US alarm over Japan atomic crisis

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12766930

16 March 2011 Last updated at 23:39 ET

US alarm over Japan atomic crisis

" They are leaving us to die, " says the mayor of Minamasoma inside the exclusion

zone

Increasing alarm has been voiced in the US about the crisis at the Fukushima

Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

A top US nuclear official said attempts to cool reactors with sea water to

prevent a meltdown appeared to be failing and workers could be exposed to

" potentially lethal " radiation doses.

Japanese army helicopters on Thursday dumped water on the reactors to try to

cool overheated fuel rods.

The plant was severely damaged by last week's huge earthquake and tsunami.

US Energy Secretary Chu has said that the situation at the plant appears

to be more serious than the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear

plant in Pennsylvania in 1979.

The US state department has urged Americans living within 80km (50 miles) of

Fukushima Daiichi, which lies 220km from Tokyo, to leave the area - a much wider

exclusion zone than the 20km advised by the Japanese government.

Some US military personnel in Japan have been given tablets against possible

radiation effects.

Britain has now advised its nationals currently in Tokyo and to the north of the

capital to consider leaving the area.

Engineers are racing to avert a nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi, where

the tsunami wrecked back-up diesel generators that kept the nuclear fuel cool.

Workers have been dousing the reactors with sea water in a frantic effort to

stabilise their temperatures, since the first in a series of explosions rocked

the plant on Saturday.

'Unprecedented' crisis

On Thursday, army helicopters dumped tonnes of water on reactor three - a day

after they were forced to pull out amid concerns over radiation levels in the

air above the site.

There are fears that reactor three may have released radioactive steam due to a

reported damage to its containment vessel.

The helicopters soon left the site in order to minimise the crews' exposure to

radiation.

Meanwhile, water trucks are now on standby to spray water on to a spent-fuel

storage pond at reactor four, following fires there.

Fukushima has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. has said it is seeking to restore the

power supply to the plant's cooling systems " as soon as possible " .

On Wednesday, Greg Jaczko, chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC), told a congressional energy and commerce subcommittee hearing in

Washington that there appeared to be serious problems with attempts to cool the

reactors.

" We believe that around the reactor site there are high levels of radiation, " he

said.

" It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors. The

doses they could experience would potentially be lethal doses in a very short

period of time. "

The US NRC has 11 agency experts in Tokyo monitoring the situation.

The head of the UN's atomic energy agency, Yukio Amano, is travelling to Japan

in person to gather more information.

Earlier, in a rare public appearance, Japan's Emperor Akihito said he was

" deeply worried " about the crisis his country was facing.

TV stations interrupted programming to show the emperor describing the crisis

facing the nation as " unprecedented in scale " .

The 77-year-old - deeply respected by many Japanese - said: " I hope from the

bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with

compassion and overcome these difficult times. "

Fukushima prefecture governor Yuhei Sato has criticised official handling of the

evacuation of the area around the stricken power plant. " Anxiety and anger felt

by people have reached boiling point, " he said.

Mr Sato said centres already housing people who had been moved from their homes

near the plant did not have enough hot meals and basic necessities such as fuel

and medical supplies. " We're lacking everything, " he said.

In other developments:

The benchmark Nikkei index fell 3.6% in early Thursday trading in Tokyo, shortly

after the yen briefly hit the highest level against the US dollar since World

War II

France urged its nationals in Tokyo to leave the country or move south; two Air

France planes were sent to begin evacuation

Australia advised its citizens to consider leaving Tokyo and the most damaged

prefectures

Turkey warned against travel to Japan

Thousands of people were killed in the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.

Snow has blanketed swathes of the disaster zone, where many survivors have

little food, water or heat.

About 450,000 people have been staying in temporary shelters, many sleeping on

the floor of school gymnasiums.

More than 4,300 people are listed as dead but it is feared the total death toll

from the catastrophe, which pulverised the country's north-east coast, will rise

substantially.

Reactor 1: Was first to be rocked an explosion on Saturday; fuel rods reportedly

70% damaged

Reactor 2: There are fears a blast on Tuesday breached a containment system;

fuel rods reportedly 33% damaged

Reactor 3: Explosion on Monday; smoke or steam seen rising on Wednesday; damage

to roof and possibly also to a containment system

Reactor 4: Hit by a major blaze on Tuesday and another fire on Wednesday