2013-09-19 19:17:23

Japan's nuclear crisis continues


(Vatican Radio) Is Japan's nuclear crisis truly in hand? The nation's prime minister went to the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday to see for himself.

listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report from Tokyo... RealAudioMP3


Just over a week ago, Japan's leader told the International Olympic Committee the nuclear crisis is "under control".

Today, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toured the Fukushima plant to see the the storage tanks that have leaked, and to examine what's being done to prevent contaminated groundwater from pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

He said workers there are doing their best in difficult circumstances.

The plant operator is already preparing to dismantle the four ruined reactors, work that'll take several decades to complete. But Abe today told the company it will also need to decommission the plant's two intact reactors, which until now the operator apparently hoped it might use again.

He added he will try to reassure the outside world that dangerous radiation is currently limited mostly to the exclusion zone around the plant. He said there's a need to scotch what he called rumours.

But outsiders worry that with contaminated water still piling up at the plant, tens of thousands of litres every day, there could be more crises ahead before the plant is made safe.







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