16.03.2011, 12:04 2963

Workers abandon Japan nuclear plant as crisis worsens

Fukushima nuclear plant workers were ordered to leave the nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels increased, Kyodo news reported, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. March 16. Kazakhstan Today - Fukushima nuclear plant workers were ordered to leave the nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels increased, Kyodo news reported, Kazakhstan Today reports.

A rise in radiation levels at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has forced workers to suspend operations, a government spokesman says, BBC News reported.

He was speaking after smoke was seen rising from reactor three. Earlier, a blaze struck reactor four for the second time in two days.

Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which killed thousands, damaged the plant's cooling functions.

The site has also been hit by four explosions, triggering radiation leaks.

On Wednesday, Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news briefing that workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant had been withdrawn following the sudden rise in radiation levels.

It is believed that about 50 employees had been working at the plant to try to cool its four reactors and avert a meltdown.

Mr Edano also said that the radiation levels were now falling from 1,000 millisieverts on Wednesday morning to 600-800.

Reuters reports that authorities withdrew 750 workers on Tuesday, leaving only 50.

The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and devastating tsunami that followed worsened overnight following a cold snap that brought snow to some of the worst-affected areas.

While the official death toll stands at around 4,000, more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility - a population of 140,000 - to remain indoors, as authorities grappled with the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.

Levels dropped to minimal on Wednesday, but nerves were shaken by a 6.0 earthquake, which shook buildings.

But residents have nevertheless reacted to the crisis by staying indoors. Public transport and the streets are as deserted as they would be on a public holiday, and many shops and offices are closed.

About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.

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