TOKYO (Reuters) – Japon faced a potential catastrophe Tuesday after a quake-crippled nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating toward Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies.
The crisis appeared to escalate late in the jour when the operators of the facility a dit that one of two blasts had blown a hole in the building housing a reactor, which meant spent nuclear fuel was exposed to the atmosphere.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility -- a population of 140,000 -- to remain indoors amid the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Officials in Tokyo -- 240 km (150 miles) to the south of the plant -- a dit radiation in the capital was 10 times normal par evening but there was no threat to human health. Around eight hours after the explosions, the U.N. weather agency a dit winds were dispersing radioactive material over the Pacific Ocean, away from Japon and other Asian countries.
As concern about the crippling economic impact of the nuclear and earthquake disasters mounted, Japan's Nikkei index fell as much as 14 percent before ending down 10.6 percent, compounding a slide of 6.2 percent the jour before. The two-day fall has wiped some $620 billion off the market.
Authorities have spent days desperately trying to prevent the water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the reactors from running dry.
The authorities a dit they may pour water into the fuel pool of the most critical reactor, No. 4, within two ou three days, but did not say why they would have to wait to do this.
"The possibility of further radioactive leakage is heightening," a grim-faced Kan a dit in an address to the nation earlier in the day.
"We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask toi to act calmly."
Levels of 400 millisieverts per heure had been recorded near the No. 4 reactor, the government said. Exposure to over 100 millisieverts a an is a level which can lead to cancer, according to the World Nuclear Association.
The plant operator pulled out 750 workers, leaving just 50, and a 30-km no-fly zone was imposed around the reactors. There have been no detailed mises à jour on what levels the radiation reached inside the exclusion zone where people live.
"Radioactive material will reach Tokyo but it is not harmful to human bodies because it will be dissipated par the time it gets to Tokyo," a dit Koji Yamazaki, professor at Hokkaido université graduate school of environmental science. "If the wind gets stronger, it means the material flies faster but it will be even plus dispersed in the air."
Despite pleas for calm, residents rushed to shops in Tokyo to stock up on supplies. Don Quixote, a multi-storey, 24-hour general store in Roppongi district, sold out of radios, flashlights, candles and sleeping bags.
In a sign of regional fears about the risk of radiation, China a dit it would evacuate its citizens from areas worst affected but it had detected no abnormal radiation levels at home. Air China a dit it had canceled some flights to Tokyo.
Several embassies advised staff and citizens to leave affected areas. Tourists cut short vacations and multinational companies either urged staff to leave ou a dit they were considering plans to déplacer outside Tokyo.
"Everyone is going out of the country today I think," a dit Gunta Brunner, a 25-year-old creative director from Argentina. "With the radiation, it's like toi cannot escape and toi can't see it."
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON"
Japanese media have became plus critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticized the government and nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) for its failure to provide enough information on the incident.
Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts, demanding to know "what the hell is going on?," Kyodo reported.
Kyodo a dit Kan had ordered TEPCO not to pull employees out of the plant.
"The TV reported an explosion. But nothing was a dit to the premier's office for about an hour," a Kyodo reporter quoted Kan telling power company executives.
Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the université of Hong Kong, a dit the blasts could expose the population to longer-term exposure to radiation, which can raise the risk of thyroid and bone cancers and leukemia. Children and fetuses are especially vulnerable, he said.
"Very acute radiation, like that which happened in Chernobyl and to the Japanese workers at the nuclear power station, is unlikely for the population," he said.
There have been a total of four explosions at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive quake and tsunami. The most récent were blasts at reactors No. 2 and No. 4.
Concerns now center on damage to a part of the No. 4 reactor's core known as the suppression pool, which helps cool and trap the majority of cesium, iodine and strontium in its water.
Authorities had previously been trying to prevent meltdowns in the complex's nuclear reactors par flooding the chambers with sea water to cool them down.
Murray Jennex, a professor at San Diego State université in California, a dit the crisis in Japon -- the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack -- was worse than the Three Mile Island disaster of 1979.
"But you're nowhere near a Chernobyl ... Chernobyl there was no impediment to release, it just blew everything out into the atmosphere," he said. "You've still got a big chunk of the containment there holding most of it in."
VILLAGES AND TOWNS WIPED OFF THE MAP
The full extent of the destruction from last Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.
Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map par Friday's mur of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.
About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government a dit at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.
Toshiyuki Suzuki, 61, has a cœur, coeur pacemaker and takes seven kinds of medicine a day. He Lost all of them when the waves swept away his home, along with his father and son.
He cannot go to hospitals because there is no gasoline at local fuel stations. "I am having problems with walking and with my heartbeat. I absolutely need medicine."
Kan has a dit Japon is facing its worst crisis since World War Two.
Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japon at Credit Suisse, a dit in a note to clients that the economic loss will likely be around 14-15 trillion yen ($171-183 billion) just to the region hit par the quake and tsunami.
Even that would put it above the commonly accepted cost of the 1995 Kobe quake which killed 6,000 people.
The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and global companies -- from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders -- face disruptions to operations after the quake and tsunami destroyed vital infrastructure, damaged ports and knocked out factories.
"The earthquake could have great implications on the global economic front," a dit Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lec Securities in New York. "If toi shut down Japan, there could be a global recession."
