2011 Japan maximum nuclear alert

2. Fukushima update • (30 March) • Reactor 1: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas explosion. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor • Reactor 2: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage suspected. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor and adjoining tunnel • Reactor 3: Damage to the core from cooling problems. Building holed by gas blast; containment damage possible. Spent fuel pond partly refilled with water after running low. Highly radioactive water detected in reactor • Reactor 4: Reactor shut down prior to quake. Fires and explosion in spent fuel pond; water level partly restored • Reactors 5 & 6: Reactors shut down. Temperature of spent fuel pools now lowered after rising high JAPAN – 2011 march 30 High radiation found far from Japan nuke plant Atomic watchdog says the 'operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded' in village six miles outside voluntary evacuation zone PM Naoto Kan signals 'maximum alert' Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. - Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building. okyo Electric Power (Tepco) made the announcement three weeks after failing to bring reactors 1 - 4 under control. Locals would be consulted on reactors 5 and 6, which were shut down safely. The twin disasters are now known to have killed 10,901 people, with more than 17,000 people still missing across a swathe of northern Japan. On Monday highly radioactive water was found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Fukushima plant. - The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment. Plutonium - used in the fuel mix for one of the six reactors - has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say. Seawater near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has reached a much higher level of radiation than previously reported Regional fallout Officials in China, South Korea and the United States say they have recorded traces of radioactive material in the air. The US Environmental Protection Agency said it had detected traces of radiation in rain water in the north-east of the country. It said these were consistent with the Fukushima nuclear accident and also said they did not constitute a health hazard. Emperor Akihito visited a centre for earthquake and tsunami victims in the Tokyo area on Wednesday march 30

3. AP Photo - Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members unload boxes containing drinking water from their truck as the relief supply arrive at the village office in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Monday, March 21, 2011. Health Ministry advised Iitate, a village of 6,000 people about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, not to drink tap water due to elevated levels of iodine. The ministry said iodine three times the normal level was detected there, about one twenty-sixth of the level of a chest X-ray in one liter of water.

4. Damir Sagolj / Reuters Volunteers prepare food to be distributed to victims at a shelter for those evacuated from the disaster zone in Rikuzentakata March 23, 2011, after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami.

5. A man eats some fish in a can for dinner at a earthquake victims shelter March 23, 2011 in Kesennuma, Japan. March 23, 2011 in Kesennuma, Japan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

6. An aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone of the damaged units of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, taken on March 24 and released March 30.. TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said it will be more than a few weeks to fix the nuclear power plant. - Air Photo Service via EPA

7. A U.S. Marine based in Japan directs heavy lifting equipment on Friday as reconstruction work continues at Sendai airport. Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters

8. Rim Fujimoto, 5, holds a bottle of water at a supermarket in Tokyo on Friday. Tokyo's 13 million residents were told this week not to give tap water to babies after contamination from rain put radiation at twice the safety level. It dropped back to safe levels the next day, and the city governor cheerily drank water in front of cameras at a water purifying plant. Despite government reassurances and appeals for people not to panic, there has been a rush on bottled water. Toru Hanai / Reuters

9. Damir Sagolj / Reuters - Fishermen take a break from cleaning the port devastated by a tsunami two weeks ago at the island of Oshima March 25, 2011. Through burnt ships and debris, a boat called Sunflower sails to bring food, clothing and families to isolated victims of a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Japan's Oshima Island off the northeaster Sanriku coast. For the survivors, the boat is the only connection between their island with a population of 3,200 and the city of Kesennuma on Japan's main island, which is usually 25 minutes away by ferry.

10. Two residents exchange words as they are reunited two weeks after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in a makeshift public bath set up outside a shelter by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture on Friday. 2011- March 25 -Shuji Kajiyama / AP

11. A man takes pictures of a whale museum damaged by the tsunami in Yamada town, Iwate Prefecture on Friday. 2011- march 25- Carlos Barria / Reuters

12. A man throws away a TV set damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at a temporary dump site, which was converted from a baseball field, in Sendai on Saturday. March 26, 2011 Sendai city is providing five temporary dump sites to earthquake and tsunami victims, an officer from the city council said. - Kim Kyung-hoon / Reuters

13. A wrecked train carriage rests over a cemetery in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture on Saturday.- March 26, 2011 Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images

14. A boy plays with a basketball at a crowded makeshift evacuation center on Saturday March 26, 2011 in Rikuzentakata. – Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

15. Getty Images - RIKUZENTAKATA, JAPAN- March 26, 2011 : Japanese earthquake victims enjoy a communal bath set up in tents by the Japanese Self Defense Force March 26, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. With hundreds of thousands made homeless by the quake the baths are essential since the makeshift evacuation centers have little running water. More than two weeks after the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan the death toll has risen to over 10,000 dead with still thousands missing and the expectation is that it will end up well over 20,000. Presently the country is still struggling to repair a damaged nuclear power plant that has caused tremendous problems, evacuations, and now tainted water supply in the Tokyo area causing more panic buying of bottled water.

