kyodo news agency said the Defense Ministry will activate reserves to assist in relief operations, the first time it has ever done so.

Friday's earthquake had a magnitude of 8.9, making it the most powerful ever recorded in Japan and the fifth strongest since 1900.

Infection is main risk for most with radiation sickness

While officials in Japan and elsewhere are offering assurances that the health risks posed to the general public by three nuclear reactors are low, many are still worried.

Some are surely remembering images of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. That disaster is thought to have caused more than 30 deaths from acute radiation sickness alone, as well as thousands of cancer deaths, and birth defects.

So far, the two events seem quite different.

At Chernobyl, explosions blew the reactor apart, which vapourized its radioactive fuel, sending a toxic cloud across the Ukraine and parts of Europe. In Japan, explosions have been contained within the reactors, and only small amounts of radioactive particles are said to have been released.

The radiation release from Chernobyl was about a million times the amount released from the partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island, which itself is considered a worse disaster than the troubles underway at Japan's Fukushima facility.

Acute radiation sickness

Nevertheless, at least three Fukushima workers have already come down with acute radiation sickness. Since it's unclear how much radioactive material they were exposed to, what kind of radiation, and for how long, their prognosis is uncertain.

Officials haven't revealed what symptoms the workers are experiencing, but they likely include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea. More severe radiation exposures result in fever, bloody vomit and stools, and later, hair loss, infections, and poor wound healing.

What makes ionizing radiation from radioactive material so dangerous is that it interferes with the cells' ability to divide and reproduce. The effects are usually seen first in the cells that divide rapidly. These include blood cells in bone marrow and intestinal cells, as well as reproductive and hair cells.

For most with radiation sickness, the biggest risk is infection.

Though severe radiation exposure is fatal within weeks about 50 per cent of the time, many can survive milder forms of radiation sickness.

If the Fukushima workers develop more serious symptoms in the next few weeks, they would likely be offered medications that increase white blood-cell production, which can help reduce the risk of infections.

But the risk of cancer will remain for the workers for many years down the road.

Cancer risk

For the rest of the Japanese public, there is still a risk of long-term effects of radiation exposure, particularly is officials are downplaying the severity of the situation, as some suspect they might be.

The Japanese government has ordered anyone living within 20 kilometres of the Fukushima nuclear power plant to evacuate the area as a precaution. They are also handing out iodine pills in hopes of preventing thyroid cancer.

The reason for the pills is that the thyroid gland tends to absorb iodine from wherever it can. By flooding the thyroid with ordinary iodine, it will inhibit its absorption of radioactive iodine from the atmosphere.

But Dr. David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University, is not convinced that's an effective strategy. He tells The New York Times that the risk from inhaling radioactive iodine is low; almost 98 per cent of people's exposure comes from ingesting contaminated milk and other dairy products.

In fact, he believes that the epidemic of thyroid cancer around Chernobyl could have been prevented if the government had immediately stopped people from drinking milk.

Leukemia is also a risk, as many of those who survived Chernobyl eventually came down with the blood-based cancer.

Cancer is the biggest long-term risk. Usually when the body's cells reach their "sell-by date" they commit suicide. Cancer results when cells lose this ability,

The body has various processes for ensuring that cells do not become cancerous, and for replacing damaged tissue.

The damage caused by exposure to radiation can disrupt the body's ability to regenerate new cells, allowing old cells to "go rogue" and continue to divide and multiply in an uncontrolled fashion, allowing tumours to grow.

Radiation can also result in mutations to the body's genetic material, which may also be potentially passed down to offspring, leading to deformities in future generations.

These can include smaller head or brain size, severe learning difficulties, and stunted growth.

Tears after two days adrift at sea

A MAN who was rescued at sea 15km off Japan's northeast coast was found clinging to a piece of his home's shredded roof two days after the deadly tsunami tore through his home city and swept his wife away.

Adrift in the Pacific Ocean, Hiromitsu Shinkawa tried in vain to signal the many boats and helicopters that passed by his makeshift raft. But it was not until Sunday afternoon when, waving a hand-made red cloth flag, he drew the attention of a nearby Japanese navy destroyer. By that time, the 60-year-old had drifted 15km from his home city of Minamisoma, in Fukushima prefecture, which had been virtually obliterated by Friday's 9-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that followed.

Sailors from the Japanese destroyer used a small rescue boat to pluck the man out of the water, describing him as conscious and in "good condition".

Officials from Japan's Defence Ministry said the sailors handed Mr Shinkawa a drink of water aboard the rescue boat, which he gulped down before immediately bursting into tears.

