Japan's Nuclear Crisis Level to be Raised

Small Fire Put out at Japan's Damaged Nuke Plant

News reports say Japan has decided to raise the severity level of the crisis at its tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant to 7 — the highest level and equal to the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union. Quoting sources at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Kyodo News agency and public broadcaster NHK both said Tuesday that NISA would raise the severity level of the nuclear radiation disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant to 7 from the current 5. NISA spokesman Minoru Oogoda declined to confirm the reports.

April 11, 2011

AP – Workers at Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear power complex discovered a small fire near a reactor building Tuesday but it was extinguished quickly, the plant's operator said.

The setback was a further sign that the crisis at the plant has not abated, and came amid reports that Japanese nuclear regulators were raising the severity of the accident to the highest level, 7, on par with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, said the fire at a box that contains batteries in a building near the No. 4 reactor was discovered at about 6:38 a.m. Tuesday and was put out seven minutes later.

It wasn't clear whether the fire was related to a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that shook the Tokyo area Tuesday morning. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

"The fire was extinguished immediately. It has no impact on Unit 4's cooling operations for the spent fuel rods," said TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda.

The plant was damaged in a massive tsunami March 11 that knocked out cooling systems and backup diesel generators, leading to explosions at three reactors and a fire at a fourth that was undergoing regular maintenance and was empty of fuel.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake that caused the tsunami immediately stopped the three reactors, but overheated cores and a lack of cooling functions led to further damage.

Engineers have been able to pump water into the damaged reactors to cool them down, but leaks have resulted in the pooling of tons of contaminated, radioactive water that has prevented workers from conducting further repairs.

Aftershocks on Monday briefly cut power to backup pumps, halting the injection of cooling water for about 50 minutes before power was restored.

On Tuesday, Kyodo News agency and public broadcaster NHK both reported that Japan's nuclear safety agency had decided to raise the severity level of the crisis at Fukushima to 7 — the highest level and equal to the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union.

Both reports quoted sources at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. NISA spokesman Minoru Oogoda declined to confirm the reports.

A month after the disaster, more than 145,000 people are still living in shelters, and the government on Monday added five communities to a list of places people should leave to avoid long-term radiation exposure.

A 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius has already been cleared around the plant.

The disaster is believed to have killed more than 25,000 people, but many of those bodies were swept out to sea and more than half of those feared dead are still listed as missing.

Aftershocks have taken more lives.

In Iwaki, a city close to the epicenter of a magnitude-7.0 tremor Monday, a landslide brought down three houses, trapping up to seven people. Four were rescued alive, but one of those — a 16-year-old girl — died at the hospital, a police official said. He would not give his name, citing policy.

Around 210,000 people have no running water and, following Monday's aftershocks, more than 240,000 people are without electricity.

In all, nearly 190,000 people have fled their homes, the vast majority of whom are living in shelters, according to the national disaster agency. About 85,000 are from the cleared zone around the nuclear plant; their homes may be intact, but it's not known when they'll be able to return to them.

Yutaka Endo said he feels like his life has been put on hold because of the nuclear crisis.

He fled Minami Soma and has been living in a shelter in Fukushima city for three weeks with his family.

"I can't make any plans because of the nuclear crisis. My home was fine, but I can't go back there because it is in a restricted area," said the 32-year-old, who used to tend bar. "I need to find a new job and a place to live so that we can get out of here. But I can't do anything until these zones are lifted."

Ryokou Sasaki said he and his elderly parents are in the same position. They've applied for temporary shelters, and are waiting to hear back.

He recently moved back home — to the northeastern port city of Kamaishi — to help his parents' with their fishing business.

"We're not in a place yet where we can even think about rebuilding the business yet," said the 40-year-old. "They seem to have given up."