5/29/2011 | Typhoon Songda Weakens, Set to Miss Fukushima, Agency Says

Source: Bloomberg
Date: Masumi Suga
by: Masumi Suga

Typhoon Songda is weakening and expected to pass to the south of Japan, avoiding the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture.
The eye of the storm was located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) south-southwest of Ashizurimisaki, part of Japan’s Kochi prefecture, and moving northeast at 55 kilometers per hour as of 9:50 a.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its website. Wind speeds may decrease to 83 kilometers per hour by 9 p.m. from 108 kilometers per hour at 9:50 a.m., it said.
Forecasts last week projected the possibility that the storm may pass over the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, which spewed radiation after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems and left three of six reactor buildings with no roofs after explosions.
To contact the reporter on this story: Masumi Suga in Tokyo at msuga@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ian Rowley at irowley2@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net