Mr Shinkawa's wife -- who was reportedly torn from the man's arms in the tidal wave -- was still among those missing yesterday. He explained to the rescuers that he and his wife returned to their home to gather their possessions after the quake struck. As the tsunami began to roar across the landscape towards then, Mr Shinkawa said they tried to run, but it was too late. "I ran away after learning that the tsunami was coming," he told the sailors, according to Jiji Press. "But I turned back to pick up something at home when I was washed away."

While he was able to scramble on to his roof, Mr Shinkawa's wife was swept away. She was yesterday still among the nearly 10,000 Minamisoma residents who were unaccounted for.

Mr Shinkawa was taken to hospital by helicopter from the Japanese destroyer.

Japanese military officials said he was lucky that mild weather and relatively calm seas enabled him to stay afloat for nearly two days, the Kyodo news agency reported.

The city is located 70km south of the hardest-hit city of Sendai, and 250km northeast of Tokyo.

apan quake risks severe near-term economic damage

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 rises are likely to hurt companies and households and could outweigh the mild economic aftershock from the 1995 Kobe earthquake, given that oil prices and the yen are stronger and Japan's debt pile is much bigger.

Rolling blackouts will start Monday, affecting businesses and households as the country grapples with its worst crisis since World War Two. More than 1 million people are without water or power and towns have been wiped off the map.

Already saddled with debt that is double the size of its $5 trillion economy and threatened by credit downgrades, the government is discussing a temporary tax rise to fund relief work.

Japan's economic growth is in a better profile than it was when the Kobe quake struck. But many say a noticeable hit to GDP, which was only just recovering from contraction at the end of 2010, is likely to be felt over the next several months.

"When we talk about natural disasters, we tend to see an initial sharp drop in production... then you tend to have a V-shaped rebound. But initially everyone underestimates the damage," said Michala Marcussen, head of global economics at Societe Generale.

"Power supply is a critical factor. If power production output is damaged in a sustainable fashion, that could have a durable impact on the economy."

Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) said on Sunday it may have to conduct rolling blackouts in winter, in addition to summer.

"The earthquake will bring lots of things to a halt. We are going to see quite a dent on GDP, blackouts will lead to a sharp contraction of production," said Janwillem Acket, group chief economist at Julius Baer.

He estimated the damage would be felt for two quarters, but it was not likely to knock the economy back into recession.

"We know public finances are already weak, much weaker than they are during Kobe. Pressure for emergency tax hikes is there. But I don't think the economy will go back to recession."

GROWTH IMPACT

Following the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the economy shrank by 2 percent, followed by a V-shaped recovery. Back then, oil prices were hovering around $17-21 a barrel while the yen -- key to exporters -- was at around 100 per dollar when the quake hit.

Currently with oil prices at near 2-1/2 year high above $100 and the Japanese currency at a stronger 82 per dollar, the impact from these two factors alone will be more adverse.

Japan's gross domestic product shrank by an annualized 1.3 percent in Q4. A Reuters poll published before the quake showed it was likely to expand 0.5 percent in Q1, or roughly two percent on an annualized basis.

Supplies Run Short for Quake Survivors

Japan's quake-ravaged northern communities continued to be pinched by food and water shortages Monday, while even cities far from the damage experienced "aftershocks" as the effects from Friday's disaster rippled through the economy and markets.

Rescue workers struggled to bring supplies to thousands of residents of towns along the northeast coast, hardest hit by the 8.9-magnitude quake and tsunami on Friday. Survivors appeared on television, saying they didn't have power and were running out of food and water. People atop one building had written a huge Chinese character for "water" on the roof, so it could be seen by rescue helicopters.

The official death toll continued to climb, reaching around 1,800 by Monday afternoon. National broadcaster NHK reported that more than 450,000 people had moved to temporary shelters in the affected areas.

Miyoko Sugiyama, who lived a few blocks from the beach near the hard-hit city of Sendai, said she was happy to escape with her husband and 14-year-old dog. "There were 2,700 homes" in her neighborhood, she said. "Now there are only a few left."

Troubles continued to mount at the nuclear-power site in Fukushima Prefecture, where there was an explosion over the weekend. On Monday, an explosion occurred in the building housing a second reactor at the site, while the cooling system for a third reactor also failed, authorities said.

And in Tokyo, financial markets and commuters alike were pounded on the first working day after the quake.

Tokyo shares plunged, logging losses not seen since the first months of the global financial crisis. The Nikkei Stock Average closed at 9620.49, down 633.94 points or 6.2%—its sharpest single-day percentage loss since December 2008. The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues slid 68.55 points, or 7.5%, to 846.96, its heaviest loss since October 2008.

To prevent a cash crunch, the Bank of Japan injected a record 18 trillion yen (about $220 billion) into the short-term money markets and doubled the size of its asset-purchase program.

