Thread
:
9.0 Earthquake Strikes Japan
View Single Post
03-15-2011, 07:36 AM
#
22
HOTgirlsXXL
Join Date
Oct 2005
Posts
347
Senior Member
BBC
15 March 2011 Last updated at 00:29 ET
Radiation fears after Japan blast
As radiation levels near the plant rise, people are being checked for exposure
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged those living within 30km (18 miles) of the plant to stay indoors.
Earlier, reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was hit by a blast - the third reactor to explode in four days - leading to fears of a meltdown.
The crisis was sparked by a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on Friday.
Thousands of people are believed to have died.
Exclusion zone A fresh explosion rocked reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - 250km (155 miles) north-east of Tokyo - in the early hours of Tuesday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said,
"Now we are talking about levels that can impact human health."
Continue reading the main story
JAPAN NUCLEAR EMERGENCY
Explosions in three reactors at Fukushima plant
Fourth reactor on fire
Containment chamber damaged at reactor 2
Radiation levels at plant rise more than four fold
20km (12 mile) exclusion zone
People living within 30km to stay indoors
US asks nuclear questions
He stressed that such levels were recorded at the plant and that the "further away you get from the power plant or reactor, the value should go down".
In his televised address, Prime Minister Kan said:
"There is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out."
He added that the last remaining people within a 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant had to leave, and that those living between 20km and 30km from the site should remain indoors.
Radiation levels around Fukushima for one hour's exposure rose to eight times the legal limit for exposure in one year, said the plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).
The radiation reading at 0831 local time (2331 GMT) climbed to 8,217 microsieverts an hour from 1,941 about 40 minutes earlier, Tepco said. The annual legal limit is 1,000 microsieverts.
Japan's PM says there is a 'very high' risk of further radiation leaks
Higher radiation levels were recorded on Tuesday south of Fukushima, Kyodo news agency reported.
The French embassy said low-level radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within hours.
Mr Kan also said a fire had broken out at the plant's reactor 4. It now appears to have been put out.
Shares on the Tokyo stock exchange plummeted 13%. The leading Nikkei index had already fallen by 7% on Monday.
On Monday, a hydrogen blast at the Fukushima plant's reactor 3 was felt 40km (25 miles) away. It followed a blast at reactor 1 on Saturday.
All explosions have been preceded by cooling system breakdowns. Engineers are trying to prevent meltdowns by flooding the chambers of the nuclear reactors with sea water.
After the third explosion, officials said the containment vessel around reactor 2 had been damaged.
Complete devastation Meanwhile, five days after the tsunami triggered by the earthquake, the relief operation is continuing.
The latest official death toll stands at about 2,400 - but some estimates suggest 10,000 may have been killed.
One of the worst-hit towns, Minamisanriku, is now just a scene of complete devastation, says the BBC's Rachel Harvey.
Everything was flattened by the force of the tsunami, with only the town's hospital and a government building remaining, our correspondent says.
Thousands are still unaccounted for - including hundreds of tourists - while many remote towns and villages have not been reached.
More than 500,000 people have been made homeless.
The government has deployed 100,000 troops to lead the aid effort.
The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice to warn against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and north-eastern Japan. British nationals and friends and relatives of those in Japan can contact the Foreign Office on +44(0) 20 7008 0000.
#j-exp { padding-bottom: 10px; }
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12740843
Quote
HOTgirlsXXL
View Public Profile
Find More Posts by HOTgirlsXXL
All times are GMT +1. The time now is
08:18 PM
.