A RM517b nightmare.....!!!

Officials say at least 10,000 people were likely killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it. Kyodo news agency reported that 2,000 bodies had been found yesterday in two coastal towns alone.FUKUSHIMA: Japan scrambled to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant yesterday after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, just days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 10,000 people.

Roads and rail, power and ports have been crippled across much of Japan’s northeast and estimates of the cost of the multiple disasters have leapt to as much as US$170 billion (RM517 billion).

Analysts said the economy could even tip back into recession. Japanese stocks closed down more than 7.5 per cent, wiping US$287 billion off market capitalisation in the biggest fall since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Rescue workers combed the tsunami battered region north of Tokyo for survivors and struggled to care for millions of people without power and water in what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has dubbed his country’s worst crisis since World War 2.

Officials say at least 10,000 people were likely killed in the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it. Kyodo news agency reported that 2,000 bodies had been found yesterday in two coastal towns alone.

“It’s a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish,” said Patrick Fuller of the International Red Cross Federation from the town of Otsuchi.

“The situation here is just beyond belief, almost everything has been flattened. The government is saying that 9,500 people, more than half of the population, could have died and I do fear the worst.” The big fear at the Fukushima nuclear complex, 240km north of Tokyo, is of a major radiation leak.

Jiji news agency said fuel rods at the No.

2 reactor had been entirely exposed and a fuel rod meltdown could not be ruled out.

The plant operator confirmed there was little water left in the reactor.

The explosion happened at the No. 3 reactor, two days after a blast at the No. 1 reactor.

A meltdown raises the risk of damage to the reactor vessel and a possible radioactive leak. Levels of cooling sea water around the reactor core had been reported as falling earlier in the day. Jiji said the pump had run out of fuel. Crucially, officials said the thick walls around the radioactive cores of the damaged reactors appeared to be intact after the earlier hydrogen blast.

The core container of the No. 3 reactor was intact after the explosion, the government said, but it warned those still in the 20km evacuation zone to stay indoors.

The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) , said 11 people had been injured in the blast.

Kyodo said 80,000 people had been evacuated from the zone, joining more than 450,000 other evacuees from quake and tsunami-hit areas in the northeast.

“Everything I’ve seen says that the containment structure is operating as it’s designed to operate. It’s keeping the radiation in and it’s holding everything in, which is the good news,” said Murray Jennex, of San Diego State University.

“This is nothing like a Chernobyl ... At Chernobyl (in Ukraine in 1986) you had no containment structure — when it blew, it blew everything straight out into the atmosphere.” Nuclear experts said it was probably the first time in the industry’s 57-year history that sea water has been used in this way, a sign of how close Japan may be to a major accident.

“Injection of sea water into a core is an extreme measure,” Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This is not according to the book.” The nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl, sparked criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and the threat that could pose to the countr y’s nuclear power industry.

A Japanese official said before the blast that 22 people were confirmed to have suffered radiation contamination and up to 190 may have been exposed. Workers in protective clothing used hand-held scanners to check people arriving at evacuation c e n t r e s.

United States warships and planes helping with relief efforts moved away from the coast temporarily because of low-level radiation. The US Seventh Fleet described the move as precautionar y.

Almost two million households were without power in the north, the government said. There were about 1.4 million without running water.

Tens of thousands are missing. The town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture was obliterated.

“After my long career in the Red Cross where I have seen many disasters and catastrophes, this is the worst I have ever seen. Otsuchi reminds me of Osaka and Tokyo after World War 2 when everything was destroyed and flattened,” Japan Red Cross President Tadateru Konoe said during a visit to the coastal town.

Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map by Friday’s wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic propor tions.

“When the tsunami struck, I was trying to evacuate people. I looked back, and then it was like the computer graphics scene I’ve seen from the movie Armageddon. I thought it was a dream.

“It was really like the end of the wo r l d , ” said Tsutomu Sato, 46, in Rikuzantakata, a town on the northeast coast. Estimates of the economic impact are only now starting to emerge.

Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japan at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients that the economic loss will likely be around 14-15 trillion yen (RM520 billion to RM556 billion) just to the region hit by the quake and tsunami.

Even that would put it above the commonly accepted cost of the 1995 Kobe quake, which killed 6,000 people.

The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and shares in some of Japan’s biggest companies tumbled yesterday, with Toyota Corp dropping almost eight per cent.

The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century. It surpassed the Great Kanto quake of Sept 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

Chaiyok Lee Chong Wei.....

