Japan's nuclear nightmare 'nowhere near' over

Published on Friday 25 March 2011 16:49

Radiation fears have escalated in Japan after workers suffered burns as they tried to cool the earthquake-crippled nuclear power station at Fukushima, while the government sowed confusion over whether it was widening an evacuation zone around the plant.

Prime minister Naoto Kan, making his first public statement on the crisis in a week, yesterday said the situation at the Fukushima nuclear complex north of Tokyo was "nowhere near the point" of being resolved.

"We are making efforts to prevent it from getting worse, but I feel we cannot become complacent," he said. "We must continue to be on our guard."

The comments reflected a spike of unease in Japan after several days of slow but steady progress in containing the nuclear accident, which was triggered by a devastating earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago.

The 9.0 magnitude quake and giant waves it triggered left more than 10,000 people dead and 17,500 missing.

Much attention since the 11 March disaster has been on the possibility of a meltdown at Fukushima Dai-ichi, 140 miles north of Tokyo.

The government prodded tens of thousands of people living in a 12-18 mile zone beyond the stricken complex to leave, but insisted it was not widening the evacuation zone.

Three workers trying to cool one of the most critical reactors at the plant were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than normal, raising the possibility of a leak of radioactive material through a crack in the core's container.

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The reactor, No 3 of six, is the only one to use plutonium in its fuel mix which is more toxic than the uranium used in the other reactors. The government called for an investigation into why such high levels of radiation had suddenly appeared. More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts to stabilise the plant but they pulled back from some parts when the workers were hurt on Thursday. Two suffered radiation burns when contaminated water seeped over their shoes. Nuclear agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama said there was a possibility of damage to the reactor but later told reporters: "It could be from venting operations and there could be some water leakage from pipes or from valves, but there is no data suggesting a crack."

UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Authority said a total of 17 workers had received elevated levels of radiation since the operations began, but the other 14 did not suffer burns.

Two of the reactors are now seen as safe but the other four are volatile, occasionally emitting steam and smoke. Work is advancing to restart water pumps to cool their fuel rods.Authorities have been using seawater to cool the reactors but that is not ideal as it is corrosive and leaves salt deposits that constrict the amount of water that can cool the rods.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said it started injecting fresh water into the pressure vessels of reactors No 1 and No 3 and expected to start injecting fresh water into No 2 soon.

The United States has sent two barges with 525,000 gallons of freshwater.

Up to now, no-one in Japan except workers at the plant has been found with seriously elevated radiation levels, and departing airline passengers are not being screened.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary said 130,000 people living in an outer circle around Fukushima should consider leaving, although he insisted it was because of the difficulties in getting them supplies. "Given how prolonged the situation has become, we think it would be desirable for people to voluntarily evacuate," Yukio Edano said.