Biggest crisis since WW-II: Japan PM; toll may cross 10,000

Tokyo, Mar 13 (PTI) Japan battled hard on Sunday to
contain a looming nuclear crisis as it faced threats of
multiple meltdowns at three reactors damaged by the
devastating earthquake and tsunami amid fears that the toll
may exceed 10,000 in the ravaged northeastern coast.
Alarm bells also rang in southwestern Japan where the
1,421-metre Shinmoedake volcano erupted on Sunday, shooting
ash and rocks up into the sky but it was not immediately clear
if it was a fallout of the massive earthquake.
The toll is likely to cross 10,000, Kyodo news agency
quoted the Miyagi police as saying.
In a televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan
said Japan is experiencing its biggest crisis since World War
II as it tackled the aftermath of Friday's massive earthquake
with a magnitude of 9, the ferocious tsunami and the worrying
nuclear crisis.
Japanese authorities scrambled to control overheating
reactors and fresh radiation threats at the quake-hit
Fukushima nuke reactor as the risk of a second explosion grew.
Fukushima shut down three reactors after the tsunami.
With the cooling systems at the Fukushima plants not
functioning, frantic efforts were underway to stop fuel rods
from overheating. If not controlled, it can lead to an
explosion, resulting in radioactive material being released
into the atmosphere.
A day after the first explosion, Kan said the
situation at the plant, 240 km north of capital Tokyo,
remained "grave". The explosion had blown off the roof and
walls around the reactor.
The reactor faced serious troubles after its emergency
cooling system failed, triggering a fresh radiation threat.
The Fukushima power plant's operator said pressure was
rising inside reactor No.3 after it lost its cooling system.
"We cannot rule out the possibility of another
explosion," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. But he
dismissed concerns about it having any significant impact on
human health.
He said the trouble with the No. 3 reactor has not led
to a "meltdown," a critical situation where fuel rods have
melted. A complete meltdown can lead to release of uranium and
other radioactive materials in the environment and pose
serious health risks.
Meanwhile, Japan's nuclear agency declared a state of
emergency at another nuclear facility at Onagawa after
excessive nuclear radiations were reported there, BBC
reported.
Thousands of military personnel and civilians joined
hands in a massive search and rescue operation.
Over 1.80 lakh people have been evacuated from a 20
kms radius from the nuke plant joining over 3.5 lakhs who have
already moved out, Kyodo said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was
continuing to liaise with the Japanese authorities and
monitoring the situation as it evolves.
"We have no choice but to deal with the situation on
the premise that it (the death toll) will undoubtedly be
numbered in the ten thousands," Naoto Takeuchi, head of the
Miyagi prefectural police was quoted as saying by Kyodo.

The official tally shows 983 confirmed deaths in
Miyagi and other areas. Over 600 bodies have been found in
in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures on the Pacific coast. Miyagi
includes the port of Minamisanriku, which was mostly swept
away by gushing Tsunami waters.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, which runs the power station,
notified Japan's nuclear safety agency that the radiation
level at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had exceeded
the legal limit.
Hourly radiation at the site was measured at 882 micro
sievert, in excess of the allowable level of 500, Kyodo
reported.
The nuclear safety agency also said the Tokyo Electric
Company acknowledged that the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima
plant had lost its cooling functions, while at least 22
people are known to have been exposed to radiation.
The No.3 reactor had lost the ability to cool its core
and was now in the process of releasing radioactive steam,
Edano said.
It was the sixth reactor overall at the Fukushima No.
1 and No. 2 plants to undergo cooling failure since the
massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on Friday.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered rushing of additional
Self-Defense Force personnel to quake-hit areas. Over one lakh
SDF personnel, the largest such operation, will assist in the
relief and rescue operations, Defence Minister Toshimi
Kitazawa said.
"I would like to ask for maximum efforts in order to
save the lives of as many people as possible," Kan told a
Cabinet-level emergency disaster meet. "We will do everything
to rescue stranded people."
In Miyagi, about 4,400 people had been sheltered in
schools, hospitals and inns in the tsunami-swamped town of
Onagawa and neighboring Ishinomaki city, local officials said.
Also, local governments have been unable to contact
tens of thousands of people, and at least 20,820 buildings
have been fully or partially damaged in quake-hit areas.
In Miyagi, about 200 more bodies were found in the
city of Higashimatsushima, and about 10,000 people in
Minamisanriku, over half the town's population, remain
unaccounted for, police said.
In neighboring Iwate Prefecture, 258 people have been
confirmed dead and the death toll will rise above 500. The
city of Rikuzen-takata has been devastated by a tsunami. Self
Defence Forces say they have found 300 to 400 bodies there.
About 5,000 houses in the city had been submerged by the
quake-triggered tsunami.
There were also tens of thousands of people that local
governments had been unable to contact, police and local
officials were quoted as saying.
About 4,400 people remained isolated as of Saturday
night in the tsunami-swamped town of Onagawa and neighboring
Ishinomaki city, in schools, hospitals, inns and the Onagawa
nuclear plant where they had been evacuated to, Miyagi
officials said.
In Iwate prefecture, north of Miyagi, many bodies were
found on Sunday under the rubble in Rikuzentakata, and the US
military in Japan is poised to airlift about 640 isolated
residents there by eight helicopters, the police and the
Defence Agency said.
About 5,000 houses in the city had been submerged by
quake-triggered tsunami, and the city office has confirmed
that only 5,900 of its population of about 23,000 had taken
shelter.
More than 215,000 people are said to be living in
1,350 temporary shelters in five prefectures in quake-hit
areas. One report said four trains had disappeared following
the quake and still had not been located.
International disaster relief teams are being sent to
Japan, with the UN helping to coordinate the operation.
Japan's worst previous earthquake was of 8.3 magnitude
and killed 143,000 people in Kanto in 1923. A magnitude 7.2
quake in Kobe killed 6,400 people in 1995.