State Dept., Pentagon offer to evacuate family members from Tokyo

By Rick Maese,
WashPost
Thursday, March 17, 7:52 AM

TOKYO — Six days into the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, Japanese officials began implementing a series of emergency efforts Thursday, hoping to diminish the risk of radiation leaks that have spread fear across much of the country.

Government officials began tackling the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by land and air, trying to cool two units in particular that have raised fears that a larger catastrophe might be imminent.

In a dangerous emergency mission, helicopters dropped about 30 tons of water on the plant, and trucks equipped with high-pressure water cannons were on stand-by much of the day to spray the nuclear plant from the ground. They began to spray water early Thursday evening, taking aim at the same unit 3 reactor that was targeted by helicopters earlier in the day.

The growing radiation threat prompted U.S. officials to contradict Japan’s recommendations and urge Americans to stay at least 50 miles from the plant — four times the distance recommended by the Japanese government. While Japan did not change its recommended evacuation area, a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) radius around the plant, several other nations joined the United States in adopting an 80-kilometer (50-mile) recommended radius, including Canada, Britain and South Korea.

(More here.)