Saturday, March 12, 2011

Nuclear Emergency Adds to Japan Disaster Woes


Japanese authorities are struggling to prevent a disaster at a second nuclear reactor damaged in Friday's massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake.

A spokesman said Sunday operators are injecting water into the number three reactor at Fukushima while releasing slightly radioactive air in an attempt to avert a meltdown.

Authorities are also pumping sea water into the number one reactor. The walls of that reactor were destroyed in a Saturday explosion, but its containment structure remained intact.

Early Sunday, a Japanese spokesman said radiation levels outside the plant had briefly spiked at two times Japan's legal limit. More than 200,000 people had been told earlier to evacuate the area. Authorities say they are distributing iodine tablets as a precaution.

VOA reporters close to the plant say aftershocks continue to hit the area.

The emergencies at the nuclear power plant have compounded anxieties as rescue workers struggle to reach the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated a large area of the country's northeast. One-hundred thousand Japanese troops are now involved in relief efforts.

Kyodo news agency reported Sunday that 2,000 people are either dead or missing. Police say more than 215,000 people have been forced to seek emergency shelter.

Friday's earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, was the strongest ever in Japan's modern history. A huge tsunami triggered by the undersea quake smashed into Japan's east coast minutes later, washing away entire villages, damaging roads and leaving thousands without electricity and other services.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan Saturday called the disaster “unprecedented” for Japan.

Some of the first rescuers arrived in helicopters to help those stranded on roofs.

The damage was catastrophic in some areas. Japanese media report more than half the population remains unaccounted for in Minamisanriku – a coastal city home to about 17,000 people.

Hundreds of bodies have been recovered around the country, while many others victims are believed to remain buried in the rubble.