Japan’s nuclear crisis

Japan battles to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to care for millions of people without power or water in its worst crisis since World War II.

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April 17, 2011

A man checks the radiation level at Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture near the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

/ AFP/Getty Images

April 17, 2011

An American made crawler robot 'Pacbot' works inside the third reactor building of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant.

/ AFP/Getty Images

April 17, 2011

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, second right, gets briefed during his inspection in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture. It was Edano's first visit to the area hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

/ AP

April 15, 2011

An anti-nuclear protester takes part in a rally in front of Tokyo Electric Power Co's headquarters in Tokyo. The company has yet to determine how much it will have to pay residents and businesses near the Fukushima nuclear plant, who were forced to evacuate after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami caused deadly radiation leaks.

Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

April 12, 2011

A metal container hanging from a red concrete pump scoops water samples from the spent fuel pool of the heavily damaged Unit 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

/ AP

April 13, 2011

Firefighters are tested for radiation at a fire department in the village of Katsurao, Japan, which is within a 12-mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

/ Associated Press

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture in this undated photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.on April 14. The utility giant is still working on a detailed plan to end the country's nuclear crisis a month after it began, as tests showed radiation levels in the sea near the complex had surged.

/ Reuters

April 14, 2011

Protesters hold banners during a rally denouncing nuclear power plants outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co. in Tokyo.

Toru Yamanaka / AFP/Getty Images

April 13, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Masataka Shimizu, second from right, and executive vice presidents Sakae Muto, right, and Takashi Fujimoto, second from left, bow to express their apology before a news conference at company headquarters in Tokyo. Shimizu pledged to do more to help compensate residents unable to return home or work because of the accident at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Koji Sasahara / AP

April 13, 2011

Residents of Iitate village listen to Mayor Norio Sugano, right, explain a government plan to evacuate residents from the village, which is about 24 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

/ Kyodo News Associated Press

April 13, 2011

A police officer in protective suit searches for missing people in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture. The city is inside the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Hiro Komae / Associated Press

April 12, 2011

A fire burns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma in Fukushima prefecture. The fire broke out at the stricken nuclear plant but was soon extinguished. Japan upgraded its nuclear emergency to a maximum seven on an international scale of atomic crises Tuesday, the first time the highest ranking has been invoked since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Tepco / AFP/Getty Images

April 12, 2011

Workers operate a modified Putzmeister 70Z, the world's largest concrete pump mounted on a truck, to pump contaminated water from the Unit 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

/ Associated Press

April 12, 2011

Japan nuclear safety agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama, left, speaks to director general Kenkichi Hirose during a news conference in Tokyo.

Jiji Press / AFP/Getty Images

April 12, 2011

A man uses a detector to measure the radiation level of a pack of strawberries produced in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, during an event to promote the safety of agricultural products in Tokyo.

Koji Sasahara / Associated Press

April 12, 2011

A member of Japan's Self-Defense Forces watches an evacuee being tested for radiation in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

April 12, 2011

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, second from left, walks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, left, and deputy chief cabinet secretaries Yoshito Sengoku and Testuro Fukuyama as he leaves at a news conference at his official residence in Tokyo.

Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

April 12, 2011

People walk past the electronic stock board at a securities firm in Tokyo as stocks fall after Japan said the crisis at a tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is as severe as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.7 percent at 9,555.26.

Koji Sasahara / Associated Press

April 12, 2011

The destroyed area within the evacuation radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Namie, Fukushima prefecture. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that despite raising the nuclear crisis alert level to that of Chernobyl in 1986, the situation had not become more critical.

Athit Perawongmetha / Getty Images

April 11, 2011

Police officers staff a checkpoint in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The sign at right reads: "No entry. Entry not allowed by the special nuclear disaster legislation." And at left: "Security check in operation."

/ Kyodo News via Associated Press

April 9, 2011

A police officers undergoes testing for possible nuclear radiation at a screening center in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture.

Athit Perawongmetha / Getty Images

April 7, 2011

Japanese police, wearing suits to protect them from radiation, search for victims in Minamisoma in the deserted evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

David Guttenfelder / Associated Press

April 4 2011

A U.S. military barge transports pure water to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant. Efforts to pour water into reactors No.1, 2 and 3 at the crippled nuclear complex to cool them down have been continuing after a major aftershock hit northern Japan.

