A glitch at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant caused its cooling system for spent fuel to go offline. Technicians worked quickly to restore systems amid fears of a potential meltdown.

It is the latest in a series of glitches to hit the nuclear site following the multiple meltdowns caused by the tsunami of 2011.

Tokyo Electric Power confirmed that the pool attached to the plant’s Number 3 reactor was no longer operational.

Technicians are now working to get the cooling system back online. TEPCO stated the pool was at a stable 15.1C, indicating the reactor poses no immediate danger.

If the temperature of spent nuclear fuel is allowed to increase unchecked it can potentially reach the point where a nuclear reaction begins, leading to a meltdown.

Two weeks ago a massive power outage at the facility caused cooling systems to go offline. The origin of the power cut was identified as a 25cm-long “rat-like animal” that was found dead on the switchboard, a TEPCO official told Kyodo news.

The TEPCO official went on to say stronger measures would be put in place to prevent small animals from entering the switchboard.

It took 30 hours for specialists to repair the problem and bring systems back online.

The Fukushima meltdown two years ago was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and spilling radiation over the surrounding countryside.

Bron RT News

Foto:  AFP

Daarnaast is een aantal overheidskantoren dichtgegaan en zijn ambtenaren naar huis gestuurd.

Het hevigste deel van de storm trekt waarschijnlijk woensdagmiddag lokale tijd over Washington. De storm is eerder al over het middenwesten van de Verenigde Staten getrokken.

Op luchthavens in Chicago werden meer dan elfhonderd vluchten geschrapt.

Door: Novum 

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De noordelijke eilanden hebben geen stroom meer en enkele bruggen en wegen zijn daar weggevaagd. Volgens de autoriteiten zijn 3500 mensen geëvacueerd en ondergebracht in opvanghuizen.

Hoofdstad

Cycloon Evan kwam gisteravond laat aan land. Eerder liet de tropische orkaan een spoor van vernieling achter op Samoa, waar vier mensen omkwamen en nog twaalf mensen worden vermist.

Evan is vandaag opgetrokken in zuidelijke richting. In Nadi, één van de grootste stedelijke gebieden op het hoofdeiland Viti Levu, zijn honderden mensen naar tijdelijke opvangcentra gebracht. Waarschijnlijk mist de cycloon de hoofdstad Suva, dat op hetzelfde eiland ligt.

Stuk hout

Op Samoa is een jonge visser, van wie gedacht werd dat hij was verdronken, er toch in geslaagd aan land te komen. Hij heeft twee nachten op zee gedobberd terwijl hij zich vastklampte aan een stuk hout.

In een interview met een tv-station uit Nieuw-Zeeland zei hij dat hij zijn vader heeft zien verdrinken. Ook andere vissers werden het water ingetrokken toen de cycloon overtrok.

Bron NOS

­At least five people are reported missing on the central island of Leyte and off the coast of the southern Mindanao Island.

Three people were hit by falling trees, while another person suffered a heart attack as the typhoon struck Mindanao, civil defense chief Benito Ramos told AFP. All four are in unknown condition, Ramos said. One other person was reported missing on the central island of Leyte.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino warned residents in the areas affected by the typhoon to take the disaster seriously: “It could be the strongest to hit the country this year. But we can minimize the damage and loss of lives if we help each other.”

Some 80 domestic flights were grounded and more than 3,000 ferry passengers were stranded after the country’s coast guard ordered vessels to stay in port, AFP quoted the civil defense office as saying.

Residents brave heavy rains next to a tilted electric post after Typhoon Bophal hit the city of Tagum, Davao del Norter province, in southern island of Mindanao on December 4, 2012 (AFP Photo)

Residents watch as a river rises near their homes due to heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Bophal in Cagayan de Oro City, southern island of Mindanao on December 4, 2012 (AFP Photo)

­Philippines police forcibly evacuated people from low-lying areas after they refused to join an estimated 25,000 others who had sought refuge at government shelters, Cagayan de Oro city Mayor Vicente Emano said in an interview with ABS-CBN television

Forecasters reported that the storm, moving northwest, is slightly weakened at the moment. Bopha is expected to reach the country’s southern island of Negros, bringing heavy rains.

A similar disaster hit the same region in 2011, killing 1,500 and affecting around 10 percent of Philippines residents.

The country is hit by about 20 typhoons a year, with another storm expected around Christmas.

Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by Typhoon Bophal in Cagayan de Oro City, southern island of Mindanao on December 4, 2012 (AFP Photo)

Residents wait for a truck to transport them into an evacuation center as local officials ordered enforced evacuation ahead of Typhoon Bopha in Cagayan de Oro City, southern Philippines December 3, 2012 (Reuters / Stringer Philippines)

Residents take temporary shelter at an evacuation center as local officials ordered enforced evacuation ahead of Typhoon Bopha in Cagayan de Oro City, southern Philippines December 3, 2012 (Reuters / Stringer Philippines)

Four people were killed and 800 homes were damaged by raging floodwaters across Britain. The country’s south has been spared the worst of the heavy rains and high winds, as the midlands, west and north brace for the brunt of the storm.

­Around 300 flood alerts were issued during the last few days for England, Wales and Scotland.

Four people died over the weekend, and one person was declared missing.

A 21-year-old woman, reportedly homeless, was killed in Exeter on Saturday when a tree fell on her tent. Two other men were injured in the incident. In Cambridgeshire, a 70-year-old man was pulled underwater when his car plunged into a swollen river that evening. A bystander dragged him to the shore, but the man was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

On Saturday, 50-year-old Kevin Wilkinson died after stumbling into the river Colne amid thick fog in Hertfordshire. On Thursday, an elderly man was killed when his truck was pulled under a bridge in Somerset.