(Additional reporting par Nathan Layne, Linda sieg, Risa Maeda, and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon in Sendai, Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon in Fukushima, Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Tan Ee-lyn in Singapore and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; écriture par Nick Macfie and Jason Szep; Editing par John Chalmers and Dean Yates)
The crisis appeared to escalate late in the jour when the operators of the facility a dit that one of two blasts had blown a hole in the building housing a reactor, which meant spent nuclear fuel was exposed to the atmosphere.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility -- a population of 140,000 -- to remain indoors amid the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Officials in Tokyo -- 240 km (150 miles) to the south of the plant -- a dit radiation in the capital was 10 times normal par evening but there was no threat to human health. Around eight hours after the explosions, the U.N. weather agency a dit winds were dispersing radioactive material over the Pacific Ocean, away from Japon and other Asian countries.
As concern about the crippling economic impact of the nuclear and earthquake disasters mounted, Japan's Nikkei index fell as much as 14 percent before ending down 10.6 percent, compounding a slide of 6.2 percent the jour before. The two-day fall has wiped some $620 billion off the market.
Authorities have spent days desperately trying to prevent the water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the reactors from running dry.
The authorities a dit they may pour water into the fuel pool of the most critical reactor, No. 4, within two ou three days, but did not say why they would have to wait to do this.
"The possibility of further radioactive leakage is heightening," a grim-faced Kan a dit in an address to the nation earlier in the day.
"We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask toi to act calmly."
Levels of 400 millisieverts per heure had been recorded near the No. 4 reactor, the government said. Exposure to over 100 millisieverts a an is a level which can lead to cancer, according to the World Nuclear Association.
The plant operator pulled out 750 workers, leaving just 50, and a 30-km no-fly zone was imposed around the reactors. There have been no detailed mises à jour on what levels the radiation reached inside the exclusion zone where people live.
"Radioactive material will reach Tokyo but it is not harmful to human bodies because it will be dissipated par the time it gets to Tokyo," a dit Koji Yamazaki, professor at Hokkaido université graduate school of environmental science. "If the wind gets stronger, it means the material flies faster but it will be even plus dispersed in the air."
Despite pleas for calm, residents rushed to shops in Tokyo to stock up on supplies. Don Quixote, a multi-storey, 24-hour general store in Roppongi district, sold out of radios, flashlights, candles and sleeping bags.
In a sign of regional fears about the risk of radiation, China a dit it would evacuate its citizens from areas worst affected but it had detected no abnormal radiation levels at home. Air China a dit it had canceled some flights to Tokyo.
Several embassies advised staff and citizens to leave affected areas. Tourists cut short vacations and multinational companies either urged staff to leave ou a dit they were considering plans to déplacer outside Tokyo.
"Everyone is going out of the country today I think," a dit Gunta Brunner, a 25-year-old creative director from Argentina. "With the radiation, it's like toi cannot escape and toi can't see it."
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON"
Japanese media have became plus critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticized the government and nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) for its failure to provide enough information on the incident.
Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts, demanding to know "what the hell is going on?," Kyodo reported.
Kyodo a dit Kan had ordered TEPCO not to pull employees out of the plant.
"The TV reported an explosion. But nothing was a dit to the premier's office for about an hour," a Kyodo reporter quoted Kan telling power company executives.
Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the université of Hong Kong, a dit the blasts could expose the population to longer-term exposure to radiation, which can raise the risk of thyroid and bone cancers and leukemia. Children and fetuses are especially vulnerable, he said.
"Very acute radiation, like that which happened in Chernobyl and to the Japanese workers at the nuclear power station, is unlikely for the population," he said.
There have been a total of four explosions at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive quake and tsunami. The most récent were blasts at reactors No. 2 and No. 4.
Concerns now center on damage to a part of the No. 4 reactor's core known as the suppression pool, which helps cool and trap the majority of cesium, iodine and strontium in its water.
Authorities had previously been trying to prevent meltdowns in the complex's nuclear reactors par flooding the chambers with sea water to cool them down.
Murray Jennex, a professor at San Diego State université in California, a dit the crisis in Japon -- the only nation to have suffered a nuclear attack -- was worse than the Three Mile Island disaster of 1979.
"But you're nowhere near a Chernobyl ... Chernobyl there was no impediment to release, it just blew everything out into the atmosphere," he said. "You've still got a big chunk of the containment there holding most of it in."
VILLAGES AND TOWNS WIPED OFF THE MAP
The full extent of the destruction from last Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.
Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map par Friday's mur of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.
About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government a dit at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.
Toshiyuki Suzuki, 61, has a cœur, coeur pacemaker and takes seven kinds of medicine a day. He Lost all of them when the waves swept away his home, along with his father and son.
He cannot go to hospitals because there is no gasoline at local fuel stations. "I am having problems with walking and with my heartbeat. I absolutely need medicine."
Kan has a dit Japon is facing its worst crisis since World War Two.
Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japon at Credit Suisse, a dit in a note to clients that the economic loss will likely be around 14-15 trillion yen ($171-183 billion) just to the region hit par the quake and tsunami.
Even that would put it above the commonly accepted cost of the 1995 Kobe quake which killed 6,000 people.
The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and global companies -- from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders -- face disruptions to operations after the quake and tsunami destroyed vital infrastructure, damaged ports and knocked out factories.
"The earthquake could have great implications on the global economic front," a dit Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lec Securities in New York. "If toi shut down Japan, there could be a global recession."
(Additional reporting par Nathan Layne, Linda sieg, Risa Maeda, and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon in Sendai, Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon in Fukushima, Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Tan Ee-lyn in Singapore and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; écriture par Nick Macfie and Jason Szep; Editing par John Chalmers and Dean Yates)