/ Reuters

March 28, 2011

A survivor carries empty bottles to collect water in the devastated town of Yamamoto, Miyagi prefecture.

Vincent Yu / Associated Press

March 28, 2011

A worker from a water supply department passes faucets set up for survivors at a shelter in the devastated town of Yamamoto, Miyagi prefecture.

Vincent Yu / AP

March 28, 2011

Members of the Japanese Self Defense Force search for bodies in the waters around Sendai in Miyagi prefecture.

Roslan Rahman / AFP/Getty Images

March 28, 2011

A woman, who said she has experienced tsunamis three times in her life, washes her clothes in a ditch in a devastated area in Rikuzentakata.

Takehito Kobayashi / AP

March 27, 2011

Greenpeace members monitor contamination levels at Iitate village, northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. According to Greenpeace, radiation levels are far above safe limits, with people living in the area receiving the yearly maximum dose of radioactivity within a few days. Yet many have not left the area.

Christian Aslund / AFP/Getty Images

March 27, 2011

Unit 4 of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture.

/ AP

Smoke billows from Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

/ AP

March 27, 2011

Hatsuo Osugi, who was evacuated from Minamisoma in Fukushima, undergoes a test for signs of nuclear radiation at a health centre in Yonezawa, northern Japan.

YURIKO NAKAO / REUTERS

March 27, 2011

Rie Imai, who was evacuated from Minamisoma in Fukushima, has the bottom of her shoes screened for signs of nuclear radiation.

YURIKO NAKAO / REUTERS

March 27, 2011

A protester holds a placard during an anti nuclear rally in Tokyo, Sunday. The placard has a message that reads "Don't spread radioactive substance."

Itsuo Inouye / AP

March 27, 2011

A protester wears a mask during an antinuclear rally in Tokyo.

Itsuo Inouye / AP

March 22, 2011

Fliers arriving from Japan get scanned by staff members from Indonesia's Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency for residual radiation at the Ngurah Rai International Airport on the resort island of Bali. Authorities said the radiation screening will continue until the Japan's nuclear crisis ends.

Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP/Getty Images

March 23, 2011

Rusei Akawa, from Minamisoma in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, undergoes a screening test with his mother for signs of nuclear radiation at a health center in Yonezawa, about 60 miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Akawa's house is less than 10 miles from the plant, but his family didn't show harmful levels of radiation.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

March 23, 2011

A man carries bottles of water from a supply tank in Urayasu, in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. A spike in radiation levels in Tokyo tap water spurred new fears about food safety as rising black smoke forced another evacuation of workers trying to stabilize Japan's radiation-leaking nuclear plant.

Lee Jin-man / AP

March 23, 2011

Shelves selling bottled water are nearly empty at a convenience store in Tokyo. Japanese authorities advised against allowing infants to drink tap water in Tokyo because of increased radiation levels.

Lee Jin-man / AP

March 23, 2011

A woman holds a cabbage at a grocery in Tokyo . Further contamination of vegetables added to global anxiety on Wednesday at radiation from Japan's tsunami-smashed nuclear plant where engineers are struggling to cool reactors in the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years.

Aly Song / Reuters

March 22, 2011

Residents on the outskirts of Fukushima prefecture crowd into an elementary school gymnasium for a town hall meeting in Kawamata on the impact of radiation exposure from the nearby leaking Fukushima nuclear plant.

Wally Santana / AP

March 23, 2011

A farmer drains milk into a pit in Iitate, in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan. The United States became the first nation to block some food imports from Japan, saying on Wednesday that it will halt milk, vegetable and fruit imports from areas near the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant because of contamination fears.

Yomiuri Shimbun / Reuters

March 22, 2011

Keiko Yamada, a doctor, screens a dog from Fukushima prefecture for radiation at a health center in Yonezawa, in northern Japan. The 8-month-old dog, Koro, was left at the health center by his owner when the owner evacuated from Fukushima. The dog will be made available for adoption.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

March 21, 2011

Midori Sato, from Date in Fukushima, receives a screening test for signs of nuclear radiation from a doctor at a welfare center in Yonezawa, Japan. Engineers restored electricity to three reactors at a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant and hope to test water pumps at the quake-damaged facility soon, the first clear signs of progress in tackling the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years.

Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

March 20, 2011

Customers shop at a supermarket limited to a time of 15 minutes each in Sendai in Miyagi prefecture.

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP/Getty Images

March 20, 2011

A photographer holds a radiation detector at a devastated factory area hit by the earthquake and tsunami in Sendai. People are exposed to about 1 to 10 millisieverts of radiation a year from natural background radiation, caused by radioactive substances in the air and soil.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

March 18, 2011

An aerial view taken from a Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter shows damage sustained at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex in Okuma-machi, Fukushima prefecture. Military helicopters and firetrucks poured water on the overheating nuclear facility Thursday, and the plant operator said electricity to part of the crippled complex could be restored in a desperate bid to avert catastrophe.

/ Reuters

March 18, 2011

Smoke billows from Unit 3, left, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Okuma-machi, Fukushima prefecture.

/ AP

March 17, 2011

This satellite image of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan shows damage to the reactor building for units 1, 3 and 4.

DigitalGlobe / Reuters

March 18, 2011

Officials scan people for radiation in Koriyama, west of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture.

Ken Shimzu / AFP/Getty Images

March 18, 2011

Bulut Ayhan, from Turkey, chats with his Japanese wife, Mika Sasaki, using a mobile phone at a window separating the check-in and departure zones at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo. Sasaki said Ayhan was leaving Japan to avoid radiation exposure while she has decided to stay in the country for her family.

Issei Kato / Reuters

March 17, 2011

A baby and mother are scanned before entering an evacuation center in Fukushima.

Kyodo / Reuters

March 17, 2011

A Japan Air Self-Defense Forces Chinook helicopter collects water from the ocean to drop on the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Yomiuri / Reuters

March 17, 2011

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant before the start of the water-dropping operation.

Kyodo News / Reuters

March 17, 2011

Thick smoke billows from Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi. A nearly completed new power line could restore cooling systems in Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant, its operator said, raising some hope of easing the crisis that has threatened a meltdown and spawned dangerous radiation surges.

/ Associated Press

March 17, 2011

A military helicopter drops water on the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in this still image taken from video footage.

Reuters TV / Reuters

March 17, 2011

The damaged Unit 4 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi.

/ AP

March 17, 2011

Passengers arriving from Japan walk past a sign directing them to an area for radiation screening at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan.

Maurice Tsai / Bloomberg

March 17, 2011

A passenger arriving from Japan passes through a scanner to check radiation levels at Incheon International Airport west of Seoul.

Truth Leem / AFP/Getty Images

March 17, 2011

Stockpiles of potassium iodide tablets at the Koriyama Ciry Public Health Center to provide to residents and evacuees in Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture.

Ken Shimizu / AFP/Getty Images

March 16, 2011

Medical staff use a Geiger counter to screen a woman for possible radiation particles at a public welfare center in Hitachi City, Ibaraki, after she was evacuated from an area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

/ Reuters

March 16, 2011

The damaged third and fourth reactors of the Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima No. 1 power plant. A new fire broke out at the plant, compounding Japan's nuclear crisis following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. / AFP/Getty Images

March 16, 2011

Officials clad in protective gear scan a man for radiation at a temporary scanning center for residents living close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture.

Gregory Bull / AP

March 16, 2011

Evacuees from the west side of Fukushima receive radiation scans in Nihonmatsu city.

Go Takayama / AFP/Getty Images

March 16, 2011

A woman holds her dog as they are scanned for radiation.

Gregory Bull / AP

March 15, 2011

A radiation dosimeter indicates 0.6 microsieverts in Shibuya district ofTokyo. Japan faced a potential catastrophe after a crippled nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating toward Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies.

Kyodo News / Reuters

March 15, 2011

Smoke billows from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant after an explosion at 6:10 a.m. Tuesday.

/ Reuters

March 15, 2011

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan speaks at a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo. Kan told residents living near the exclusion zone around a damaged nuclear power plant to stay indoors, as a fire sent radiation out to dangerous levels.

/ AFP/Getty Images

March 15, 2011

Japan Self-Defense Force officers prepare for a cleanup at a radiation-affected area in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

Kyodo News / Reuters

March 15, 2011

People wait to be scanned at a radiation emergency center in Koriyama, Japan.

