Japan asks Russia to increase energy supply

2011-03-13 00:46:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Japan asked Russia on Saturday to increase energy supplies and Moscow is ready to deliver up to 150,000 tons of liquefied natural gas to the earthquake-stricken country, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said.

Earlier on Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said liquefied natural gas supplies to Japan should be stepped up if requested, RIA Novosti reported.

Japan "is our neighbor, a friendly neighbor and...we should do all we can to help with energy supplies due to [Japan's] waning capacities as a result of an earthquake and tsunami," he said at a meeting with Sechin and Emergency Situations Deputy Minister Ruslan Tsalikov.

Japanese officials confirmed on Saturday that an explosion rocked the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan. They said the explosion happened around 3.30 p.m. local time, causing the roof and walls of a building housing the reactor's container to collapse. However, officials claimed there was no serious damage to the reactor container itself. Initial fears of a potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster were rejected by Japanese officials, who said there was no major health threat from the amount of radiation being released.

The emergency situations at the nuclear power plants are the result of a great 8.9-magnitude earthquake that shook Japan on Friday afternoon. It unleashed giant tsunamis that slammed into the coastlines of Japan, killing more than 900 people and leaving thousands more missing. The tsunamis also killed two other people in Indonesia and the U.S. state of California, both whom were swept out to sea.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-13

Theres a good neighbor!

Thanks Putin.

Tiger