16. A car hangs from a damaged building in Onagawa town, Miyagi prefecture on Saturday. March 26, 2011 - Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images

17. Kiyoko Kin searches through the rubble of part of her house that was washed away from the tsunami March 26, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

18. A Japanese mourner cries for a loved one during a mass funeral in Yamamoto, northeastern Japan Saturday, March 26, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex. AP / Shuji Kajiyama

19. Earthquake victims rest at a crowded makeshift evacuation center as hundreds of thousands have become homeless March 26, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

20. A man walks through boxes of emergency relief supplies contributed from the whole country in Onagawa town, Miyagi prefecture on Saturday. March 26, 2011 -The death toll from a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast topped 10,000, two weeks after the disaster struck, the National Police Agency said. - Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images

21. Mourners gather around victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami during a mass funeral in Yamamoto on Saturday. March 26, 2011 - David Guttenfelder / AP

22. People look at a grounded cargo ship on a pier in Kamaishi port in Iwate Prefecture on Saturday March 26, 2011 - Koji Sasahara / AP .

23. Japanese military search a collapsed building for bodies on Sunday March 27, 2011 in Kensennuma. Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

24. Yukiko Umehara (C) reacts after finding her cousin's childhood diary from amongst a tsunami devastated house at Tanohata village, Iwate prefecture on Sunday. March 27, 2011 - Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images

25. Hiro Ono, 70, collects salvagable items in the tsunami devastated Noda village, Iwate prefecture on Sunday. March 27, 2011 Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP - Getty Images

26. Evacuees from Fukushima, where the troubled Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is located, receive meals at an evacuation center in Saitama on Sunday. March 27, 2011 - Masanobu Nakatsukasa / AP

27. Reuters Pictures - A handout from Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo shows No. 4 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture northeastern Japan March 27, 2011. The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said on Monday a very high radiation reading that had sent workers fleeing the No. 2 reactor was erroneous. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) vice-president Sakae Muto apologised for Sunday's error, which added to alarm inside and outside Japan over the impact of contamination from the complex which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

28. Reuters Pictures - A handout from Japan Ground Self-Defense Force via Kyodo shows No. 4 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan March 27, 2011. The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said on Monday a very high radiation reading that had sent workers fleeing the No. 2 reactor was erroneous. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) vice-president Sakae Muto apologised for Sunday's error, which added to alarm inside and outside Japan over the impact of contamination from the complex which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11

29. Yukiko Kometa, 74 years old, stands in front of her tsunami devastated house at Noda village, Iwate prefecture on March 27, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Yasuyoshi Chiba

30. A person stands by missing people notes taped on windows over two weeks after a magnitude-9 quake in Natori, northeastern Japan, Sunday, March 27, 2011. AP / Miho Ikeya

31. Family members grieve over the coffin of Masami Takahashi during a burial service at a temporary burial site March 27, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

32. Japanese rescue teams comb the rubble looking for more bodies March 27, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

33. A Japanese woman rests in front of her damaged home in the tsunami and earthquake ravaged city of Kesennuma, northeastern Japan Sunday, March 27, 2011. AP / David Guttenfelder

34. Getty Images - A protestor wears a gas mask to protest against nuclear plants in front of the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) headquarters in Tokyo on March 27, 2011 after the company's nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Very high levels of radiation detected in water leaking from a reactor at a nuclear plant in Japan dealt a new setback to efforts to bring the stricken facility under control. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant said it had detected radiation levels 10 million times higher than usual in leaked water at reactor two, as white steam continued to rise from the tsunami-battered facility.