Confusion reigned at Tokyo Electric Power Company, which said it would conduct rolling outages during the day in order to conserve power, then reversed course at the last minute when it saw energy demand was lower than usual. But Tepco's plans caused Tokyo's train companies to drastically cut back service, leaving thousands of commuters without a way to get to work.

"I was really confused about both the power cuts and the train services," said Nobuyoshi Takashimaya, a 56 year old employee at an insurance firm in Tokyo. He said he had to walk one hour from home to reach his office because his train wasn't running.

Swiss suspend plans for new nuclear plants

BERN, Switzerland - Switzerland abruptly suspended plans to build and replace nuclear plants Monday as two hydrogen explosions at a tsunami-stricken Japanese facility spread jitters about atomic energy safety in Europe.

Energy Minister Doris Leuthard said the suspension would affect all "blanket authorization for nuclear replacement until safety standards have been carefully reviewed and if necessary adapted." Swiss regulatory authorities had given their stamp of approval to three sites for new nuclear power stations after the plans were submitted in 2008.

"Safety and well-being of the population have the highest priority," said Leuthard, who instructed the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate to analyze the exact cause of the accidents in Japan and draw up new or tougher safety standards "particularly in terms of seismic safety and cooling."

Leuthard said no new plants can be permitted until those experts report back. Their conclusions would apply not only to planned sites, but also existing plants. Switzerland now has four nuclear power plants that produce about 40 percent of the country's energy needs. It also has nuclear research reactors.

Alarmed by the crisis in Japan, the European Union called for a meeting on Tuesday of nuclear safety authorities and operators to assess Europe's preparedness in case of an emergency.

Austria's Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich called for an EU-wide stress test to check whether nuclear power stations are "earthquake-proof," much like European banks have been tested for their ability to cope with financial shocks.

"With the banks it has shown its value," Berlakovich said. "Now, people are expecting personal security and that is why there has to be a stress test for nuclear power plants."

In Germany, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for a new risk analysis on his country's nuclear power plants, particularly regarding their cooling systems. A previous government decided a decade ago to shut all 17 German nuclear plants by 2021 but Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration last year moved to extend their lives by an average 12 years.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his government won't revise its ambitious program of building new nuclear reactors but will "draw conclusions from what's going on in Japan," according to Russian news agencies.

Nuclear power currently accounts for 16 percent of Russia's electricity generation, and the Kremlin has set a target to raise its share to one-quarter by 2030. Russia would have to build a total of 40 new reactors to fulfill the goal.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said the country would stick to its plans to build two nuclear power plants and have the first one running by 2022.

Tusk told reporters in Gdansk on Sunday that Poland is not a country of seismic activity and that "there are technical and construction methods that will allow us to safely build nuclear power plants in Poland."

As of January, there were 195 nuclear power plants operating in Europe and 19 under construction — 11 in Russia, two each in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Ukraine, and one each in Finland and France, according to the Brussels-based European Nuclear Society.

German popular opinion continues to favor non-nuclear sources of energy. But elsewhere in Europe, people have become increasingly open to using nuclear power as memories fade of the accident 25 years ago at the Soviet-built reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Eastern Europe sees it as a way of gaining a measure of independence from Russia's burgeoning gas and oil empire.

The Swiss already had launched a safety test at the Muhleberg nuclear plant in the canton (state) Bern and said they were now consulting with EU officials and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.

Swiss voters in 1990 approved a 10-year moratorium on building new nuclear power plants. But in 2003, three years after the ban had lapsed, voters rejected a proposal for a new moratorium.

Since then the plans for new nuclear power stations at three sites were approved by the government. Another referendum on nuclear power is expected within the next few years.

Angela Charlton in Paris, Raf Casert in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Second explosion at nuclear power plant in Japan

A new explosion hit Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Monday, two days after an explosion at a different reactor housing unit at the power plant. Japanese officials said cooling systems have also failed at a third reactor as a result of Friday's earthquake and tsunami that knocked out electricity to much of the region.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said 11 people were injured in the blast, which authorities said was probably a hydrogen explosion causing the roof and walls of the building to blow away, reported Japan Today.

Today's explosion has increased concern about a possible release of radiation, such as the fallout from Chernobyl that devastated Ukraine in 1986. However, a number of American and European scientists, as well as Japan’s nuclear safety agency, have downplayed that risk.

IN PICTURES: Japan's 8.9 earthquake

Despite Saturday's explosion at reactor No. 1 and Monday's blast at reactor No. 3, Japan's nuclear safety agency has said there is "absolutely no possibility of a Chernobyl" style accident at the Fukushima I plant, according to the national strategy minister, reports The Daily Telegraph. While the explosions blew the roof off each of the reactor containment buildings, officials said the reactors themselves remained intact.

