Source: PDI
MANILA, Philippines – Science Secretary Mario Montejo said there is no immediate threat of a radiation fallout to the Philippines since the possibility of a nuclear meltdown in earthquake-ravaged Japan is “very, very remote.”
“It's very, very remote. There's no immediate possibility of a big (nuclear) leakage,” he told reporters, on Sunday afternoon, after a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on radiation contingency.
Montejo said the likelihood of a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was nil, as of Sunday, adding that “the risk dramatically goes down as time goes by.”
But he said they would continue their close monitoring of the situation for 10 days after the earthquake, the period within which the temperature in the nuclear reactor was expected to normalize.
“Probably there'll be no radiation. There's a very, very remote chance. A meltdown should have happened at the start. We're now on the third day so the chances of it happening is very, very remote,” Montejo said.
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) director Alumanda Dela Rosa said that as of Sunday, the risk of a radiation leak was confined to the power plant.
“There is no threat to the Philippines. Should there be any clouds, it will be moving east from Japan, away from us,” she said.
Dela Rosa said the agency has been communicating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Meteorological Organization about the nuclear leak situation in Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant. The Fukushima Daiichi plant, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), is located about 240 kilometers, north of Tokyo on the country's northeast coast.
According to Dela Rosa, radioactive clouds are invisible to the eye but can be detective by scientific instruments. As of Sunday, the radiation level in the country's atmosphere was “normal,” she said.
Robert Sawi, chief climatologist at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), also allayed fears that the country would be under nuclear cover.
“It's very remote,” he said, noting that the nuclear reactors in the Fukushima plant were still contained, as of Sunday.
The winds from the region would not likely head down south to the Philippines, he said.
“The winds in that area is moving from west to east,” Sawi said. Thus, if a radioactive cloud formed, it would drift to the open sea, where it would disperse, he said.
As statement from the IAEA on Sunday said winds from Japan have been moving northeast.
“In partnership with the World Meteorological Organization, the IAEA is providing its member states with weather forecasts for the affected areas in Japan. The latest predictions have indicated winds moving to the Northeast, away from Japanese coast over the next three days,” the United Nations agency said.
Dela Rosa also noted that the IAEA had been sending them bulletins about the progress of the repairs in the cooling reactors, which were damaged when an 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan last Friday and produced a devastating tsunami.
“We are monitoring Japan and how they have been addressing the cooling reactors. The problem is they have to stop with the repair because of the aftershocks. But they have the capability,” she said.
A German weather agency predicted the possibility that a radioactive cloud would float towards the Philippines.
An advisory dated March 12 from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said that if a nuclear band formed from Japan, it would float towards the Philippines in five days due to high pressure area in the region.
Dela Rosa dismissed this, citing the IAEA advisories, but said they would be monitoring closely the situation in the next few days.
Other countries around Japan have also been monitoring radiation levels and the wind systems in the northeast Pacific to determine the path of a nuclear cloud. Both China and South Korea said they foresaw no nuclear danger as the winds from Japan were not heading towards them.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the wind from the Fukushima area will keep blowing from the south in the area from noon until early evening.
The direction of the wind is a key factor in judging possible damage to the environment from radiation leaking from the plant, which was devastated on Friday by Japan's biggest earthquake on record and a subsequent tsunami.
NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos said representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, the PNRI and the PAGASA briefed other member-agencies of the Council on possible scenarios from the damage sustained by the cooling system of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
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MANILA, Philippines – Science Secretary Mario Montejo said there is no immediate threat of a radiation fallout to the Philippines since the possibility of a nuclear meltdown in earthquake-ravaged Japan is “very, very remote.”
“It's very, very remote. There's no immediate possibility of a big (nuclear) leakage,” he told reporters, on Sunday afternoon, after a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on radiation contingency.
Montejo said the likelihood of a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was nil, as of Sunday, adding that “the risk dramatically goes down as time goes by.”
But he said they would continue their close monitoring of the situation for 10 days after the earthquake, the period within which the temperature in the nuclear reactor was expected to normalize.
“Probably there'll be no radiation. There's a very, very remote chance. A meltdown should have happened at the start. We're now on the third day so the chances of it happening is very, very remote,” Montejo said.
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) director Alumanda Dela Rosa said that as of Sunday, the risk of a radiation leak was confined to the power plant.
“There is no threat to the Philippines. Should there be any clouds, it will be moving east from Japan, away from us,” she said.
Dela Rosa said the agency has been communicating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Meteorological Organization about the nuclear leak situation in Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant. The Fukushima Daiichi plant, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), is located about 240 kilometers, north of Tokyo on the country's northeast coast.
According to Dela Rosa, radioactive clouds are invisible to the eye but can be detective by scientific instruments. As of Sunday, the radiation level in the country's atmosphere was “normal,” she said.
Robert Sawi, chief climatologist at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), also allayed fears that the country would be under nuclear cover.
“It's very remote,” he said, noting that the nuclear reactors in the Fukushima plant were still contained, as of Sunday.
The winds from the region would not likely head down south to the Philippines, he said.
“The winds in that area is moving from west to east,” Sawi said. Thus, if a radioactive cloud formed, it would drift to the open sea, where it would disperse, he said.
As statement from the IAEA on Sunday said winds from Japan have been moving northeast.
“In partnership with the World Meteorological Organization, the IAEA is providing its member states with weather forecasts for the affected areas in Japan. The latest predictions have indicated winds moving to the Northeast, away from Japanese coast over the next three days,” the United Nations agency said.
Dela Rosa also noted that the IAEA had been sending them bulletins about the progress of the repairs in the cooling reactors, which were damaged when an 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan last Friday and produced a devastating tsunami.
“We are monitoring Japan and how they have been addressing the cooling reactors. The problem is they have to stop with the repair because of the aftershocks. But they have the capability,” she said.
A German weather agency predicted the possibility that a radioactive cloud would float towards the Philippines.
An advisory dated March 12 from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said that if a nuclear band formed from Japan, it would float towards the Philippines in five days due to high pressure area in the region.
Dela Rosa dismissed this, citing the IAEA advisories, but said they would be monitoring closely the situation in the next few days.
Other countries around Japan have also been monitoring radiation levels and the wind systems in the northeast Pacific to determine the path of a nuclear cloud. Both China and South Korea said they foresaw no nuclear danger as the winds from Japan were not heading towards them.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the wind from the Fukushima area will keep blowing from the south in the area from noon until early evening.
The direction of the wind is a key factor in judging possible damage to the environment from radiation leaking from the plant, which was devastated on Friday by Japan's biggest earthquake on record and a subsequent tsunami.
NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos said representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, the PNRI and the PAGASA briefed other member-agencies of the Council on possible scenarios from the damage sustained by the cooling system of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
