Nuclear crisis worsens as radiation levels rise above normal in Tokyo
March 15th, 2011 - 1:17 pm ICT by ANITokyo, Mar 15 (ANI): Japan’s nuclear crisis has taken a turn for the worse with nuclear radiation being detected in Tokyo, which is 250 kilometres southwest of a Japanese quake-stricken atomic power plant.
In Tokyo, authorities said the radiation level was higher than normal, but not at harmful levels.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged citizens residing within 30 kilometres of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to stay indoors after an explosion took place in one of its most seriously troubled reactors, insisting that they might otherwise face the risk of suffering from radiation sickness.
Addressing a news conference immediately after the explosion, Kan said that radiation levels had risen considerably in the area around the damaged plant, but urged the Japanese people to remain calm, The Age reports.
Kan had earlier branded the current situation in Japan following an earthquake-cum-tsunami as the country’s worst crisis since World War II, The Age reports.
The explosion at the reactor in Fukushima power plant on Tuesday morning had damaged its crucial steel containment structure.
Official statements and industry executives had earlier claimed that emergency workers were withdrawn from the plant, and much larger emissions of radioactive materials appeared imminent.
Although they had initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three stricken reactors with seawater would continue, industry executives have claimed that the situation appears to be out of control. They also insisted that all plant workers should be brought out of the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.
Japan’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant had exploded on Saturday, a day after a massive earthquake damaged the facility’s cooling system. The plant’s cooling system was damaged in Friday’s quake. (ANI)
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