TOKYO — Six days into the world’s worst nuclear emergency in 25 years, the crisis at one of Japan’s damaged power plants worsened, prompting the United States to urge Americans to stay at least 50 miles from the plant — four times the distance recommended by the Japanese government.
The dire warning from American officials came on the heels of testimony from Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who said that a deep pool holding uranium fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi facility sat empty of water needed to prevent releases of radiation.
That assessment, the first detailed comments by an American official about Fukushima Daiichi, provided an even more worrisome picture than the one provided by the government in Tokyo and gave millions in Japan today a heightened sense of concern as they try to determine how far and how fast radioactive material might spread.
With Japan’s northeastern coastline demolished and fears of radiation growing, Emperor Akihito made rare public remarks Wednesday, saying he was “deeply concerned” about problems at Japan’s nuclear plants.
Failed attempts by Japanese officials to bring the reactors under control, coupled with the U.S. analysis of the situation inside the facility, suggested a greater likelihood that high levels of radiation are leaking from the plant.
In the latest effort to contain the growing problems at the plant, a Boeing C-47 helicopter began dropping water on the unstable unit 3 reactor at 9:48 a.m. today.
NHK reported there’s an “urgent need for cooling” the fuel rods, which requires their being covered in water. The rods in units 3 and 4 were believed to be exposed.
Wednesday’s televised address by the emperor underscored the gravity of the moment and highlighted the myriad problems still plaguing the country nearly a week after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck: a death toll that grows by the day, conflicting safety and evacuation information, growing distrust by locals and foreigners who call Japan home, a scarcity of gas, food and other resources, and the difficulty some aid workers have had delivering supplies.
The National Police Agency released updated numbers Wednesday afternoon: 4,314 people dead and 8,606 missing. But the toll of casualties is expected to reach far higher.
No ebb in fear, suffering
With lingering fears over the inability to stabilize the damaged power plants, Japan’s collective fear and suffering has yet to ebb.
Jaczko, speaking before members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that the unit 4 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi appeared to have suffered a hydrogen explosion and that there “is no water in the spent fuel pool. And we believe that radiation levels are extremely high.”
Efforts to cool the compromised sectors have continually failed, and high radiation levels have hampered further attempts.
Japanese officials have called for a 12 1/2-mile evacuation zone around the coastal nuclear plant and asked that people between 12 1/2 and 19 miles away stay indoors. Their assessment did not change Wednesday, even though plumes of white steam billowed from unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
NHK television footage this morning showed relatively small amounts of steam rising from units 2, 3 and 4. The exact cause of the steam was not immediately clear.
U.S. Ambassador John Roos said Wednesday afternoon that he thought Tokyo was still safe from radiation, and he initially supported Japan’s estimation that those beyond the 19-mile radius from the nuclear plants were not at risk. “Our experts continue to be in agreement . . . to continue to follow the advice of the Japanese government in this regard,” Roos said.
But later, when radiation levels in the air above the plant spiked dangerously for the second consecutive day, Roos issued a recommendation based on a review of “the deteriorating situation” by experts from the NRC and Energy Department.
“Consistent with the NRC guidelines that apply to such a situation in the United States, we are recommending, as a precaution, that American citizens who live within 50 miles of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or to take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical,” Roos said.
The recommendation appeared to reflect more stringent U.S. standards on radiation exposure, rather than differing assessments of radiation that had escaped from the plants.
Japanese officials were working on a plan to deliver water and cool the reactors from the ground. In addition, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power, which owns the facility, said that a power line being laid to the Fukushima Daiichi plant to help restore the reactor cooling systems is almost complete and that engineers plan to test it “as soon as possible,” according to The Associated Press.
Emergency workers were forced to retreat from the plant Wednesday when radiation levels soared, losing precious time. They resumed work after radiation levels dropped, but much of the monitoring equipment in the plant is inoperable, complicating efforts to assess the situation.
U.S. drone to take images
A U.S. military drone, based in Guam, was scheduled to fly over the nuclear plant today collecting data and imagery for the Japanese government, said Lt. Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, said.
The drone, best known for missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, “is being used to help assess damage to towns, industrial infrastructure and other facilities affected during the earthquake and floodwaters,” U.S. Pacific Air Forces said.
Meanwhile, Australia, Britain and Germany advised their citizens in Japan to consider leaving Tokyo and earthquake-affected areas, joining a growing number of governments and businesses telling their people it may be safer elsewhere.
Serbia and Croatia advised their citizens to leave Japan, while Croatia said it was moving its embassy from Tokyo to Osaka.
More than 3,000 Chinese have already been evacuated from Japan’s northeast to Niigata on Japan’s western coast, according to Xinhua News Agency. On Tuesday, Beijing became the first government to organize a mass evacuation of its citizens from the quake-affected area.
The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
