CLICK THIS LINK FOR LATEST/ALL QUAKE UPDATES
# 5374
NHK News is now reporting that residents living within a 3km radius of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant #1 have been urged to evacuate, and those living between 3km and 10km told to remain indoors.
Reportedly, no radiation has escaped but concerns continue over the plant’s cooling system failure in the aftermath of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake which struck off the coast of Honshu.
For now, this appears to be a precautionary measure, and authorities insist there is no current danger of radiation exposure.
But a cooling system failure – if it isn’t rapidly rectified – can cascade into a very serious situation. Emergency generators to run the pumps have failed, and media reports indicate the water level in the reactor is falling.
The Associated Press has just issued the following bulletin.
Mar 11, 8:05 AM EST
Japan to evacuate residents near nuke plant
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan is issuing an evacuation order to thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant.
