Japan “racing against time” to prevent nuclear disaster: IAEA
March 19th, 2011 - 12:33 pm ICT by ANITokyo, Mar.19 (ANI): Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Japan’s battle to stabilize the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant and its attempt to prevent further leakage was “a race against time.”
Amano also said that the IAEA has brought its own monitoring equipment to test radiation levels in Tokyo.
Referring to the explosions and fires that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where workers continue their desperate attempts to spray water into the overheated fuel rod pools to prevent a further disaster, he said that it was a very grave and serious accident.
Engineers there are now considering a “Chernobyl solution,” which involves covering the damaged reactors at the plant in concrete, leaving the radioactive rods permanently entombed on the site.
IAEA has said that although the situation has not worsened in the last two days, things were still bad.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretaryYukio Edano has admitted that the government had made a mistake in assessing and addressing the gravity of the situation.
He said: “In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster.”
Japan has now upgraded the accident at Fukushima from level four to level five out of seven on an international scale of nuclear accidents, The Telegraph reports.
Plant operators Tokyo Electric Power Company said that they are trying to restore electricity to some of the reactors after a temporary power line was put in, so that the cooling systems could be enabled and further damage prevented.
Japan is going through a major crisis after being hit by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and tsunami last Friday, which damaged cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant causing explosions in some of the reactors and radiation leakage in and around the plant.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis facing survivors of the disaster continues to deteriorate with freezing temperatures, food shortages putting lives in peril. Many people have been rendered homeless and missing.
The official death toll has now reached 6911, with another 10692 missing. (ANI)
- Nuclear radiation levels from Fukushima nuclear power plant not harmful to humans: IAEA - Mar 19, 2011
- Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis will be effectively overcome: IAEA chief - Mar 22, 2011
- Japan attaches power cable to crippled nuke plant to stop radiation - Mar 19, 2011
- Japan hikes n-plant alert level, IAEA calls it extremely serious (Evening Lead) - Mar 18, 2011
- Japan struggles to prevent n-meltdown, 20 people irradiated (Roundup) - Mar 18, 2011
- Japan struggles to tame n-fallout, hikes alert level (Night Lead) - Mar 18, 2011
- Choppers pour water over Japan n-plant, 20 people irradiated (Evening Lead) - Mar 17, 2011
- Choppers dump water over Japan n-plant, 20 people irradiated (Night Lead) - Mar 17, 2011
- Helicopters dump water to cool Japan n-plant (Lead) - Mar 17, 2011
- Workers enter Fukushima's no.1 reactor for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami - May 05, 2011
- Cooling system restored at Japan n-plant reactor - May 29, 2011
- Japan needs 2-3 months to end nuclear crisis - Apr 16, 2011
- Japan nuclear crisis far from over: IAEA chief - Mar 27, 2011
- Japan has 48 hours to avoid another Chernobyl: Experts - Mar 17, 2011
- Radiation high at Japanese plant despite cooling effort - Mar 17, 2011
Tags: atomic energy agency, chief cabinet, desperate attempts, edano, fuel rod, gravity of the situation, international atomic energy, international atomic energy agency, international atomic energy agency iaea, japan racing, nuclear accidents, nuclear disaster, nuclear power plant, plant operators, racing against time, radiation levels, radioactive rods, telegraph reports, temporary power, tokyo electric power company