35. Getty Images - A protestor wears a gas mask to protest against nuclear plants in front of the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) headquarters in Tokyo on March 27, 2011 after the company's nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Very high levels of radiation detected in water leaking from a reactor at a nuclear plant in Japan dealt a new setback to efforts to bring the stricken facility under control. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant said it had detected radiation levels 10 million times higher than usual in leaked water at reactor two, as white steam continued to rise from the tsunami-battered facility.

36. U.S. Marine Sgt. Joseph Enochs, 28, of Orlando, Fla., wakes to freezing temperatures after a night in Sendai airport's departure lounge on Saturday. With 50,000 troops stationed across the country, the U.S. military has been quick to respond to the tsunami that devastated northeast Japan. - Wally Santana / AP - March 27, 2011

37. A volunteer takes a breather on Saturday March 27, 2011 while helping to clean a resident's house, which was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami in Higashi-Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan. Volunteers, comprised mainly of local residents, helped clean earthquake victims' houses after the tsunami left their homes inundated with water and mud. - Yuriko Nakao / Reuters

38. Damir Sagolj / Reuters - Family members of an earthquake and tsunami victim gather around an open coffin during a mass funeral at a field outside Kesennuma town, Miyagi prefecture on March 27, 2011. Desperate municipalities such as Kesennuma have been digging mass graves to bury victims of the disaster, unthinkable in a nation where the deceased are almost always cremated and their ashes placed in stone family tombs near Buddhist temples. Local regulations often prohibit the burial of bodies.

39. A Japanese soldier uses a snow shovel to try and clear a street of mud in the tsunami and earthquake ravaged city of Kesennuma, northeastern Japan on Sunday. - March 27, 2011 David Guttenfelder / AP

40. March 27, 2011 A pine tree stands amid the tsunami devastated area in Rikuzentakaka, Iwate Prefecture. It was the only one among tens of thousands of other pine trees forming "Takata Matsubara," or Takata seaside pine forest, which remained after the March 11 tsunami washed away all the others, local media said. AP photos

41. Reiko Kikuta, right, and her husband Takeshi Kikuta stand on the port as workers attach ropes to their submerged home to try to pull it ashore on Oshima Island in northeastern Japan. - David Guttenfelder / AP

42. Elementary school children share a chuckle as they reunite for the first time since the March 11 earthquake at Masuda Nishi elementary school in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture. The words on the blackboard read, "How have you been doing?" Miho Ikeya / Yomiuri Shimbun via AP

43. Tokyo Metro Police officers in protective suites search for missing residents at the site of a giant tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Monday, March 28, 2011. AP / Takuya Yoshino

44. Damir Sagolj / Reuters - Tsunami victims pass the time as their clothes dry at the shelter for those evacuated from the disaster zone in Yamada town, Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan more than two weeks after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 28, 2011. Japan appeared resigned on Monday to a long fight to contain the world's most dangerous atomic crisis in 25 years after high radiation levels complicated work at its crippled nuclear plant.

45. A family member retrieves photographs of her missing grand father and mother's old photos amongst debris in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 28, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Yasuyoshi Chiba

46. Fisherman Yutaka Watanabe sits on the roof of a destroyed house while looking for missing family members in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 28, 2011. AFP/ Getty Images / Yasuyoshi Chiba

47. A woman uses a mobile phone on Monday as she looks at her house, which was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in Kessenuma town, Miyagi prefecture. - Carlos Barria / Reuters

48. A teacher cries during a graduation ceremony at Ashinome kindergarten in Kessenuma, a town affected by the earthquake and tsunami, in Miyagi prefecture on March 28. One pupil and several parents from the school have been reported missing in the disaster. - Carlos Barria / Reuters

49. AP Photo A notice to ask for restraining from cherry blossom viewing party is erected at Ueno Park in Tokyo Monday, March 28, 2011. The Japan Meteorological Agency said Monday that the country's capital was officially in bloom. The proclamation marks the start of Tokyo's cherry blossom viewing season and is normally among the most anticipated announcements of the season. This year, the usual excitement has been overshadowed by the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast coast, as well as the ongoing nuclear crisis.

50. Getty Images - A fishmonger prepares a bonito fish at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on March 28, 2011. Famous for its noisy pre-dawn tuna auctions and air of organised chaos, the market has seen sellers standing idle as demand for seafood and other food products slides amid global worries about Japanese produce after a nuclear scare. Dangerous levels of radiation detected in water thought to be leaking from a stricken Japanese reactor dealt a new setback on March 27 to efforts to avert a nuclear disaster.