LA Times News

LA Times News

Japan's nuclear cleanup

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 08:52 PM PDT

Answers to some basic questions about the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where highly radioactive water has been discovered in tunnels under reactors and radioactive plutonium has been found in the soil nearby.

The nuclear crisis in Japan is far from over. In recent days, highly radioactive water has been discovered in tunnels under reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and radioactive plutonium has been found in the soil nearby. Efforts to contain the leaking radioactive material are still underway, and cleanup will take far longer. Here are answers to some basic questions.

Workers suffer hardships in effort to stabilize Fukushima plant

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 07:38 PM PDT

A Japanese nuclear official who spent five days at the plant as an observer describes spare living conditions, limited food rations and no running water on top of the high levels of radiation exposure for the now 400 working in shifts to make repairs.

They sleep with just one blanket apiece anywhere there's space — in a conference room, in the hallway, near the bathroom. Because deliveries of supplies are limited, they get by on very little food: Breakfast is packages of high-calorie emergency crackers and a small carton of vegetable juice; dinner consists of a small bag of "magic rice" (just add bottled water) and a can of chicken, mackerel or curry. There is no lunch — handing out a noontime meal would be too complicated in the crowded two-story building.

Fierce fighting roils city 'liberated' by Kadafi troops

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 06:56 PM PDT

In the Libyan city of Misurata, scenes of intense warfare greet foreign journalists arriving from Tripoli. Government officials hastily hustle the visitors out amid gunfire attributed to opposition supporters.

Government loyalists tried to show Monday that they had wrested control of the last major rebel-held enclave in western Libya, but a visit only underscored that ferocious fighting continued in the city.

Japan rethinks tsunami safety

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 05:21 PM PDT

The disaster in Japan put sea walls, warning systems, emergency preparedness training and building standards to the test. What worked and what didn't?

Structural engineer Kit Miyamoto was giving a speech in Japan on earthquake safety when this month's record quake struck, giving him a front-row seat for the unfolding disaster and what steps might save lives next time.

Explosion at Yemen weapons factory kills at least 80

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 01:24 PM PDT

A blast destroys the weapons plant in the town of Jaar after Islamic militants temporarily seized the factory and residents later looted it, a local journalist and others report.

At least 80 people were killed when a powerful blast ripped through a weapons factory in southern Yemen on Monday after Islamic militants temporarily seized the plant and residents began looting, a local journalist and others in the media reported.

Libyan rebels stopped short of Surt

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 11:09 AM PDT

Despite nine days of allied airstrikes, Moammar Kadafi's forces are putting up a stiff fight against opposition fighters east of Surt, Kadafi's birthplace.

After advancing swiftly westward over the weekend, rebel fighters were halted abruptly Monday by stiff resistance from government forces east of the government garrison city of Surt.

Radioactive water spilling into tunnels beneath Japanese nuclear plant; plutonium found in soil

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 09:31 AM PDT

The buildup of radioactive water in the tunnels underneath at least three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is hindering efforts to restore power to the facility. The discovery of trace levels of plutonium, which is highly carcinogenic, suggests that contaminated water has seeped into the nearby soil.

Highly radioactive water is building up in tunnels underneath at least three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, impairing the ability of workers to reestablish power connections at the facility.

Suicide bombers kill 20, wound 50 in Afghanistan

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 04:39 AM PDT

The attackers shoot their way into a road construction company before setting off their explosives.

A team of suicide bombers shot their way into the compound of a road construction company in eastern Afghanistan and detonated a truck loaded with explosives, killing 20 people and wounding about 50, the Afghan government said Monday.

Japan resumes pumping radioactive water out of damaged power plant

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 04:06 AM PDT

Contamination is spreading. A government official says there appears to be a partial meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor.

Workers at Japan's damaged nuclear plant raced to pump out contaminated water suspected of sending radioactivity levels soaring as officials warned Monday that radiation seeping from the complex was spreading to seawater and soil.

Libyan woman who alleged rape remains missing

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 12:45 AM PDT

The whereabouts of a woman who was taken away by security officials while making allegations of rape to Western journalists are unknown. A government official says she is a prostitute and that an inquiry is underway.

A woman who was beaten and carted away by plainclothes security officials after she told journalists she had been brutally gang-raped by Moammar Kadafi's militiamen remained missing Sunday even as she became a worldwide symbol of defiance against the regime.

In Afghanistan, spring could prove test of anti-Taliban effort

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:56 PM PDT

A U.S.-led operation last year drove the Taliban from bases in Zhari district. As the expected spring offensive nears, U.S. officials insist that the insurgents will find it difficult to regain a foothold in the area.

It was a classic photo opportunity: the governor of Kandahar province astride a lumbering farm tractor, plowing under the first green shoots of opium poppies poking their way through the soil. The engine clattered; the cameras clicked away. "Enough?" the governor asked, and clambered down.

Israel lawmaker wonders if his Labor Party may deserve its fate

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:56 PM PDT

Labor seeks new leadership and is trying to regroup. But Daniel Ben-Simon fears it might be too late. The outspoken member of the Knesset spoke about why Israelis have turned against his party.

He says the Israeli left is in disarray and its standard-bearer Labor Party has betrayed its values so much, it might be renamed the "Prostitution Party."