Indian Military

FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN: An explosion blew the roof off an unstable reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday, Japanese media said, raising fears of a disastrous meltdown at a nuclear plant damaged in the massive earthquake that hit Japan.
The 8.9-magnitude earthquake -- the strongest ever recorded in Japan -- sent a 10-metre tsunami ripping through towns and cities across the northeast coast. Japanese media estimate that at least 1,300 people were killed. ( Read: Japan braces for N-reactor meltdown )
Jiji news agency said there had been an explosion at the stricken 40-year-old Daichi 1 reactor and TV footage showed vapour rising from the plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
The blast came as plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) worked desperately to reduce pressures in the core of the reactor that -- if not contained -- could lead to a release of radiation into the atmosphere.
"An unchecked rise in temperature could cause the core to essentially turn into a molten mass that could burn through the reactor vessel," risk information service Stratfor said in a report.

FUKUSHIMA: Japan battled on Monday to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to care for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War Two, after a massive earthquake and tsunami that are feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.
A badly wounded nation has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, leaving in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.
"The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War Two," a grim-faced Prime Minister Naoto Kan told a news conference on Sunday.
"We're under scrutiny on whether we, the Japanese people, can overcome this crisis."
Officials confirmed three nuclear reactors north of Tokyo were at risk of overheating, raising fears of an uncontrolled radiation leak.
As Kan spoke, engineers worked desperately to cool the fuel rods in the damaged reactors.

WASHINGTON: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday it was launching a two-pronged review of US nuclear power plant safety amid the crisis at a Japanese complex hit by an earthquake and tsunami.
The US regulator called for an agency task force to be set up to conduct "both short- and long-term analysis of the lessons that can be learned from the situation in Japan," the NRC said in a statement.
"Our focus is always on ensuring the health and safety of the American people through our licensing and oversight of plants and radioactive materials in this country," NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko said.
"Examining all the available information from Japan is essential to understanding the event's implications for the United States."
Tokyo has declared an exclusion zone with a radius of 20 kilometers (12 miles) around the northeastern Fukushima power station and evacuated tens of thousands of people, after it was crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami.

KATHMANDU: Army chief General V K Singh on Thursday met Nepal president Ram Baran Yadav and wished peace and prosperity for his country.
Singh, who is in Nepal to attend the three-day regional seminar on Natural Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, called on President Yadav at the Rastrapati Bhawan in the capital.
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad was also present at the meeting.
Singh during the brief meeting wished "for peace and prosperity of Nepal."
On the occasion, President Yadav shed light on the age-old friendly ties between Nepal and India.
Singh is also scheduled to meet prime minister Baburam Bhattarai and deputy prime minister and defence minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar.
Yesterday, the Indian Army chief held bilateral talks with his Nepalese counterpart General Chatraman Singh Gurung at Army headquarters.
He is scheduled to return to Delhi on Friday.

LEH: The devastating cloudburst has done a lot of damage to the military establishment in this remote region where 26 army personnel are still missing after the disaster on the night of August 5.

The Army on Monday said most of the missing personnel are feared to have been buried under 20 to 25 feet of slush while a few could even have been washed away into areas under Pakistan's control.

"The cloudburst has done a lot of damage to civilian as well as the military establishment," GOC of 14 Corps Lieutenant General S K Singh said.

Giving an overview of the extend of damage to the military establishment, he said small culverts and bridges used for going to many forward locations have been destroyed and it will take quite some time before these can be re-built.

Talking about the missing army personnel in Tyakshi border post in Turtuk sector, about 150 metres from the Line of Control, Singh said too much of water got into one of the streams due to the cloudburst.