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Radiation contamination fears, and smoke or steam emissions from two of the reactors at the Fukushima energy plant, top the list of developments in the Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis.
First, regarding the mysterious smoke/steam seen coming from reactor 2 & 3, NHK World News reports:
Grey smoke from No.3 reactor subsided
The grey smoke seen coming from the troubled No.3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Monday afternoon has subsided.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, evacuated its workers from the plant shortly after 4 PM.
The government's nuclear safety agency said the smoke, which turned black and grey, subsided about 2 hours later.
Smoke was seen rising from another troubled reactor Monday evening.
The government's nuclear safety agency says it was informed that white smoke was apparently coming from a crack in the roof of the No.2 reactor structure at 6:20 PM.
Similar white smoke had been seen rising from the reactor previously.
Out of concern for their safety, some employees working at the plant were pulled back when the smoke and/or steam was detected. However, radiation monitoring equipment around the plant detected no increase in radioactivity during or after the emission was spotted.
Meanwhile relatively low, but nonetheless concerning levels of radiation continue to show up in locally produced food and in some water supplies prompting authorities to issue some advisories and to restrict the shipments of some types of food.
Again from NHK World News.
This first report states that 5 different types of radioactive materials have been detected near the Fukushima plant, strongly suggesting that some nuclear fuel rods have been damaged in at least one of the reactors.
5 radioactive materials detected
Tokyo Electric Power Company says some of the nuclear fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has apparently been damaged, as higher levels of radioactive materials have been detected in the vicinity.
The utility on Monday released the results of a radiation survey carried out at the plant on Saturday.
Officials detected in the air 5 radioactive materials that are generated by nuclear fission.
And the Dow Jones news service is reporting that Japan's Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has ordered the governors of four prefectures (Fukushima, Ibaragi, Tochigi and Gunma) to halt the shipment of spinach and rapeseed after radiation levels above normal were detected in some produce samples.
The government has ordered Fukushima prefecture not to sell milk as well.
Fears over these abnormal – but still fairly low – levels of radiation run high in the region despite assurances from the Japanese government that short term exposure poses little health risk.
In an attempt to allay fears and answer critics who have felt that solid information on the radiation risks were slow to emerge, the Japanese government has begun to post radiation readings from numerous locations across Japan.
This From NHK News.
Japan's science ministry is publishing radiation levels monitored nationwide on its website, with the information also available in English, Korean and Chinese.
The ministry's website began showing the data on Saturday, with information updated twice a day.
The ministry is publishing levels of radiation and radioactive materials monitored on the ground, as well as in rain, tap water and the atmosphere.
You’ll find the latest reports (in English) on this page:
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/
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