Leçons japonaises - ENERGIE. Japan's nuclear crisis spurs Europe to review nuclear safety. Japan's nuclear crisis forces a rethink on new nuclear plants. All India | Noopur Tiwari | Updated: March 15, 2011 23:43 IST Paris/New Delhi: Experts say the Fukushima nuclear disaster could be Level 6, just one notch below the Chernobyl disaster.
As Japan tries desperately to control the damage, government's across the world are now stepping up efforts to assess how safe their own nuclear reactors are. And that includes India, which will see French EPR reactors being installed at Jaitapur in Maharashtra soon. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made a detailed statement in Parliament and has ordered a review of safety systems at all the nuclear plants in the country.
(Read: PM orders review of safety at Indian nuclear plants) Concerns have been raised about the nuclear park planned in Jaitapur because it's in a coastal area. Fukushima's reactor number 3 uses a fuel called mixed oxide (MOX) which contains plutonium. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already announced the provisional shut-down for three months of seven ageing nuclear reactors. PM orders review of safety at Indian nuclear plants. All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: March 14, 2011 22:20 IST New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said an immediate technical review of India's atomic plants has been ordered to check if they can withstand the impact of major natural disasters like tsunami and earthquakes in the wake of the catastrophe in Japan threatening a nuclear meltdown.
Making a statement in Parliament on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Dr Singh said Indian nuclear plants have, in the past, met the safety standards during major natural calamities like the Gujarat earthquake on January 26, 2002 and the December 2004 Tsunami. The Prime Minister informed both Houses of Parliament that India was in constant touch with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum and the World Association of Nuclear Operators. Indian Navy is also on standby to send its ships to Japan as part of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Japan earthquake: Can you tsunami-proof a country? 11 March 2011Last updated at 12:28 Buildings in places like Banda Aceh were devastated by 2004's tsunami Japan's massive earthquake has sparked a tsunami which has caused further devastation.
But what can be done to tsunami-proof a country? It is a terrifying illustration of man's vulnerability to nature, and the tsunami that has struck the Japanese coast illustrates the difficulty, even for a prosperous nation, of preparing for such an onslaught. Dr Tiziana Rossetto, a reader in earthquake engineering at University College London, says there is much that contingency planners can do to minimise damage and loss of life. Precautions include designing buildings to withstand the impact of the waves as well as developing early-warning systems, public education programmes and evacuation strategies, Dr Rossetto adds.
But she warns: "How helpful an early warning system depends on how far away the tsunami strikes - if it's close by, it's not going to be very effective. " Continue reading the main story. How Japan learns from its earthquakes and tsunamis. The Japanese reaction to Friday’s earthquake and tsunami will probably serve as lesson for other quake-prone countries. Ever since a 7.9-scale quake in 1923 that destroyed much of Tokyo, the Japanese have tried to prepared for the “big one.” Skip to next paragraph Recent posts Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition Here’s my account (written two decades ago when I reported from Tokyo) of how the survivors of that last “big one” helped keep the Japanese on their toes: The only warning for Ichiro Uchibaba was the odd behavior of a bear, a neighbor’s pet, all excited in a cage like an old alarm clock gone berserk.
Seconds later, at just before noon on Sept. 1, 1923, the earth lurched, and all of Tokyo was jolted with a ferocity that Mr. Roof tiles went flying, pillars toppled, fires erupted, and Uchibaba was thrown to the ground. The Japanese need few reminders.