Skip to main content
Nuclear Disaster

High Radiation Cripples Rescue Effort

Workers evacuate; helicopters can't douse reactors.

cheats/2011/03/16/high-radiation-cripples-rescue-effort/japanese-workers-evacuate_pmmz4d

Jiji Press / Getty Images,JIJI PRESS

Japan briefly evacuated workers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Wednesday when radiation levels peaked, thanks to a breach in the containment vessel at a second reactor. In a desperate measure, the Defense Ministry was preparing to have helicopters drop water on the reactor, but even that has proved impossible due to high radiation levels. Meanwhile, France has urged its citizens to leave Tokyo, and Australia announced it is moving its embassy out of Tokyo to the western city of Osaka. Japan’s Emperor Akihito also gave his first address about the crisis Wednesday, saying he was “deeply worried” about the nuclear situation.

Read it at The New York Times

TRENDING NOW