"Everything I've seen says that the containment structure is operating as it's designed to operate. It's keeping the radiation in and it's holding everything in, which is the good news," Murray Jennex, of San Diego State University, told the Telegraph.

"This is nothing like a Chernobyl," he added. "At Chernobyl you had no containment structure – when it blew, it blew everything straight out into the atmosphere."

Japan has been attempting to control both overheating reactors with sea water – effectively rendering them useless for future use – at the Fukushima I plant after the cooling systems were shut down by Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake. Sea water was today also channeled into No. 2 reactor, where the cooling system has also shut down.

Authorities have evacuated some 210,000 residents within a 13-mile radius of the plant, according to Australia's ABC News. Radiation levels have measured above normal around the plant, raising fears of contamination to the surrounding area.

The nuclear plant is about 240 kilometers north of Tokyo on the country's northeast coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency says wind over the nuclear complex will blow south today and then shift east, potentially sending any radioactivity inland.

Nuclear power remains key to China's carbon targets

Beijing - Rapid expansion of nuclear power remains a key element in China's five-year plan to reduce carbon emissions and promote more sustainable development, experts said on Monday, despite fears generated by Japan's struggle to control nuclear plants damaged by last week's devastating earthquake.

China's 2011-2015 economic plan targets another 40 gigawatts of nuclear power to add to the 10.8 gigawatts of installed capacity from 13 reactors.

'It is not too much to build 40 gigawatts in five years. The installations under construction now have already reached 20 or 30 gigawatts,' Zhou Dadi, the former head of a central government energy institute, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Zhou said China's accelerating construction of nuclear plants could add about 10 gigawatts annually to power generation capacity.

Some 25 reactors are under construction as part of a programme to increase installed capacity to 86 gigawatts, or 5 per cent of total electricity generation, by 2020.

'China has made clear its strategy of accelerating the development of technology over the next five years, and I am confident we'll reach the point that 2.2 per cent of the energy we use will come from nuclear power in 2016,' Zhang Guobao, a former head of the National Energy Administration, said last week.

'This is part of our efforts to reduce China's reliance on coal,' Zhang told the official China Daily newspaper.

Zhang said the building of more nuclear plants would also be vital for reducing China's dependence on imported oil, which accounted for about 55 per cent of its oil supply last year.

China aims to reduce carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020, using measures including carbon taxes; energy efficiency programmes; improvements to public transport; development of electric vehicles; and the expansion of nuclear, hydro, solar and wind power.

Nuclear energy is forecast to contribute 10 per cent of China's emissions reduction over the next decade, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in reports last year.

Carbon capture and storage will lead to 10 per cent of the emissions reductions, with wind power and solar power accounting for 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, the agency said.

'Industrial efficiency and recycling' would make the biggest contribution to emissions reductions, at 18 per cent, it said.

The agency forecast that China would need to invest 250 billion dollars in nuclear power by 2030 and would expand its share of global nuclear capacity to about 27 per cent by 2050.

The operational reactors are dotted along China's eastern and southern coasts but preparations are under way for construction of the first inland plant in the central province of Hubei.

The 4-gigawatt Dafan plant under construction near Hubei's Xianning city will be built at a final cost of about 95 billion yuan (14 billion dollars).

Dafan is about 100 kilometres from the provincial capital of Wuhan, a sprawling conurbation of more than 9 million people.

Another plant that attracted local opposition is under construction just 70 kilometres from the eastern coastal city of Weihai.

But Friday's earthquake damage to Japanese nuclear plants has not prompted China to rethink its plans to develop dozens of new reactors close to coastal and inland cities, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Zhang Lijun said on Saturday.

Chinese experts were closely watching developments in Japan but safety inspections on Friday at China's 13 operational reactors found no problems, Zhang told state media.

'Some lessons we learn from Japan will be considered in the making of China's nuclear power plans,' he was quoted as saying.

'But China will not change its determination and plan for developing nuclear power,' Zhang said.

Delegates to China's annual parliament, which approved the five-year plan on Monday, expressed some safety concerns but generally supported the government's plans.

'We cannot give up eating for fear of choking,' said Hu Weiwu, a computer scientist and delegate from the inland province of Hunan, which also plans to build a nuclear plant.

'Japan uses the first generation nuclear power technology while China will take the fourth generation so our technology is comparatively advanced,' Zhong Yanmin, the head of a company making electrical transformers in Hunan, told dpa.

'Even if there is no electricity, there is still protection (in the fourth-generation plants),' Zhong said, referring to the failure of generators powering cooling systems at the Japanese plants.