{"id":218338,"date":"2011-03-29T12:47:12","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T12:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.moldova.org\/2011\/03\/29\/japan-nuclear-pm-naoto-kan-signals-maximum-alert-218654-eng\/"},"modified":"2011-03-29T12:47:12","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T12:47:12","slug":"japan-nuclear-pm-naoto-kan-signals-maximum-alert-218654-eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/japan-nuclear-pm-naoto-kan-signals-maximum-alert-218654-eng\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan nuclear: PM Naoto Kan signals ‘maximum alert’"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.<\/p>\n

Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.<\/p>\n

Officials say the priority remains injecting water to cool the fuel rods.<\/p>\n

Mr Kan told parliament the situation at the quake-hit plant "continues to be unpredictable".<\/p>\n

The government "will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert", he said, adding that he was seeking advice on whether to extend the evacuation zone around the plant.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile National Strategy Minister Koichiro Gemba said the government could consider temporarily nationalising Tepco, the company running the plant.<\/p>\n

On Monday shares in the company dropped to their lowest level in three decades.<\/p>\n

‘Utmost efforts’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, in another press briefing, described the situation at Fukushima as "very grave".<\/p>\n

Workers are battling to restore power and restart the cooling systems at the stricken nuclear plant, which was hit by a powerful quake and subsequent tsunami over two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The twin disasters are now known to have killed 10,901 people, with more than 17,000 people still missing across a swathe of northern Japan.<\/p>\n

"We are doing our utmost efforts to contain the damage," Mr Edano said.<\/p>\n

"We need to avoid the fuel rods from heating up and drying up. Continuing the cooling is unavoidable… We need to prioritise injecting water."<\/p>\n

But he said work to safely remove contaminated water was also a priority.<\/p>\n

On Monday highly radioactive water was found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Fukushima plant.<\/p>\n

The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.<\/p>\n

Plutonium – used in the fuel mix for one of the six reactors – has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say.<\/p>\n

Correspondents say the government has been accused of indecision and delay in tackling the crisis.<\/p>\n

Tepco, meanwhile, was criticised by the government after issuing incorrect radiation readings.<\/p>\n

On Sunday it said radiation levels at reactor No 2 were 10 million times higher than normal, before correcting that figure to 100,000 – something the government called "absolutely unacceptable".<\/p>\n

It has also been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information more promptly.
\nRegional fallout<\/p>\n

Officials in China, South Korea and the United States say they have recorded traces of radioactive material in the air.<\/p>\n

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it had detected traces of radiation in rain water in the north-east of the country.<\/p>\n

It said these were consistent with the Fukushima nuclear accident and also said they did not constitute a health hazard.<\/p>\n

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has said that "extremely low-level" doses of iodine-131, a radioactive material, have been found in coastal areas including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong and Guangxi.<\/p>\n

It had already reported traces of the radioactive material in the air above the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.<\/p>\n

However, the doses were so small as to not pose a threat to public health and no measures against it were necessary, the agency statement said.<\/p>\n

Water and food is being tested for radiation; bans on some imported Japanese foodstuffs remain in place.<\/p>\n

In Vietnam, the Thanh Nien newspaper has reported that Vietnamese scientists have found small amounts of radiation in the air.<\/p>\n

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said it had detected traces of iodine-131 in Seoul and seven other places across South Korea.<\/p>\n

However, an agriculture ministry official told AFP that "no trace of radiation has been found so far either in our own fish or those imported from Japan".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":218337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society"],"content_social_share":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.<\/p>\n

Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.<\/p>\n

Officials say the priority remains injecting water to cool the fuel rods.<\/p>\n

Mr Kan told parliament the situation at the quake-hit plant "continues to be unpredictable".<\/p>\n

The government "will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert", he said, adding that he was seeking advice on whether to extend the evacuation zone around the plant.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile National Strategy Minister Koichiro Gemba said the government could consider temporarily nationalising Tepco, the company running the plant.<\/p>\n

On Monday shares in the company dropped to their lowest level in three decades.<\/p>\n

‘Utmost efforts’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, in another press briefing, described the situation at Fukushima as "very grave".<\/p>\n

Workers are battling to restore power and restart the cooling systems at the stricken nuclear plant, which was hit by a powerful quake and subsequent tsunami over two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The twin disasters are now known to have killed 10,901 people, with more than 17,000 people still missing across a swathe of northern Japan.<\/p>\n

"We are doing our utmost efforts to contain the damage," Mr Edano said.<\/p>\n

"We need to avoid the fuel rods from heating up and drying up. Continuing the cooling is unavoidable… We need to prioritise injecting water."<\/p>\n

But he said work to safely remove contaminated water was also a priority.<\/p>\n

On Monday highly radioactive water was found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Fukushima plant.<\/p>\n

The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.<\/p>\n

Plutonium – used in the fuel mix for one of the six reactors – has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say.<\/p>\n

Correspondents say the government has been accused of indecision and delay in tackling the crisis.<\/p>\n

Tepco, meanwhile, was criticised by the government after issuing incorrect radiation readings.<\/p>\n

On Sunday it said radiation levels at reactor No 2 were 10 million times higher than normal, before correcting that figure to 100,000 – something the government called "absolutely unacceptable".<\/p>\n

It has also been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information more promptly.
\nRegional fallout<\/p>\n

Officials in China, South Korea and the United States say they have recorded traces of radioactive material in the air.<\/p>\n

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it had detected traces of radiation in rain water in the north-east of the country.<\/p>\n

It said these were consistent with the Fukushima nuclear accident and also said they did not constitute a health hazard.<\/p>\n

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has said that "extremely low-level" doses of iodine-131, a radioactive material, have been found in coastal areas including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong and Guangxi.<\/p>\n

It had already reported traces of the radioactive material in the air above the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.<\/p>\n

However, the doses were so small as to not pose a threat to public health and no measures against it were necessary, the agency statement said.<\/p>\n

Water and food is being tested for radiation; bans on some imported Japanese foodstuffs remain in place.<\/p>\n

In Vietnam, the Thanh Nien newspaper has reported that Vietnamese scientists have found small amounts of radiation in the air.<\/p>\n

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said it had detected traces of iodine-131 in Seoul and seven other places across South Korea.<\/p>\n

However, an agriculture ministry official told AFP that "no trace of radiation has been found so far either in our own fish or those imported from Japan".<\/p>\n

<\/div>
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