Japan's PM says nuke situation dire

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/26/3174367.htm?section=justin

Japan's PM says nuke situation dire

By Mark Simkin and wires

Updated 43 minutes ago

Japan's prime minister says the situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear

plant remains grave and he cannot be optimistic.

A new shadow has been cast over efforts to control the radiation leak at the

plant and the government says it is worried highly radioactive water is leaking

from reactor No. 3.

Speaking through an interpreter, prime minister Naoto Kan says the situation

there remains grave and unpredictable, but he has paid tribute to the plant

workers in an address to the nation.

" We are trying to prevent a deterioration of the situation and we are still not

in a position where we can be optimistic, " he said.

Mr Kan has called for national unity.

" I would like to encourage the Japanese public to strengthen our unity and to

work with our hearts as one to overcome this disaster, " he said.

The reactor is a particular concern because it is the only one of six at the

plant to use a potentially volatile mix of uranium and plutonium.

A hydrogen explosion badly damaged the unit's outer building on March 14 and a

partial meltdown is also suspected.

Two workers from the plant were rushed to hospital on Thursday after receiving

radiation burns from standing in a puddle with a radiation level 10,000 times

higher than normal.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which operates the stricken plant, said it may

take another month to achieve a cold shutdown - when reactor temperatures fall

below boiling point and cooling systems are back at atmospheric pressure.

TEPCO has now reported suspected damage at reactor number three.

" It is possible that the pressure vessel containing the fuel rods in the reactor

is damaged, " a TEPCO spokesman said.

The new safety scare could hamper urgent efforts to restore power to the

all-important cooling systems at the plant.

" Radioactive substances have leaked to places far from the reactor, " said

Hideyuki Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency.

" As far as the data show, we believe there is a certain level of containment

ability but it's highly possible that the reactor is damaged. "

Higher radioactivity has also been detected in the ocean near the Fukushima

plant on Japan's Pacific coast, raising public fears about the safety of fish

and seaweed, traditional staples in the island nation's diet.

China, South Korea and the EU have now joined Australia, the United States,

Russia and other nations in restricting food imports from Japan, which itself

has halted vegetable and dairy shipments from the region near the atomic plant.

Two weeks after a giant earthquake hit and sent a massive tsunami crashing into

the Pacific coast, the death toll from Japan's worst post-war disaster topped

10,000 and there was scant hope for 17,500 others still missing.

The tsunami obliterated entire towns and some 250,000 homeless in almost 2,000

shelters are still braving privations and a winter chill, with a degree of

discipline and dignity that has impressed the world.

- ABC/AFP