Fears rise over nuclear plant after Japan quake
Afp, Tokyo
Authorities in Japan yesterday were investigating a second nuclear scare following a deadly earthquake, as relief workers struggled to feed and shelter thousands of shaken survivors. About 100 sealed barrels filled with contaminated clothes and gloves tipped over at the massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Monday's 6.8-magnitude quake, which killed nine people and injured more than 1,000 more. The lids of several barrels opened up inside the plant, said to be the world's largest, said Shoji Iida, a spokesman for Kariwa village. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chided the plant's operators, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc., saying its reports to authorities were "not quick enough."
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Railway workers check a derailed train at Kashiwazaki station at Kashiwazaki city in Niigata prefecture, 250km north of Tokyo yesterday. The official death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck central Japan on July 16 has risen to nine. PHOTO: AFP |
