Breach Now Feared at Japan Nuclear Plant

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday called the country's ongoing fight to stabilise the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant "very grave and serious", after officials announced a suspected breach in one of the reactors.

A breach would raise the possibility of more severe radioactive contamination, two weeks after a devastating earthquake and tsunami disabled the nuclear complex.

"The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant," Mr Kan said. "We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care."

The apparent breach is in Unit 3 and it might be a crack or a hole in the stainless steel chamber of the reactor core or in the spent fuel pool that's lined with several feet of reinforced concrete.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said suspicions were raised when two workers suffered skin burns after wading into water 10,000 times more radioactive than levels normally found in water in or around a reactor.

People who reside in the immediate area have been told to stay inside or vacate the area.

Japan Trying to Contain Reactor with Water Drops

A steady stream of Japanese military helicopters dumped water onto the dangerous Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant’s damaged reactors Thursday, as the U.S. authorized the first evacuations of Americans out of the country.

It wasn’t initially clear whether or not the water drops succeeded in cooling down the reactors, the first line of defense in preventing a full-scale nuclear meltdown. Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the facility, said radiation levels had remained the same since the operations were completed, Kyodo News reported.

Three twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces were used in the operation, working to drop seawater on the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors.

The U.S. decision to evacuate citizens from Japan shows a tougher stand on the deepening nuclear crisis. The State Department warned U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to any part of the country as unpredictable weather and wind conditions risked spreading radioactive contamination, The Associated Press reported.

The travel warning extends to U.S. citizens already in the country and urges them to consider leaving. The authorized departure offers voluntary evacuation to family members and dependents of U.S. personnel in Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya and affects some 600 people.

Senior State Department official Patrick Kennedy said chartered planes will be brought in to help private American citizens wishing to leave. People face less risk in southern Japan, but changing weather and wind conditions could raise radiation levels elsewhere in the coming days, he said.