Perilous
Times
Massive Typhoon approaches Japan, threatens nuclear plant
By Sam Yeh | AFP – Sat, 28 May, 2011
Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is not fully prepared to
deal with violent storms, officials admitted Saturday, as the
country braced for Typhoon Songda to hit.
The storm system was located about 30 kilometres (20 miles)
southwest of Miyako-jima island, near Taiwan, as of 3:00 pm (0600
GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The typhoon, packing gusts up to 216 kilometres (134 miles) per
hour near its centre, is moving northeast and could hit Tokyo as
early as Monday, the agency said.
It is not yet clear whether it will move towards the Fukushima
Daiichi plant, more than 200 kilometres northeast of the capital.
But the typhoon has already brought heavy rain to the Fukushima
region, prompting worries that runoff water may wash away
radioactive materials from land into the Pacific Ocean.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has been pouring
synthetic resins over the complex to prevent radioactive deposits
from being swept away by winds or rain.
A TEPCO spokesman said workers were mulling ways to continue their
work even in storms.
"We are using a pump truck to pour water to (cool overheating)
reactors. It is not yet clear how exactly we would conduct the
work if strong typhoons hit the plant directly," he said.
Goshi Hosono, an aide of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, told a news
conference Friday that more work had to be done to ensure that the
approaching and future typhoons would not spread radioactive
materials into the environment.