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Title: Japan struggling to 'cool down' nuclear plant, minister says
Source:
CNN
URL Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.nuclear/index.html
Published: Mar 11, 2011
Author: CNN
Post Date: 2011-03-11 13:46:01 by go65
Keywords: None
Views: 14398
Comments: 23
Tokyo (CNN) -- Officials ordered an evacuation Friday of residents living near a Japanese nuclear power plant, saying there has been no sign yet of leaks but indicating a struggle to "cool down" the facility. An 8.9-magnitude earthquake led to cooling problems at one nuclear power plant and a fire at another, both of which were close to the quake's epicenter, government officials said. Late Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that people within 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.8 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant had been told to leave the area. Those farther away - - within 3 to 10 kilometers -- were asked to stay home. Japan's Kyodo News Agency estimated that the evacuation order directly affected about 3,000 people. "This is a precautionary instruction for people to evacuate," Edano said. "There is no radioactive leakage at this moment outside of the facility." U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told him there was no evidence so far of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors because of the earthquake and tsunami, an assertion also made by Edano earlier in the day. Yet Edano said the Fukushima Daiichi reactor "remains at a high temperature" because it "cannot cool down." Kyodo reported Friday that the radiation level was rising in a turbine building at the plant.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
#1. To: All (#0)
they may have to release radioactive vapor to avoid a meltdown. Terrible situation.
I want to make a Godzilla joke but it's not funny.
No Nukes! Nuclear power is never a good idea.
#7. To: Ferret Mike, mcgowanjm (#5)
The news agency also reported Saturday that Japan's nuclear safety agency ordered the power company to release a valve in the Fukushima Daiichi plant's "No. 1" reactor, in order to release growing pressure. This comes amid Kyodo's reports, citing the same Japanese agency, that radiation levels were 1,000 times above normal in the the control room of that facility's "No. 1" reactor.
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#2. To: go65 (#1)
#5. To: Godwinson (#2)
Replies to Comment # 5. [7:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 a.m. Tokyo] Œ79;Potentially dangerous problems cooling radioactive material appear to have cropped up at another of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear plants. Kyodo reported Saturday the power company alerted authorities that the cooling system at three of the four units of its Fukushima Daini plant – which is different from the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, nearby in northeastern Japan in the Fukushima prefecture – has failed.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 5.
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