THE SEARCH for bodies and survivors of this month’s huge earthquake and tsunami in Japan is being hampered by growing fears of radioactivity leaking from a stricken nuclear plant. Hundreds of people are still missing in Fukushima prefecture, home to the six-reactor Daiichi plant, where workers are still battling to prevent nuclear disaster.
Troops from Japan’s self-defence forces have been helping evacuate mainly elderly and ill people from the area since the government told residents within 20km (12.5 miles) of the plant to leave. The evacuation order has left towns within the 20km perimeter almost deserted.
Meanwhile, three workers at the Daiichi plant were exposed to high levels of radiation after reportedly stepping into contaminated water as they fought to make the stricken No 3 reactor safe.
Two of the workers were taken to a special radiation unit at a hospital in Chiba city, east of Tokyo, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said.
Tepco said the water had probably seeped into their suits, sparking criticism that the men had not apparently been given watertight gear.
“I think people are still in the area,” said Motoaki Kitano, a doctor who runs a small clinic in Aizu-Wakamatsu-shi, in Fukushima prefecture, about 100km from the plant. He and his wife, Tokiko, have taken in 17 refugees from the disaster-hit areas.
Japanese press reports say most able-bodied refugees had left but that search and rescue teams were reluctant to enter the 20km zone without protective gear. Self-defence force personnel quoted by the Kyodo news agency said it was possible “many bodies” had also been left behind in the prefecture.
Police say 16,500 people are still missing following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, which decimated much of the country’s northeast coast and knocked out the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, sparking the country’s worst-ever nuclear crisis. Almost 10,000 people have been confirmed dead, mostly in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures.
Japan’s defence ministry, which has been co-ordinating the use of helicopters and fire trucks to cool the overheating plant, said yesterday that temperatures inside four of its six reactors had fallen to below 20 degrees. Operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) says it has restored power to the plant.
But the Mainichinewspaper and other sources said yesterday that pressure and heat is still rising inside the No 1 reactor, which reportedly reached 394 degrees yesterday. Spent fuel rods in reactor No 4 also continue to cause concern among observers.
Some experts are also disputing government claims that escaped radiation has so far been minimal. Austria’s Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics said this week the release of two types of radioactive particles in the first three to four days of the crisis reached 20 per cent to 50 per cent of the amounts from Chernobyl in 10 days.
The state broadcaster said Tokyo yesterday lifted a warning on tap water after determining that levels of radioactive iodine had returned to acceptable limits for infants. But it quoted officials as saying that “continued monitoring of the situation is essential”. Wednesday’s warning by the city’s governor Shintaro Ishihara sparked a run on bottled water, which has been almost completely stripped from supermarket shelves.
– (Additional reporting: Guardianservice)