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Workers evacuated as radiation soars at Fukushima

Extremely high levels of radiation detected in water leaking from one of Japan’s damaged Fukushima reactors on Sunday forced the evacuation of workers, dealing another setback to efforts to bring the facility under control.

Reuters
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The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said it had detected radiation levels 10 million times higher than usual in leaked water at reactor two, as white steam continued to rise.

The radiation level was 1,000 millisieverts per hour – and “extremely high figure", according to nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.

"There is a high possibility that (the water) came from the reactor."

A single dose of 1,000 millisieverts can cause temporary radiation sickness, including nausea and vomiting. An exposure of 100 millisieverts per year is considered the lowest level at which an increase in cancer risk is evident.

Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano on Sunday told public broadcaster NHK that progress at the site was slow.

"We'd like to be able to give a clear outline as to when this will be resolved – but I can't be any more optimistic than what the reality of it is."

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency told the New York Times newspaper that Japan's nuclear emergency could go on for weeks, if not months.

Yukiya Amano said Japanese authorities are still unsure about whether the reactor cores and spent fuel were covered with the water needed to cool them.

Urgent efforts to pump away pools of highly radioactive water near the reactors began Sunday, after several workers suffered radiation burns while installing cables as part of work to restore cooling systems.

Slow progress at the Fukushima site has added to the gloom hanging over the
into the northeast coast in Japan's worst post-war disaster.

The confirmed death toll from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami on Sunday stood at 10,489, with a further 16,621 missing and 2,777 injured.

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