Japan's nuclear crisis deepens, emperor addresses
nation
SENDAI : Japan's emperor gave a rare address to a
jittery nation on Wednesday as a nuclear emergency deepened and
millions struggled in desperate conditions after last week's quake
and tsunami disaster.
The television appearance by Emperor Akihito
emphasised the severity of the crisis gripping Japan after the
9.0-magnitude quake and the waves it unleashed, killing thousands
and crippling a nuclear power plant.
Akihito said he was "deeply concerned" about the
"unpredictable" situation at the stricken Fukushima No.1 power
plant, which has been hit by a series of explosions after the quake
knocked out reactor cooling systems.
"I sincerely hope that we can keep the situation from getting
worse," Akihito said, in an historic televised address that marked
the first time he has intervened in a national crisis.
He added: "I have received messages of condolence from heads of
state of various countries with kind words that their hearts are
with the victims. Allow me to convey the words to people in the
afflicted areas."
Japanese crews grappling with the world's worst nuclear incident
since Chernobyl briefly suspended work after a spike in radiation
levels at the plant 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of
Tokyo.
And already jangled nerves were frayed further by a strong
6.0-magnitude earthquake that swayed buildings in Tokyo.
The official toll of the dead and missing after the quake and
tsunami flattened Japan's northeast coast on Friday rose to more
than 11,000, with 3,676 confirmed killed, police said.
After the Tokyo stock exchange's biggest two-day sell-off in 24
years sparked a global market rout, the headline Nikkei share index
closed up 5.68 per cent on bargain hunting.
The Bank of Japan pumped another 3.5 trillion yen (US$43.3 billion)
into the financial system, adding to trillions spent this week
since the disaster crippled a large swathe of the economy.
The evacuation order at the Fukushima nuclear power plant came as a
tall white cloud was seen billowing into the sky over the stricken
complex.
Earlier, crews at Fukushima contended with a new fire and feared
damage to the vessel containing one of the plant's six reactor
cores.
The 50 or so workers at the plant have been hailed as heroes.
"Please don't forget that there are people who are working to
protect everyone's lives in exchange for their own lives," said one
post on Japanese social networking site Mixi.
Japanese military helicopters were due to dump water on the nuclear
plant, which has been hit by four explosions and two fires, to help
contain the overheating, but were forced back due to radiation,
reports said.
Engineers have been desperately battling a feared meltdown at the
40-year-old plant since the earthquake and tsunami knocked out
cooling systems and fuel rods began overheating.
But chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said radiation levels
from the plant posed no immediate health threat outside a
20-kilometres exclusion zone that has already been evacuated.
France's Nuclear Safety Authority said the disaster now equated to
a six on the seven-point international scale for nuclear accidents,
ranking the crisis second only in gravity to the level-seven
Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
But Yukiya Amano, the Japanese chief of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, insisted on Tuesday there was no comparison to the
Chernobyl crisis, when radiation spewed across Europe.
Aside from the nuclear threat, the full scale of the quake and
tsunami disaster was becoming clear as more details emerged of the
staggering death and devastation in the worst-hit northeast.
"The number of people killed is increasing day by day and we do not
know how many people have fallen victim," said the emperor, who is
held in deep respect by many Japanese.
"I pray for the safety of as many people as possible. People are
being forced to evacuate in such severe conditions of bitter cold,
with shortages of water and fuel... I cannot help praying that
rescue work is done swiftly and people's lives get better, even a
little."
He also thanked emergency personnel - both from Japan and abroad -
for their efforts to locate the many missing and help survivors
battling difficult conditions including increasingly cold
temperatures in the affected zone.
Millions of Japanese have been left without water, electricity,
fuel or enough food and hundreds of thousands more are homeless,
stoically coping with freezing cold and wet conditions in the
northeast.
Aomori governor Shingo Mimura said he desperately needed central
government assistance to get hold of oil and relief supplies.
"We cannot possibly get out to rescue survivors nor reconstruct the
devastated areas without oil," he said.
"There are a variety of problems, such as shortages of water, food
and blankets as well as difficulties in delivering supplies," added
Ryu Matsumoto, state minister in charge of disaster
management.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said three-hour power outages on Wednesday
would affect 10.89 million households.
The governor of Fukushima prefecture, home to the crippled nuclear
plant, said people were at breaking point.
"The worry and anger of the people of Fukushima has been pushed to
the limit," Yuhei Sato told public broadcaster NHK.
With nerves on edge across the world's third-biggest economy and
beyond, people across Asia have been stripping shelves of
essentials for fear of a major emission of radiation from the power
plant on the east coast.
The Japanese government has warned that panic buying in towns and
cities that have not been directly affected by the twin disasters
could hurt its
ability to provide aid to the devastated areas.
The normally heaving streets and subways of Tokyo were quieter than
usual on Wednesday morning. The number of people sporting paper
face masks has shot up, although the masks offer no real protection
against radiation.
Radiation levels in the capital's vast urban sprawl of 30 million
people have see-sawed without ever reaching harmful levels,
according to the government.
But it has warned people living up to 10 kilometres (six miles)
beyond a 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant to
stay indoors. More than 200,000 people have already been evacuated
from the zone.
Beyond Japan, Asian nations vowed to crack down on hoax messages
warning about radiation spreading beyond Japan, which have helped
stoke growing unease over the unfolding crisis.
- AFP/ms
