Key words : power station
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240131_26/
A thermal power station in central Japan is on fire.
Fire department officials say they've received reports about a possible explosion at the site.
They say the reports came in at about 3 p.m. on Wednesday from residents near Taketoyo Thermal Power Station. It's located in Aichi Prefecture. Black smoke has been seen rising from three areas at the facility. There are no reported injuries.
The station can generate a maximum power output of more than one million kilowatts. It's one of the largest thermal power stations in the country.
The fire department is investigating.
Key words : three years myanmar election
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20240131164554125/
Analysis: Myanmar junta struggling 3 years after coup
February 1st marks three years since Myanmar's military seized power in a coup. Ongoing unrest has cast doubts over the junta's promises to hold fresh elections. NHK World's Takahashi Jun brings us more from Yangon.
Key words : vice minister
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240131_17/
The Japanese government says two parliamentary vice ministers have decided to step down over a political fundraising scandal involving factions of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Internal Affairs Komori Takuo and his counterpart in the Cabinet Office Kato Ryusho belong to the LDP faction previously led by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
Informed sources say investigations have revealed undeclared revenues in the political fund reports of Komori and Kato's offices from their faction's fundraising events.
Komori told reporters on Wednesday that in the last few days his office has confirmed the failure to report the revenues. He said he wanted to apologize for causing public distrust in politics.
In December, four Cabinet ministers, five state ministers and one parliamentary vice minister were replaced from among 15 senior government officials from the Abe faction.
Key words : learned 30 people
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240131_16/
NHK has learned more than 30 people died from exposure to the cold in Ishikawa Prefecture after the powerful New Year's Day earthquake. Many of them are believed to have been waiting for rescue.
In the prefecture, 238 deaths had been confirmed as of Tuesday. Fifteen of them are believed to have been caused by factors triggered by the quake.
NHK has gathered information from the National Police Agency on what caused 222 other people to die. Police have already conducted autopsies on them.
Ninety-two, or 41 percent, of the victims were crushed to death, and 49 others, or 22 percent of the total, died of suffocation or respiratory failure.
Thirty-two people, or 14 percent, died due to hypothermia, the loss of body heat.
In Wajima City, three people were burned to death. A street in the city center was engulfed by fire.
More than 70 percent of the 204 victims whose age has been confirmed were in their 60s or older.
Prefectural officials have made public the causes of deaths with consent from victims' families. But these are listed under general categories, such as "collapsing of homes" and "landslides."
This is the first time that more details have been revealed.
Key words : nuclear watchdog
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240131_07/
The UN's nuclear watchdog has reaffirmed that Japan's discharge of treated and diluted water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean is consistent with international safety standards.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's task force reviewing the discharge on Tuesday issued its first full report since the release began last August.
The agency said in its earlier report in July that it found Japan's plan for handling the treated water to be consistent with international safety standards. It added that the discharge as planned would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment.
In the latest report, the IAEA reaffirmed those conclusions, based on the task force's first review mission after the release began.
The mission sent to Japan in October included experts from 11 countries, including Britain, South Korea and China. China has been opposing the discharge.
The IAEA also pointed out the importance of its efforts to corroborate the source and environmental monitoring conducted by the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company and other relevant Japanese authorities.
The agency says it will continue to conduct routine review missions. It says the next one is anticipated to take place in spring of 2024.
Japan's government plans to explain the IAEA's latest report to neighboring countries such as China to gain understanding about the safety of the discharge plan.
Water used to cool molten fuel at Fukushima Daiichi has been mixing with rain and groundwater. The accumulated water is being treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium.
Before releasing the water into the ocean, the plant's operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guidance level for drinking water.
Key words : east japan railway
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240130_34/
East Japan Railway Company plans to carry out reinforcement work on Shinkansen lines following an extensive suspension of bullet train services last week.
The company said the suspension last Tuesday was caused by damage to a part that holds the overhead power cable in place. A resulting power outage led to the cancelation for extended hours of more than 280 trains on parts of the Tohoku, Hokuriku and Joetsu Shinkansen lines.
At a news conference on Tuesday, senior officials of JR East apologized for causing trouble to passengers.
They said the repair work will be carried out by the end of July on all Shinkansen lines under its jurisdiction.
As a tentative measure, the company will replace the type of part in question in the section between Tokyo and Omiya in neighboring Saitama Prefecture.
In other sections, it plans to put a new metal fitting near the part in order to prevent the overhead power cable from dangling even if a similar problem occurs again.
Under the company's standard maintenance policy, the replacement cycle for this type of part is every 30 years. But the part that broke had been used for 38 years.
The officials also said the subsequent inspections of the same kind of part at 490 locations revealed that more than half had been used for more than 30 years.
One of the officials said the company has had replacement plans depending on the condition of individual parts and the environment in which they have been used.
He added that the company will review the plans following the latest trouble, and suggested that the part will be replaced with a spring type device, which would have a simpler structure and have a lower risk of breaking.
Key words : f-16 crashed
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240131_18/
A US F-16 fighter jet has crashed into the Yellow Sea, west of the Korean Peninsula.
US forces in South Korea say the crash occurred after an "in-flight emergency" on Wednesday morning. They say the aircraft belongs to Kunsan Air Base in the central part of South Korea.
The US forces say the pilot was rescued after safely ejecting. They say he is conscious.
South Korean media report that the crash site is in the same area as an island used by US and South Korean air forces for bombing drills.
The US military is investigating how the incident happened.
In May, a US F-16 fighter crashed into farmland in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul. About seven months later, another US F-16 went down into the Yellow Sea.
Key words : weather jonathen
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