Workers Evacuated as Smoke Rises From Japanese Nuclear Plant
Smoke is seen coming from the area of the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, March 21, 2011
Workers have been temporarily evacuated from Japan＇s troubled nuclear plant, after dark smoke was seen coming from one of its reactors.
Officials said Monday that no increase in radiation levels has been detected and they are still trying to determine the cause of the smoke.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told a special meeting of the IAEA board in Vienna that the situation at the Fukushima plant remains very serious.
Amano said that high levels of contamination have been measured at the plant -- which was seriously damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and by subsequent explosions.
He said the events in Japan meant that the current international emergency response framework needs to be reassessed.
The U.S. government Monday made potassium iodide available to U.S. personnel and dependents in several prefectures, including Tokyo, as a precautionary measure. Potassium iodide protects the thyroid gland against radiation.
The new developments at the Fukushima nuclear plant came as heavy rain pounded northeastern Japan＇s earthquake-stricken regions, prompting increased fears about radiation. Restrictions on the sale of certain foods contaminated by the radiation were expanded.
The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is now more than 8,600, with more than 13,000 reported missing.
The weather forced Prime Minister Naoto Kan to cancel a planned visit to a staging area for relief supplies. Authorities said the rain was also preventing helicopter crews from flying food, water and other goods to remote locations where tens of thousands of people are housed in makeshift shelters with scant food and heat.
A spokesman for Japan＇s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the dark smoke was detected coming from the plant＇s number 3 reactor in mid-afternoon and that workers will stay away until the cause can be determined. Officials said the smoke dissipated after about half an hour, but white smoke or vapor was detected coming from the number 2 reactor.
Authorities said earlier that two of the six reactors at the Fukushima complex are now stabilized and that progress has been made in restoring power lines so that water can be pumped to the others. But the government says it may be days before power is restored to the number 2 reactor, which also is thought to have suffered damage to its containment chamber. Serious problems also remain at the number 4 reactor.
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