Japan: Radioactive water most likely leaking into Pacific Japan: Radioactive water most likely leaking into Pacific ADVERTISING TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulator says radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima power plant is probably leaking into the Pacific Ocean, a problem
Japan: Radioactive water most likely leaking into Pacific
TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulator says radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima power plant is probably leaking into the Pacific Ocean, a problem long suspected by experts but denied by the plant’s operator.
Officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority said a leak is “strongly suspected” and urged plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to determine where the water may be leaking from and assess the environmental and other risks.
TEPCO spokesman Noriyuki Imaizumi said the increase in cesium levels in monitoring well water samples does not necessarily mean contaminated water from the plant is leaking to the ocean.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was ravaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and TEPCO has used massive amounts of water to cool the damaged reactors since then. Repeated leaks of the contaminated water stored on site have hampered decommissioning efforts.
Bangladesh safety pact seen as inadequate
A new plan by Gap Inc., Wamart Stores and other North American retailers to improve factory safety conditions in Bangladesh is being criticized for falling short of a pact reached by European retailers.
A $42 million fund will be set up to implement the five-year plan that requires factories to be inspected within a year and for the results to be made public, the North American companies said Wednesday in an emailed statement. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety said it will set safety standards by October and refuse to buy from factories deemed unsafe.
In the North American pact, individual retailers can voluntarily pledge capital beyond the $42 million so factories can make safety renovations. By contrast, the plan joined by Hennes & Mauritz and Inditex, Europe’s two largest clothing retailers, obligates companies to ensure their factories have the capital to make repairs.
Both initiatives were started in the wake of the collapse of a factory in April, which killed more than 1,100 people in the worst industrial accident in the Bangladesh’s history.
Committee passes nondiscrimination act
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, just two weeks after the Supreme Court handed down rulings expanding protections for married same-sex couples.
Three Republicans — Lisa Murkowski of Arkansas, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Mark Kirk of Illinois — voted in support of the bill, which passed with a 15-7 vote. The Republican support gave the perennial bill some hope of passage in the Senate, though its prospects in the House were less certain.
“Such discrimination is wrong and cannot be tolerated,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, during the brief hearing. “It is still entirely legal to fire, refuse to hire, or otherwise discriminate against a citizen based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has told LGBT groups he expects the Senate to take up the act later this year.
30 still missing in train crash presumed dead
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec — Canadian officials told distraught families Wednesday that 30 people still missing after the fiery crash of a runaway oil train are all presumed dead.
Along with 20 bodies found, that would put the death toll from Saturday’s derailment and explosions at 50.
Hours before that somber meeting, Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of parent company Rail World Inc., blamed the engineer for failing to set the brakes properly before the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway train derailed and ignited. All but one of the 73 cars was carrying oil, and at least five exploded.
Only one of the bodies found so far has been identified.
By wire sources
