Cooler but still well above normal this week

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press

SOMA, Japan (AP) —  Radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear
plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor
was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a
dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government
warned anyone nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.


      In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan
said radiation has spread from four reactors of the Fukushima
Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima province, one of the
hardest-hit in Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing
tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people.


      "The level seems very high, and there is still a very high risk
of more radiation coming out," Kan said. "We are making utmost
efforts to prevent further explosions and radiation leaks."


      This is the worst nuclear crisis Japan has faced since the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It is
also the first time that such a grave nuclear threat has been
raised in the world since a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl,
Ukraine exploded in 1986.


      Kan warned there are dangers of more leaks and told people
living within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi
complex to stay indoors to avoid radiation sickness. Some 70,000
people had already been evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer)
radius and 140,000 remain in the zone for which the new warning was
issued.


      Three reactors at the power plant were in critical condition
after Friday's quake, losing their ability to cool down and
releasing some radiation. A fourth reactor that was unoperational
caught fire on Tuesday and more radiation was released, Chief
Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.


      The fire was put out. Even though it was unoperational, the
fourth reactor was believed to be the source of the elevated
radiation release because of the hydrogen release that triggered
the fire.


      "It is likely that the level of radiation increased sharply due
to a fire at Unit 4," Edano said. "Now we are talking about
levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near
the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the
levels should be lower," he said.


      "Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close
windows and make your homes airtight. Don't turn on ventilators.
Please hang your laundry indoors," he said.


      "These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no
mistake about that," he said.


      He said a reactor whose containment building caught fire Monday
has not contributed greatly to the increased radiation. The
radiation level around one of the reactors stood at 400,000
microsiverts per hour, four times higher than the safe level.


      Officials said 50 workers were still there trying to put water
into the reactors to cool them. They say 800 other staff were
evacuated. The fires and explosions at the reactors have injured 15
workers and military personnel and exposed up to 190 people to
elevated radiation.


      The death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped
Tuesday as police confirmed the number killed had topped 2,400,
though that grim news was overshadowed by a deepening nuclear
crisis. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people
may have died in Miyagi province alone.


      Millions of people spent a fourth night with little food, water
or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the
loss of homes and loved ones. Asia's richest country hasn't seen
such hardship since World War II.


      Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of
the hardest-hit, said deliveries of supplies were only 10 percent
of what is needed. Body bags and coffins were running so short that
the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said.


      Though Japanese officials have refused to speculate on the death
toll, Indonesian geologist Hery Harjono, who dealt with the 2004
Asian tsunami, said it would be "a miracle really if it turns out
to be less than 10,000" dead.


      The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 people - of which only 184,000
bodies were found.


      Harjono noted that many bodies in Japan may have been sucked out
to sea or remain trapped beneath rubble as they did in Indonesia's
hardest-hit Aceh province. But he also stressed that Japan's
infrastructure, high-level of preparedness and city planning to
keep houses away from the shore could mitigate its human losses.


      The impact of the earthquake and tsunami on the world's
third-largest economy helped drag down the share markets Monday,
the first business day since the disasters. The benchmark Nikkei
225 stock average for a second day Tuesday, by 6.5 percent to
8,999.73, wiping out this year's gains while the broader Topix
index lost 7.5 percent.


      To lessen the damage, Japan's central bank injected $61.2
billion Tuesday into the money markets after pumping in $184
billion on Monday.


      Initial estimates put repair costs in the tens of billions of
dollars, costs that would likely add to a massive public debt that,
at 200 percent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among
industrialized nations.


      In a bid to stop the reactors at the nuclear plant from melting
down, engineers have been injecting seawater as a coolant of last
resort.


      Yuta Tadano, a 20-year-old pump technician at the Fukushima
power plant, said he was on the second floor of an office building
in the complex when quake hit.


      "It was terrible. The desks were thrown around and the tables
too. The walls started to crumble around us and there was dust
everywhere. The roof began to collapse.
   

   "We got outside and confirmed everyone was safe . Then we got
out of there. We had no time to be tested for radioactive exposure.
I still haven't been tested," Tadano told The Associated Press at
an evacuation center outside the exclusion zone.
  

    "We live about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the facility. We
had to figure out on our own where to go," said Tadano, cradling
his 4-month-old baby, Shoma. "I worry a lot about fallout. If we
could see it we could escape, but we can't."


      "Just because we are an evacuation center doesn't mean we are
safe," said his sister-in-law Makiko Murasawa, 43.


      The nuclear crisis has also raised global concerns about the
safety of nuclear power at a time when it has seen a resurgence as
an alternative to fossil fuels.


      The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the
Japanese government has asked the agency to send experts to help.


      The Dai-ichi plant is the most severely affected of three
nuclear complexes that were declared emergencies after suffering
damage in Friday's quake and tsunami, raising questions about the
safety of such plants in coastal areas near fault lines and adding
to global jitters over the industry.


      Switzerland ordered a freeze on new plants, while Germany said
it was suspending a decision to extend the life of its nuclear
plants. The United States said it would try to learn from the
Japanese crisis but that events would not diminish the U.S.
commitment to nuclear power.


      "When we talk about reaching a clean energy standard, it is a
vital part of that," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.


      Meanwhile, 17 U.S. military personnel involved in helicopter
relief missions were found to have been exposed to low levels of
radiation after they flew back from the devastated coast to the USS
Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier about 100 miles (160 kilometers)
offshore.

      U.S. officials said the exposure level was roughly equal to one
month's normal exposure to natural background radiation, and the 17
were declared contamination-free after scrubbing with soap and
water.


      As a precaution, the carrier and other 7th Fleet ships involved
in relief efforts had shifted to another area, the U.S. said.

      Yuasa reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Elaine
Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
      
      

Gallery

Soldiers warn of tsunami threat in NE Japan

Japan central bank injects funds as stocks plunge

Photos: Japan earthquake and tsunami aftermath

Disasters

Radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear
plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor
was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a
dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government
warned anyone nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.

Japanese ordered indoors in radiation leak crisis

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox