Japan issues evacuation order to resident near nuclear power plant with cooling

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Japan issues evacuation order to resident near nuclear power plant with cooling

problems

By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Fri, 11 Mar, 2011 9:11 AM EST

TOKYO - Japan ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant to

evacuate on Friday following a massive earthquake that caused a problem in the

plant's cooling system.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the Fukushima No. 1 power plant was not

leaking radiation. The plant is in Onahama city, about 170 miles (270

kilometres) northeast of Tokyo.

Japan's nuclear safety agency ordered more than 2,800 people in the area to

evacuate following the government's declaration of a state of emergency at the

plant.

The quake triggered a power failure and when a backup generator also failed, the

cooling system was unable to supply water to cool the reactor. The reactor core

remains hot even after a shutdown.

The agency said plant workers were scrambling to restore the water supply. There

was no prospect for an immediate success.

The plant is just south of the worst-hit Miyagi prefecture, where a fire broke

out at another nuclear plant. The blaze was in a turbine building at one of the

Onagawa power plants; smoke could be seen coming out of the building, which is

separate from the plant's reactor, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said. It has since

been extinguished.

Another plant at Onagawa is experiencing a water leak.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was a magnitude 8.9, the

biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the

late 1800s.

A tsunami warning was issued for a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin

American nations.