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Situation at damaged nuclear power plant remains 'very grave', says
Japanese Prime Minister
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March 25, 2011
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Situation_at_damaged_nuclear_power_plant_remains_%27very_grave%27,_says_Japanese_Prime_Minister



, Prime Minister}}
Two weeks after a disastrous  hit Japan, the   has been described by the
Prime Minister as "very grave and serious". In a nationally televised
report to the nation on Friday,  said the Japanese government was "not
in a position where we can be optimistic."

Radiation is reported to still be leaking from the plant, in . "The
source of the radiation seems to be the ," said  official Hidehiko
Nishiyama, adding that radiation was "more likely" coming from the core
than from the reactor's .  

On Thursday three workers stepped into contaminated cooling water in the
reactor's turbine room  while trying  to replace cables at  reactor No.
3, Nishiyama said. The water seeped into the the boots of two of the
workers, touching their skin and causing lesions; the third worker's
clothing  protected him from the water. The two workers with skin
lesions were hospitalized for radiation exposure. The radiation level of
the contaminated water measured 10,000 times the level of cooling water
in an undamaged reactor.

Work has been stopped on attempts to reattach a permanent power line to
the  in reactor No. 3, and the building has been evacuated. Nishiyama
could give no predictions of when work would resume. The possibility
that water is leaking from the core of reactor No. 3 increases the
danger for workers who attempt to cool the crippled plant. The reactors
must be cooled before more safety work can begin. 

Japan had been using seawater for cooling  since the disaster crippled
the power plant's cooling systems, but U.S. officials were concerned
that  saltwater could harm the  equipment to seize up and corrode,
worsening the situation.

== Sources == 
* http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/radioactive-water-from-core/story-e6frg6so-1226028353442
* http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14321714
* http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-japan-nuclear-plant-20110326,0,5763742.story?track=rss



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