Japan seals off no-go zone around nuclear plant

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ERIC TALMADGE

FUTABA, Japan (AP) - Japan officially sealed off a wide area around a crippled nuclear power plant early Friday to stop tens of thousands of residents from sneaking back to the homes they quickly fled and are enduring a long, uncertain wait to return.

Fearing they might not see their homes and belongings again for at least six months, evacuees raced into the deserted towns Thursday before the ban took effect to grab whatever belongings they could cram into their cars.

"This is our last chance, but we aren't going to stay long. We are just getting what we need and getting out," said Kiyoshi Kitajima, an X-ray technician, who dashed to his hospital in Futaba, a town next-door to the plant, to collect equipment before the order took effect at midnight.

Nearly 80,000 people were hurriedly evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on March 12, after an earthquake and a tsunami destroyed its power and cooling systems. The evacuation order had no teeth, and people began increasingly returning to check on the remains of their lives. Some had stayed all along.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110421/D9MO5D100.html

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A man wearing a protective suite walks in the yard in the deserted town of Futaba, inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) evacuation zone, in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Thursday, April 21, 2011. Japan declared the 20-kilometer (12-mile) area evacuated around its radiation-spewing nuclear power plant a no-go zone on Thursday, urging residents to abide by the order for their own safety or possibly face fines or detention. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

[Bennyboy]

1. Values higher than the exclusion criteria for Chernobyl

Values higher than the exclusion criteria for Chernobyl observed in multiple soil samples outside the 30 km evacuation zone

http://fukushima.greenaction-japan.org/2011/04/21/antoyo-keizai-online-reports-serious-radioactive-contamination-levels-beyond-the-30km-evacuation-radius-around-the-fukushima-nuclear-plant/

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Japan Expands Evacuation Zone Around Nuclear Plant (again)

Source: VOA

An evacuation advisory for areas near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was widened on Friday because of concerns about long-term radiation exposure. The move comes a day after Japan began legally enforcing a 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the power station.

The new advisory covers several towns northeast of the mandatory exclusion zone. Residents have been asked to leave the area within the next month.

Government officials say the danger is the gradual build-up of radiation that has been happening since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Read more: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/Japan-Expands-Evacuation-Zone-Around-Fukushima-Daiichi-Plant-120445924.html

[jpak]

3. They took their sweet time with this - didn't they

and I bet it isn't the last time they do this either

[TatonkaJames]

4. Nope

Worse that Chernobyl. It might take time but they'll realize like the sheriff in Jaws; "We're going to need a bigger island".

[damntexdem]

5. Japan is going to have real trouble with China ...

when the evacuation zone is extended to include the Asian mainland.

;-)

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Arnie Gunderson says they hit "worse than Chernobyl" when the plants blew last month.

And remember, there were at least 3 plants that exploded during that time.

He says that here, in this short video: ( very reputable site)

http://vimeo.com/22586794

[thereismore]

7. All of a sudden they have "concerns about long-term radiation exposure?" Criminal. nt