TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese engineers worked through the night to lay a 1.5 km (one mile) electricity cable to a crippled nuclear power plant in the hope of restarting pumps desperately needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophe.

Officials could not say when the cable might be connected, but said work would stop on Friday morning to allow helicopters and fire trucks to resume pouring water on the Daiichi plant, about 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese engineers worked through the night to restore a power cable to a crippled nuclear power plant in the hope of restarting pumps desperately needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophe.

Officials could not say when the cable might be connected, but said work would stop on Friday morning to allow helicopters and fire trucks to resume pouring water on the Daiichi plant, about 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

TOKYO, March 18 (Reuters) – Japanese engineers worked
through the night to lay a 1.5 km (one mile) electricity cable
to a crippled nuclear power plant in the hope of restarting
pumps desperately needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel
rods and avert a catastrophe.

Officials could not say when the cable might be connected,
but said work would stop on Friday morning to allow helicopters
and fire trucks to resume pouring water on the Daiichi plant,
about 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

SINGAPORE/TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power could still be held liable for the problems at its nuclear power plant as the Japanese government has not yet decided whether to classify Friday’s devastating earthquake an “exceptional” natural disaster. ??? Japan’s 1961 Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage states the operator of a nuclear facility will not be responsible for any damage caused by their reactor if it was due to “a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character or by an insurrection.”

Insurers of the nuclear plant have already cited this law to signal that claims are unlikely to be made following the explosions. ??? However, a person involved in this matter said the quake that hit Japan’s northern coast is not yet considered as an exceptional natural disaster, adding that the official consensus will have to be made by the ministry for education, culture, sport, science and technology — which is in charge of the law.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Winds over an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant in Japan are blowing slowly in a southwesterly direction that includes Tokyo but will shift westerly later on Tuesday, a weather official said.

The wind is moving at a speed of about two to three meters (7 to 10 ft) per second, said the official with the Japan Meteorological Agency who is based in Fukushima Prefecture, the location of three troubled nuclear reactors.

TOKYO (Reuters) – A decline in shares of Japanese non-life insurers including MS&AD Insurance Group (8725.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is expected to be temporary as the impact on their earnings of the earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan should be limited, analysts said.

The record quake had raised concerns about the size of payouts the insurers might need to make to cover claims by those affected.

TOKYO/LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) – Private equity firm Advent
International said on Wednesday it is closing its office in
Japan, after sources said it had wound up its Japan focused fund
having failed to crack the tough market for deals.

“We’ve had long and detailed discussions with our investors
about our strategy for Asia and have come to the conclusion that
there isn’t a sufficient volume of opportunities that meet our
investment criteria to sustain an office in Japan and a
dedicated Japan fund,” said an Advent spokesperson in an emailed
statement.

TOKYO, March 7 (Reuters) – Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz),
Japan’s largest brokerage, named Junko Nakagawa as its first
female chief financial officer on Monday as it reshuffles its
management to better compete globally.

Nomura has been adopting management methods of foreign firms
after buying the non-U.S. business of Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz),
and Nakagawa is the first woman appointed to the role. She
assumes the post on April 1.

TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) – Global private equity firm Carlyle
[CYL.UL] reduced the size of its fund designated for Japanese
investments by 50 billion yen ($610 million) to 165.6 billion yen
at the end of 2009 due to a dearth of deals in the country at the
time, a company official said on Friday.

Carlyle, which in 2006 launched the 215.6 billion yen fund,
known as Carlyle Japan Partners ll, cut the size as the country’s
private equity market had dwindled in the wake of the global
financial crisis.

TOKYO, March 4 (Reuters) – The deadline for the final round
of bidding for failed Japanese consumer lender Takefuji Corp has
been moved back to March 22 from March 10 to give bidders more
time to assess its value, the court-appointed administrator said
on Friday.

Eiichi Obata, who is in charge of the sale, also said the
lender hopes to find a sponsor as early as the end of March.