Police are also searching the river Thames for 91-year-old Franciscus van de Gender, who went missing in Bershire. escuers in Somerset managed to save a 12-month-old baby from a car.

Diana Mallows, 90, is rescued by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service after being stranded due to flooding at her home for four days, at North Curry near Taunton southwest England November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Luke MacGregor)

­

Over the weekend, hundreds of homes across the country’s southwest were damaged by surging waters, bringing the total number of flooded houses since storms began on Wednesday to 816, the Telegraph reported.

The Environment Agency said flood defenses have protected some 25,000 homes since the disaster began, and rescue teams across the UK are working to keep stave off the floods.

British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter that he was concerned by these “shocking scenes,” and promised that the government would “ensure everything is being done to help.”

The mayor of Malmesbury in Wiltshire, one of the worst-hit areas, told the Telegraph, “It’s the worst flooding in 70 years, I was a boy in Malmesbury and I’ve never seen water like it. The houses won’t dry out for weeks and months. There were cars with water up to their bonnets.”

Meantime, rainfall tapered off in the southwestern UK on Sunday, but the Environment Agency warned that hundreds of areas were still at risk, with river levels high and more rain expected to hit the area.

The Met Office reported that much of the country would experience a drier week ahead, but added that a sudden cold snap could create perilous icy conditions on wet roads.

A car is pulled from flood water in Hathern, central England, November 25, 2012 (Reuters / Darren Staples)

A woman walks through flood waters from the River Soar at a caravan park in Barrow Upon Soar, central England, November 26, 2012 (Reuters / Darren Staples)

A sign in a car park warns of occassional flooding in Tewkesbury, west England November 25, 2012 (Reuters / Luke MacGregor)

People use canoes to travel through floodwaters in Malmesbury on November 25, 2012 (AFP Photo / Justin Tallis)

People drive along a flooded road near Melksham in Wiltshire on November 25, 2012 (AFP Photo / Justin Tallis)

This picture taken on November 25, 2012 shows floodwaters at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire (AFP Photo / Justin Tallis)

A vehicle passes “Riverside Cottage” through a flooded road at Stathe near Taunton southwest England November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Luke MacGregor)

A man wades through floodwaters in Tewkesbury on November 25, 2012 (AFP Photo / Justin Talis)

A sign points into flood waters from the River Soar in Barrow Upon Soar, central England, November 26, 2012 (Reuters / Darren Staples)

Men push a car out of flood water in Hathern, central England, November 25, 2012 (Reuters / Darren Staples)

NEW YORK – Een nieuwe storm die richting de oostkust van de Verenigde Staten trekt kan tot evacuaties leiden.

Foto:  Getty Images

Dat liet de gouverneur van de staat New York, Andrew Cuomo, maandag weten. ”Mocht het noodzakelijk zijn te evacueren, dan beginnen we daar vroeg mee”, voegde Cuomo daaraan toe.

”Normaal gesproken is de nieuwe storm niet levensbedreigend, maar we verkeren niet in een normale situatie”, aldus de gouverneur. Hij waarschuwt dat de storm het puin van superstorm Sandy in de lucht kan zuigen en met hoge snelheden rond kan slingeren, met alle gevolgen van dien.

Door: ANP ]]> http://sp00kje.nl/2012/11/06/mogelijk-evacuaties-door-nieuwe-storm-vs/feed/ 0 http://sp00kje.nl/2012/11/02/sandy-power-outages-could-last-another-10-days-new-winter-storm-builds/ http://sp00kje.nl/2012/11/02/sandy-power-outages-could-last-another-10-days-new-winter-storm-builds/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:08:31 +0000 Admin http://sp00kje.nl/?p=13427 y Miguel Llanos, NBC News

Updated at 1 a.m. Friday ET: Hundreds of thousands of people in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey may not have power restored for up to 10 more days, officials warned Thursday. Meanwhile, weather forecasters said a winter storm could hit the Northeast next week.

Meanwhile, FEMA and the National Guard dropped off diapers and water in the Bronx, where there has been no running water or electricity, NBC New York reported. Residents there said that people had broken into a supermarket to steal water and that the streets had grown dangerous. Without electricity, there’s no light, and without cell service, there’s no way to call for help.

In New York City,  the utility ConEd said the 228,000 customers in Manhattan still without power should have it back by Saturday, but that would leave more than 400,000 elsewhere potentially in the dark beyond Saturday.

In a statement Thursday, ConEd said it hoped the vast majority of those would have power by Nov. 11.

The areas taking the longest, spokeswoman Sara Banda told NBCNews.com, are those with overhead lines. “It’s taking a bit longer,” she said, noting that crews have had to deal with 100,000 downed lines.

As for the potential for a new storm, Banda said ConEd has a team dealing with weather scenarios. “We’re going to have to take that into account,” she said.

ConEd also noted that many buildings in areas with restored service will continue to be without power until they repair any flood damage to their own electrical systems.

Bron NBC News

Autoriteiten vrezen dat laaggelegen gebieden als Tamil Nadu en Andhra Pradesh onder water zullen lopen als gevolg van de hevige neerslag die de komende 24 uur verwacht wordt. In Chennai, de hoofdstad van Tamil Nadu, zijn 282 scholen ingericht als opvangcentra. Ook zijn meer dan twintig schepen naar veiliger gebied verplaatst.

In Sri Lanka zijn twee mensen omgekomen en duizenden geëvacueerd wegens zware regenval en harde wind, meldden de autoriteiten.

Vooral het zuiden van India zal getroffen worden door de tropische storm:

View South India in a larger map

bron NRC