Japan Update: As of 23:58, 6/April, TOKYO
News Updates shared by Seki Satoko, Tokyo, Japan
Woman living in evacuation shelter turns 100
YAMAMOTO, Miyagi — A woman living at an evacuation shelter here turned 100 years old on April 5 and received a gift-bearing visit from the town mayor.
“I don’t know whether turning 100 is a happy occasion or not, but I am thankful to everyone for their kindness,” said Ito Hayashi.
Hayashi is staying at a relief station in the town’s public health center. When her 100th birthday was announced, a round of applause rose from those gathered.
The mayor of the town, Toshio Saito, gave Hayashi gifts including 100,000 yen and a bouquet of flowers.
Before evacuating from her home, Hayashi lived alone. She says that after the earthquake on March 11, she grabbed onto a tree outside her house for safety. Fortunately, the destructive tsunami did not hit her directly, and a 62-year-old man who lived nearby, concerned for her safety, stayed with her for two nights.
“Ms. Hayashi was the same, carefree person that she always is,” said the man.
On March 13, Hayashi was rescued by a Self-Defense Forces helicopter.
Asked for the secret to her longevity, Hayashi joked, “There is none. I couldn’t help but turn this old.”
She added, “Right now what I want is to go back home.”
News Source: Daily Mainichi
TEPCO to inject nitrogen into No. 1 reactor to prevent explosion
Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday prepared to inject nitrogen into one of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex to reduce the potential risk of a hydrogen explosion, while it succeeded in stopping highly radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the plant.
Nitrogen, an inert gas, is expected to be injected into the No. 1 reactor’s containment vessel, a process that could take several days. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, denied during a morning press conference that there is an ”immediate danger” of explosion.
In addition to the task of maintaining the relative stability of all six reactors at the nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture, the utility firm known as TEPCO has also been engaged in efforts to stop highly radioactive water from leaking into the sea and cleaning up contaminated water within the plant.
At 5:38 a.m. Wednesday, highly contaminated water, which had been confirmed as leaking into the sea from around a cracked pit located near the No. 2 reactor water intake on Saturday, stopped flowing after TEPCO injected around 6,000 liters of chemical agents including sodium silicate, known as ”water glass.”
Nishiyama told a press conference in the afternoon that so far no further leakage has been detected from the pit. But there is a possibility that the water, which has lost an outlet, could show up from other areas of the plant.
