Japan Steps Up Repair Efforts

The New York Times reports:

TOKYO — With new signs having emerged about the severity of the damage and contamination at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, workers resumed repair efforts Saturday with plans to pump in fresh water after days of spraying the reactors with salt water. At the same time, a new reading of a sample of seawater adjacent to the facility showed an increase in contamination from several days ago.

The developments followed a decision by Japanese officials on Friday to begin encouraging people to evacuate a larger band of territory around the complex, amid signals that bringing the plant under control anytime soon would be difficult.

Speaking to a national audience at a news conference on Friday night, two weeks after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed it, Prime Minister Naoto Kan dodged a reporter’s question about whether the government was ordering a full evacuation, saying officials were simply following the recommendation of the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission.

“The situation still requires caution,” Mr. Kan, grave and tired-looking, told the nation. “Our measures are aimed at preventing the circumstances from getting worse.” The authorities said that they would now assist people who wanted to leave the area from 12 to 19 miles outside the plant, and that they were now encouraging “voluntary evacuation” from the area.

Those people had been advised March 15 to remain indoors, while those within a 12-mile radius of the plant had been ordered to evacuate. The United States has recommended that its citizens stay at least 50 miles away.

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