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Kyodo news summary -3-(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, March 16 -- (Kyodo) _ ---------- Japan asks IAEA to send nuke accident experts quickly VIENNA - Japan has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to send experts to help it deal with the crisis at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant following last Friday's deadly earthquake, a top Japanese diplomat in Vienna said Tuesday. Takeshi Nakane, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the International Organizations in Vienna, told Kyodo News Tokyo hopes the nuclear watchdog will provide a fair and neutral assessment of the nuclear disaster. ---------- S. Korea to ship boron to Japan to stabilize nuclear reactors SEOUL - South Korea plans to transfer its reserve of boron to Japan to help its neighbor stabilize quake-damaged nuclear reactors, the government said Wednesday. State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., which operates South Korea's 21 commercial reactors, plans to ship its reserve boron to ---------- Fukushima No.3 reactor's container feared damaged: Edano TOKYO - The container of the No.3 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant is feared to have been damaged and may have leaked radioactive steam Wednesday, emitting high-level radiation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. The radiation level briefly topped 6 milisievert per hour at the plant, the government's nucler safety agency said. ---------- Gov't asks public to stop panic buying of fuel TOKYO - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano asked the public Wednesday not to resort to panic buying of fuel at a time when people affected by the devastating earthquake are in dire need of it. "The situation of supply of fuel such as gasoline, heavy oil and light oil is worsening in the quake-hit areas, and we are doing our best to secure and deliver them to these places," he told a news conference. ---------- S. Korea to ship boron to Japan to stabilize nuclear reactors SEOUL - South Korea plans to transfer its reserve of boron to Japan to help its neighbor stabilize quake-damaged nuclear reactors, the government said Wednesday. State-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., which operates South Korea's 21 commercial reactors, plans to ship the boron to Japan in the next few days, Yonhap News Agency reported. ---------- Radiation briefly topped 10 millisievert at Fukushima plant TOKYO - The radiation level at the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant reached 10 millisievert per hour at one point Wednesday morning, possibly due to the damage at its No.2 reactor the day before, the government's nuclear safety agency said. The maximum level was measured at the plant's front gate at 10:40 a.m. It fell to 6.4 millisievert at 10:45 a.m. and to 2.3 millisievert at 10:54 a.m. but rose again to about 3.4 millisievert as of 11:00 a.m., the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. ---------- Many major Japan manufacturers keep annual pay hike TOKYO - Many major Japanese manufacturers said Wednesday they will maintain regular annual pay hikes this year, with Toyota Motor Corp. agreeing to fully meet its labor union's bonus demand for the first time in three years. Electronics companies including Panasonic Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., Sharp Corp. and NEC Corp. said in their responses to unions that they will maintain the annual wage hike in line the unions' demands in the annual spring labor-management wage bargaining. ---------- Strong quake jolts Chiba, other areas in Kanto region TOKYO - A strong earthquake of a preliminary magnitude 6.0 jolted the Kanto region Wednesday afternoon, measuring lower 5 on the Japanese intensity scale of 7 in parts of Chiba Prefecture and 3 in central Tokyo. The 12:52 p.m. quake originated from a depth of 10 kilometers in the Pacific off Chiba, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. ---------- Tokyo stocks surge after post-quake tumbles TOKYO - Tokyo stocks surged Wednesday morning, with the key Nikkei index temporarily rising more than 6 percent and erasing about half of the previous day's losses triggered by deepening troubles at a quake-hit nuclear power plant. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose to 9,168.51 at one point before ending the morning session at 8,981.14, up 375.99 points, or 4.37 percent, from Tuesday. ---------- Benchmark bond yield rises on Tokyo stocks rebound TOKYO - The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond rose Wednesday morning as investor buying interest turned to stocks that rebounded sharply. The yield on the No. 313, 1.3 percent issue, the main barometer of long-term interest rates, ended morning interdealer trading up 0.035 percentage point from Tuesday's close at 1.245 percent. (c) 2011 Kyodo News International, Inc. |