Mark Baker / AP

March 15, 2011

A woman in Osaka, Japan, reads a newspaper featuring the headline "Radiation Detected in Large Amount."

/ AP

March 15, 2011

An officer at the Hong Kong Observatory shows a forecast trajectory of radiation releases from Japan during a news conference. Indicators in red triangles, blue squares and green stars project wind directions of different altitudes. Winds are now dispersing radioactive material from the Japanese nuclear crisis over the Pacific Ocean and away from Japan and other Asian countries, the World Meteorological Organization said.

Bobby Yip / Reuters

March 14, 2011

Mother and daughter cover their mouths in fear of radiation exposure in Yamada, Japan.

Takashi Ozaki / AP

March 14, 2011

The No.3 nuclear reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant burns after a blast following an earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. The nuclear complex, north of Tokyo, has already seen explosions at two of its reactors.

/ DigitalGlobe

March 14, 2011

A man who was evacuated from the vicinity of Fukushima nuclear power plant cleanses his face at the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces' makeshift facility to cleanse people who might be exposed to radiation, in Nihonmatsu, northern Japan.

Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

March 14, 2011

Smoke rises from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex in this still image from video footage Monday. A fresh explosion at the quake-stricken nuclear power complex is unlikely to have led to a large escape of radioactivity, the government said.

Reuters TV / Reuters

March 14, 2011

A mother tries to talk to her daughter who has been isolated for signs of radiation after evacuating from the vicinity of Fukushima's nuclear plants, at a makeshift facility to screen, cleanse and isolate people with high radiation levels in Nihonmatsu, northern Japan.

Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

March 11, 2011

A man stands to be checked for levels of radiation in Koriyama, northeastern Japan, Sunday, two days after a giant quake and tsunami struck the country's northeastern coast.

Itsuo Inouye / AP

March 13, 2011

An official scans for signs of radiation on a woman in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima prefecture after radiation leaked from an earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daini nuclear reactor.

Yomiuri Shimbun / Reuters

March 13, 2011

Official in protective gear talks to a woman from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

March 12, 2011

Officials in protective gear check for signs of radiation on children who are from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama.

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

March 13, 2011

Futaba Kosei Hospital patients who might have been exposed to radiation are carried into the compound of Fukushima Gender Equality Centre in Nihonmatsu in Fukushima prefecture Sunday morning.

Daisuke Tomita / AP

March 12, 2011

Police officers wearing respirators patrol around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after an explosion in Fukushima Prefecture Sunday.

Yomiuri / Reuters

March 12, 2011

The damaged roof of reactor number No. 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after an explosion that blew off the upper part of the structure is seen in this handout photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in Fukushima prefecture.

/ Reuters

March 12, 2011

Police officers wearing respirators guide people away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following an evacuation order for residents who live in within a 6-mile radius of the plant.

/ Reuters

March 12, 2011

Smoke rises from Fukushima Daiichi 1 nuclear reactor after an explosion in this still image from video footage. An explosion blew the roof off the unstable reactor north of Tokyo on Saturday,

Reuters TV / Reuters

September 2010

In this September 2010 photo, an operator works at Unit 3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture in Japan.

/ AP

Sept. 24, 2002

The inside of reactor No. 4 is seen at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, in this file photo.

Yomiuri Shimbun / Reuters

March 11, 2011

Fukushima Nuclear Plant reactor Unit 1 Daiichi facility is seen in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan.

Yomiuri / Reuters

March 16, 2011

The damaged third and fourth reactors of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in Fukushima, north of Tokyo. A fresh fire broke out at the quake-hit Japanese atomic power plant in Fukushima early Wednesday, compounding Japan's nuclear crisis following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Tepco / AFP/Getty Images

An official hands out a certificate after she was found not to have a radiated level in Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture, 60 kms west from the Fukushima Nuclear plant, on March 17, 2011. Japanese military helicopters dumped tonnes of water onto the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo in a bid to douse fuel rods and prevent a disastrous radiation release. AFP PHOTO / Ken SHIMIZU (Photo credit should read KEN SHIMIZU/AFP/Getty Images)

KEN SHIMIZU / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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