SEJURUS selepas menumbangkan musuh tradisi, Lin Dan dalam final kejuaraan Seluruh England, Lee Chong Wei sudah mula menunjukkan sifat ghairah.

“Saya mahu memburu gelaran kejuaraan dunia pula di Wembley, Ogos ini,” katanya yang akhirnya berjaya menewaskan lawan liat itu di ‘pentas besar badminton’ selepas menggigit jari di final Sukan Olimpik 2008 dan Sukan Asia 2010.

Ia harus ditakrif persembahan terbaik daripada pemain nombor satu dunia itu yang menggunakan strategi baik ala menyerang menewaskan juara dunia dan Olimpik itu dalam perlawanan akhir edisi ke-101 yang rancak di Arena Tertutup Birmingham, awal pagi, semalam.

“Ia saat paling manis bagi saya,” kata Chong Wei. “Saya main dengan fikiran untuk bertindak secara selamat dan mahu cari mata saja.”

Jaguh negara juga berkata menerima panggilan daripada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak selepas perlawanan untuk mengucapkan tahniah. “Dia kata kepada saya, bagus,” kata Chong Wei.

Dalam final itu pemain berusia 28 tahun dari Pulau Pinang itu menewaskan Lin Dan 21-17 21-17 untuk gah mempertahankan mahkota kejuaraan buat kali kedua berturut-turut. 

Gas Reaktor Nuklear Meletup....

Ini mesti bahaya...dah la gas hydrogen.....

Gas hidrogen di reaktor nombor tiga loji nuklear Fukushima Daiichi meletup pagi semalam, menyebabkan 11 cedera, tetapi tidak membocorkan radiasi seperti dibimbangi pelbagai pihak.

Insiden pada jam 11.01 pagi di loji nuklear yang terletak 240 kilometer (km) di utara Tokyo itu, berlaku dua hari selepas letupan hidrogen di reaktor nombor satu di loji sama yang rosak selepas Jepun dilanda gempa bumi mega dan tsunami besar Jumaat lalu.

“Kami berpendapat kemungkinan kebocoran radiasi berada pada tahap rendah,” kata Ketua Setiausaha Kabinet, Yukio Edano pada sidang akhbar mengenai perkembangan terbaru di loji berusia 40 tahun itu.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), pengendali loji berkenaan, dalam kenyataan berasingan berkata, tujuh pekerjanya dan empat anggota tentera di loji itu cedera dan dihantar ke hospital.

Berikutan itu, syarikat itu mengarahkan semua pekerja berlindung dalam bangunan pentadbiran selepas letupan, tetapi paras radiasi didapati rendah pada 20 micro sievert sejam pada 11.44 pagi.

Letupan itu berlaku selepas TEPCO mengemukakan laporan kepada kerajaan semalam bahawa tahap radiasi di loji terbabit meningkat di atas paras dibenarkan dan tekanan dalam bekas kalis radiasi reaktor nombor tiga juga sudah meningkat. 
Loji Fukushima itu ditutup sejak gempa bumi melanda timur laut dan timur Jepun minggu lalu tetapi beberapa sistem penyejukan reaktornya gagal berfungsi.

TEPCO sebelum ini mengepam air laut ke dalam reaktor, yang menyebabkan peningkatan tahap radiasi dan tekanan.

Perdana Menteri, Naoto Kan berkata, pihak terbabit berusaha keras menghentikan kemusnahan di loji nuklear itu daripada terus merebak. 

Kelmarin pihak berkuasa mengesahkan tiga reaktor nuklear di utara Tokyo berisiko menjadi terlalu panas dan mencetuskan kebimbangan kebocoran radiasi.

Jurutera bertungkus lumus menyejukkan teras reaktor yang musnah itu. Jika mereka gagal, bekas kalis radiasi di bahagian induk akan cair atau meletup, membebaskan bahan radiasi di udara.

Berikutan krisis nuklear itu, negara ketiga ekonomi terbesar dunia itu berhadapan dengan insiden terputusnya bekalan elektrik dan syarikat pengangkutan awam di Tokyo turut terhenti akibat tiada bekalan berkenaan.

Badan penyiar NHK memetik pegawai polis berkata, lebih 10,000 rakyat dikhuatiri mati di sepanjang pantai yang turut memusnahkan pekan di sekitarnya.

“Saya mahu percaya masih ada yang selamat,” kata Masaru Kudo, tentera yang dihantar ke Rikuzentakata.

