Japan extends evacuation zone
Source: Agencies |
April 12, 2011, Tuesday
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JAPAN extended the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant yesterday to avoid exposing residents to high levels of accumulated radiation.
The government said it would encourage people to leave certain areas beyond the 20 kilometer exclusion zone around the plant. Thousands of people could be affected by the move.
Children, pregnant women, and hospital patients should stay out of some areas 20 to 30 kilometers from the nuclear complex, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.
"These new evacuation plans are meant to ensure safety against risks of living there for half a year or one year," he said. There was no need to evacuate immediately, he added.
The move comes amid international concern over radiation spreading from the six damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which engineers are still struggling to bring under control.
The operator of the nuclear complex said it had stopped the discharge of low-level radioactive water into the sea.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said 10,400 tons of low-level radioactive water, left by the tsunami, had been pumped back into the sea in order to free up storage capacity for highly contaminated water from the reactors.
Engineers at the plant said they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system, which is critical to bring down the temperature of overheated fuel rods and to bringing the six reactors under control.
Concern at the government's struggle to handle the situation is mounting, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections on Sunday.
Voters vented their anger at the government's handling of the nuclear and humanitarian crisis, with Kan's ruling Democratic Party losing nearly 70 seats in local elections.
There is talk of forming a grand coalition of mainstream parties to tackle the massive task of recovery from the disaster. But the leader of one potential coalition partner said Sunday's polls made Kan's party unattractive.
"The people are saying the government has been handling the disaster badly. Joining hands with such a party is not what the people are hoping for," New Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said.
The unpopular prime minister was already under pressure to step down before March 11, but analysts say Kan is unlikely to be forced out during the crisis, set to drag on for months.
The government said it would encourage people to leave certain areas beyond the 20 kilometer exclusion zone around the plant. Thousands of people could be affected by the move.
Children, pregnant women, and hospital patients should stay out of some areas 20 to 30 kilometers from the nuclear complex, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.
"These new evacuation plans are meant to ensure safety against risks of living there for half a year or one year," he said. There was no need to evacuate immediately, he added.
The move comes amid international concern over radiation spreading from the six damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which engineers are still struggling to bring under control.
The operator of the nuclear complex said it had stopped the discharge of low-level radioactive water into the sea.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said 10,400 tons of low-level radioactive water, left by the tsunami, had been pumped back into the sea in order to free up storage capacity for highly contaminated water from the reactors.
Engineers at the plant said they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system, which is critical to bring down the temperature of overheated fuel rods and to bringing the six reactors under control.
Concern at the government's struggle to handle the situation is mounting, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections on Sunday.
Voters vented their anger at the government's handling of the nuclear and humanitarian crisis, with Kan's ruling Democratic Party losing nearly 70 seats in local elections.
There is talk of forming a grand coalition of mainstream parties to tackle the massive task of recovery from the disaster. But the leader of one potential coalition partner said Sunday's polls made Kan's party unattractive.
"The people are saying the government has been handling the disaster badly. Joining hands with such a party is not what the people are hoping for," New Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said.
The unpopular prime minister was already under pressure to step down before March 11, but analysts say Kan is unlikely to be forced out during the crisis, set to drag on for months.
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