Japan says there may be a breach at a reactor | International | News from Fort Worth, Da...

Japan says there may be a breach at a reactor International News from Fort Worth, Da...




TOKYO -- Two weeks after a tsunami triggered a crisis at a nuclear plant, Japan's government said Friday that there is a possible breach at a reactor -- meaning radioactive contamination at the complex is more serious than once thought -- but there could be other explanations for highly radioactive water detected at the site.

Japanese leaders defended their decision to evacuate only people living within 12 miles of the plant, insisting that others are safe if they stay indoors. But officials also said residents may want to move to areas with better facilities, since supplies in the tsunami-devastated region are running short.

The U.S. has recommended that people stay 50 miles away from the plant.

The escalation in the nuclear plant crisis came as the death toll from the quake and tsunami passed 10,000 Friday. Across the battered northeast coast, hundreds of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed have had no power, no hot meals and, in many cases, no showers for 14 days.

The uncertain nuclear situation again halted work at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, where authorities have been scrambling to stop the overheated facility from leaking dangerous radiation. Low levels of radiation have been seeping out since the March 11 quake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system, but a breach could mean a much larger release. The most likely consequence would be contamination of the groundwater.

"We are not in a position where we can be optimistic," a somber Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in an address to the nation. "We must treat every development with the utmost care."

Suspicions of a breach in the plan's Unit 3 were raised when two workers suffered skin burns after wading into water 10,000 times more radioactive than levels normally found in water in or around a reactor, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

Water with equally high radiation was found in the Unit 1 reactor building, Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said. Water was also discovered in Units 2 and 4, and the company said it suspects that, too, is radioactive. Officials acknowledged that the water would delay work inside the plant.

Plant officials and government regulators say they don't know the source of the radioactive water discovered at Units 1 and 3. It could have come from a leaking reactor core, associated pipes, or a spent fuel pool. Or it may be the result of overfilling the pools with emergency cooling water.

Kan apologized to farmers and business owners for the toll the radiation has taken on their livelihoods: Several countries have halted some food imports from areas near the plant after elevated levels of radiation were found in raw milk, sea water and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips.

He thanked utility workers, firefighters and military personnel for "risking their lives" to cool the overheated facility.

The nuclear crisis has compounded the challenges faced by a nation already saddled with a humanitarian disaster. Much of the frigid northeast remains a scene of despair and devastation, with Japan struggling to feed and house hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors, clear debris and bury the dead.

"It's still like I'm in a dream," said Tomohiko Abe, 45, a machinist who was in the devastated coastal town of Onagawa trying to salvage belongings. "People say it's like a movie, but it's been worse than any movie I've ever seen."



Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/03/25/2950867/japan-says-there-may-be-a-breach.html#ixzz1Hjt4Io6l