The Pentagon said Thursday that it has sent a nine-member team of radiological specialists to Japan from the Colorado-based U.S. Northern Command to advise the Japanese military on responding to nuclear hazards.
As Japan struggled to avert a nuclear disaster, ripple effects from the crisis spread to other countries in the region.
Japanese officials are spraying water from aircraft and trucks in order to try and a meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (March 16)
In China, panic-buying swept from the country’s eastern coast all the way to Beijing, with residents rushing to stores to stock up on salt. People apparently believe the iodine in salt will protect them from radiation; others feared that sea salt would become scarce if the East China Sea becomes contaminated because of Japan’s nuclear plant crisis.
In Beijing and elsewhere, several supermarkets also ran out of imported milk powder, soybean sauce and instant noodles, as people stocked up on provisions even as the government issued repeated assurances that there was no radiation threat to China.
“I don’t know when I can replenish our stock,” said Chen Zhonghai, manager of Jinli Super Market in Wenzhou City. “The residents worry that the salt produced in the future will be contaminated and can’t be eaten. It’s totally unnecessary.”
The nuclear plant woes were also affecting people across Japan, as energy demands taxed the limited supply. The Japanese government warned that because of cold weather and an increase in power usage, Tokyo was subject to an extensive blackout Thursday night that could leave much of the world’s most-populated metropolitan area in the dark.
“If tonight we see another power consumption situation just like this morning, it could lead to a wide-scale and unpredictable power outage,” said Banri Kaieda, the country’s trade minister.
Later, however, officials said the threat of a blackout in Tokyo might have passed, because people heeded warnings and were conserving enough energy.
The energy shortage stems from the mounting problems with the nation’s power plants, several damaged in the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country last Friday.
Meanwhile, Japan’s death toll continued to rise. According to the National Police Agency, 5,429 people have died and an additional 9,594 are still missing. The list of casualties is expected to eventually top 10,000.
Also Thursday, the yen leaped to a record-high 76.25 against the U.S. dollar after trading in the low 80s in the days before the earthquake and tsunami. The Tokyo Stock Exchange was down, however, as the Nikkei fell 131 points and ended the day at 8962.
In Washington, Jaczko painted a bleak picture of the crisis, saying in congressional testimony Wednesday that a deep pool in unit 4 holding uranium fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi facility sat empty of water needed to prevent releases of radiation. “And we believe that radiation levels are extremely high,” he added.
That assessment was rejected Thursday by the Tokyo Electric spokesman, who said an aerial survey showed that the fuel pool at the unit 4 reactor still contained water. The spokesman could not say how much water was in the pool, but he said no rods were exposed.
However, an official with Japan’s nuclear safety agency later expressed skepticism about that claim and moved closer to the U.S. position, AP reported. “Considering the amount of radiation released in the area, the fuel rods are more likely to be exposed than to be covered,” the official, Yuichi Sato, said.
The question is an important one: If exposed to the air, the spent-fuel rods would start to decay and release radioactivity into the air.
Getting a close look at the damage sustained by the plant’s six units has proven to be difficult and dangerous. The United States has offered the use of its Global Hawk unmanned drone planes, a military aircraft often used for surveillance.
Obama spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan by phone Thursday morning (Wednesday night in Washington), and the White House said Obama emphasized that the United States would do “everything possible to support Japan in overcoming the effects of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.” Kan briefed Obama on steps taken to contain the nuclear crisis, the White House said.
With Japan’s northeastern coastline ravaged and fears of radiation growing, Emperor Akihito made rare public remarks Wednesday, saying he was “deeply concerned about the nuclear situation.”
The emperor’s televised address — his first at a time of national crisis — underscored the gravity of the moment and highlighted the myriad problems still plaguing Japan 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.
Maese reported from Tokyo. Correspondents Chico Harlan in Tokyo and Keith B. Richburg in Beijing and staff writers Mary Beth Sheridan, Brian Vastag and David A. Fahrenthold in Washington contributed to this report.
