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.

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.