Japan steps up nuclear plant precautions; Kan apologizes
Residents within 18 miles of the Fukushima plant are urged to leave; the previous limit had been 12 miles. The prime minister urges people to summon their courage and apologizes to farmers and business owners near the plant.
People living within 12 miles of the plant have been evacuated, yet those living between 12 and 18 miles of the facility have been told it is safe to remain as long as they stay indoors. But two weeks after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the country and hobbled the plant, causing radiation to leak, the situation has yet to be resolved.
Japan's government Friday urged residents living within 18 miles of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant to voluntarily leave their homes and suggested that officials could expand the mandatory evacuation zone.
"It has become increasingly difficult for goods to arrive, and life has become harder," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference. He called upon local governments in the zone near the plant to encourage people to leave. It was not immediately clear how many people remained within 18 miles of the plant.
Photos: Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis
As the country marked the second week since the disaster and the official death toll crossed 10,000, Prime Minister Naoto Kan addressed the nation, urging victims to "summon the courage to keep moving forward" and pledging the "utmost" efforts to rebuild the country.
But under pointed questioning from reporters, Kan said that the situation at the Fukushima plant remained "grave and serious."
"We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care," he said, dressed in a blue jumpsuit.
He also apologized to farmers and business owners around the plant for damage caused, and sought to rebut criticism that his government has failed to communicate in a clear and timely fashion with the public and foreign governments about the situation at the Fukushima plant.
Kan's remarks came after nuclear safety agency officials said that they suspected a breach in the reactor core of one unit at the quake-damaged plant.
Two workers at the facility were hospitalized for radiation exposure Thursday after stepping into contaminated water during repair operations at reactor No. 3. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said water in the turbine room where the workers were exposed registered about 10,000 times the level of radiation found in coolant inside a reactor. That could indicate there was damage to the core and a leak through the containment vessel, the agency said.
Two weeks after a disastrous earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the   has been described by the Prime Minister as "very grave and serious". In a nationally televised report to the nation on Friday,  said the Japanese government was "not in a position where we can be optimistic."

Radiation is reported to still be leaking from the plant, in . "The source of the radiation seems to be the ," said  official Hidehiko Nishiyama, adding that radiation was "more likely" coming from the core than from the reactor's .  

On Thursday three workers stepped into contaminated cooling water in the reactor's turbine room  while trying  to replace cables at  reactor No. 3, Nishiyama said. The water seeped into the the boots of two of the workers, touching their skin and causing lesions; the third worker's clothing  protected him from the water. The two workers with skin lesions were hospitalized for radiation exposure. The radiation level of the contaminated water measured 10,000 times the level of cooling water in an undamaged reactor.


Work has been stopped on attempts to reattach a permanent power line to the  in reactor No. 3, and the building has been evacuated. Nishiyama could give no predictions of when work would resume. The possibility that water is leaking from the core of reactor No. 3 increases the danger for workers who attempt to cool the crippled plant. The reactors must be cooled before more safety work can begin. 

Japan had been using seawater for cooling  since the disaster crippled the power plant's cooling systems, but U.S. officials were concerned that  saltwater could harm the  equipment, causing it to seize up and corrode, thereby worsening the situation.




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