RADIOACTIVE

Japan Plant Poisons Soil, Water

Radiation picked up in Massachusetts rain.

The dire state of Fukushima’s damaged nuclear power plant keeps getting worse. Highly contaminated water is leaking from one of its reactors, inching its way to the ocean, plutonium has been found in the soil—and radiation has been detected in rainwater as as far away as Massachusetts, albeit in miniscule amounts. The leak threatens to be a major setback for workers seeking to contain the crisis. Meanwhile, dozens of residents in the immediate area are refusing to leave. At least 40 are reported to still be in the 12-mile danger zone. “We have tried to persuade them, but the evacuation order doesn’t have coercive power,” said a representative of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. “Support may be needed for those staying here.”