Kyodo berkata, 80,000 orang sudah dipindahkan dari 20 kilometer di sekitar loji nuklear itu menyertai 450,000 lagi penduduk dipindahkan dari kawasan gempa bumi dan tsunami di timur laut Pulau Honshu itu.

Hampir 2 juta penduduk tiada bekalan elektrik pada masa sama cuaca terlalu sejuk di utara manakala kira-kira 1.4 juta penduduk tidak mempunyai air bersih. – Reuters

INFO: KESAN RADIASI NUKLEAR KEPADA MANUSIA

Pendedahan radiasi berukuran 100 Rems akan merosakkan sistem peredaran darah menyebabkan sel limfosit darah akan berkurangan. Simptom awal selesema. 

Pendedahan kepada radiasi berukuran 200 Rems ke atas menyebabkan keguguran rambut dengan cepat, kerosakan saluran usus yang mengakibatkan mual, muntah dan cirit-birit. Pada kekuatan ini, radiasi boleh menyebabkan kerosakan saluran peranakan.

Radiasi nuklear berukuran 1,000 hingga 5,000 Rems mengakibatkan kerosakan kepada pembuluh darah dan boleh menyebabkan jantung gagal berfungsi dan kematian.

Pendedahan langsung kepada radiasi berukuran lebih 5,000 Rems akan menyebabkan sel otak rosak, selain membunuh sel saraf dan merosakkan pembuluh darah dalam jantung.

Dalam jumlah tertentu, iodin radioaktif boleh merosakkan sebahagian atau seluruh bahagian kelenjar tiroid yang mengawal metabolisma (pengeluaran tenaga) manusia.

Menurut data kesan pengeboman bom atom di Nagasaki dan Hiroshima menunjukkan mangsa cuma bertahan selama 10 tahun dan berdepan risiko jangka panjang seperti leukemia dan barah limfoma.

Antonov 225

       

Dalam filem 2012...korang mesti nampak kapal terbang ni. Dalam film 2012 diorang tukar nama kapal terbang kargo buatan Russia (kini Ukraine) ini kepada AN-500. First of all AN-500 tidak wujud. Yang wujud hanya AN-225 Mriya (Dream) dan AN-124 (design yang sama cuma 4 enjin ,lebih pendek dan tiada twin tail ruddders) . Kalau korang pernah pergi LIMA , korang boleh nampak AN-124 landing di Langkawi. Russian Federation guna AN-124 untuk diorang punya long haul cargo needs . By the way back to AN-225. AN-225 ialah kapal terbang terbesar didunia. Lebih besar lagi dari Airbus A380. Tujuan asal ianya dibina ialah untuk mengangkut Space Shuttle program angkasa Soviet. Program Shuttle atau Buran terhenti kerana kejatuhan kerajaan Soviet. Akibatnya program pembinaan AN-225 juga terkandas. Ianya hanya kembali beroperasi di awal 2000 apabila ada permintaan untuk mengangkat kargo super heavy dengan cepat.

Masa Samoa dilanda taufan tempoh, hari sebuah AN-225 mengangkut 8 generator electrik pengganti sekaligus bagi membaiki generator elektrik yang rosak disana. Rekod angkutan maksimum AN-225 ialah 189 000 tan. Imagine that!

These days kapal terbang buatan Russia ini juga digunakan bagi mengangkat kenderaan perisai tentera berikat ke Iraq dan Afghanistan. Agak ironi kerana ianya dibina oleh Soviet dan kini menolong Amerika Syarikat menjadi imperialis!

Now for some fun facts!

• Tail section AN-225 berkembar kerana bila ada Buran pada atas pesawat kemudi konvensional tidak dapat berfungsi dengan baik. Even 747 special edition yang NASA gunakan untuk mengangkut Space Shuttlenya ada twin tail section yang sama.
• Bonjolan pada bahagian dorsal Mriya ialah hard point dimana kargo boleh diletakkan diluar
• Tidak seperti AN-124 and the fictional AN-500 in 2012, AN-225 tidak ada rear loading door. Ia cuma ada nose cone door sahaja.
• Didalam dunia hanya ada satu sahaja AN-225.
• AN-225 bukan pesawat paling banyak enjin didunia. Rekod ini dipegang oleh Hughes H-4 dengan 8 enjin!
• Sayap AN-225 adalah lebih panjang dari jarak penerbangan pertama Wright Brothers
• Untuk menerbangkan AN-225 kamu perlukan 2 pilot,seorang flight engineer dan seorang navigator. Pesawat ini tidak dilengkawi avionics moden. So dalam filem 2012 tu penipu tahap siku!