Perilous
Times
Anxiety and panic spreads in Japan over radiation in water
and food; 2 workers injured at stricken nuclear plant
By Shino Yuasa,Tomoko A. Hosaka, The Associated Press | The
Canadian Press
TOKYO - Shops across Tokyo began rationing goods — milk, toilet
paper, rice and water — as a run on bottled water coupled with
delivery disruptions left shelves bare Thursday nearly two weeks
after a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The unusual sights of scarcity in one of the world's richest, most
modern capitals came a day after city officials reported that
radioactive iodine in the Tokyo's tap water measured more than
twice the level considered safe for babies.
Radiation has been leaking from a nuclear plant 140 miles (220
kilometres) northeast of Tokyo since it was slammed by the March
11 quake and engulfed by the ensuing tsunami. Feverish efforts to
get the plant's crucial cooling system back in operation have been
beset by explosions, fires and radiation scares.
On Thursday, two workers at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant were
being treated at a hospital after stepping into contaminated water
while laying electrical cables in one unit, nuclear and government
officials said.
The two workers likely suffered "beta ray burns," said officials
at plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co, citing doctors. They
tested at radiation levels between 170 to 180 millisieverts, well
below the maximum 250 millisieverts allowed for workers, said
Fumio Matsuda, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industry Safety.
More than two dozen people have been injured trying to bring the
Fukushima Dai-ichi plant under control.
The developments highlighted the challenges Japan faces after a
magnitude-9 quake off Sendai triggered a massive tsunami. An
estimated 18,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands
have been left homeless as officials scramble to avert a major
nuclear crisis.
Radiation has seeped into raw milk, seawater and 11 kinds of
vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips, grown in
areas around the plant.
The U.S. and Australia were halting imports of Japanese dairy and
produce from the region, Hong Kong said it would require that
Japan perform safety checks on meat, eggs and seafood, and Canada
said it would upgrade controls on imports of Japanese food
products.
Concerns also spread to Europe. In Iceland, officials said they
measured trace amounts of radioactive iodine in the air but
assured residents it was "less than a millionth" of levels found
in European countries in the wake of the 1986 Chornobyl disaster.
Radioactive iodine is short-lived, with a half-life of eight days
— the length of time it takes for half of it to break down
harmlessly. However, experts say infants are particularly
vulnerable to radioactive iodine, which can cause thyroid cancer.
In Tokyo, government spokesman Yukio Edano pleaded for calm.
Officials urged residents to avoid panicked stockpiling, sending
workers to distribute 240,000 bottles — enough for three small
bottles of water for each of the 80,000 babies under age 1
registered with the city.
That didn't stop Reiko Matsumoto, mother of 5-year-old Reina, from
rushing to a nearby store to stock up.
"The first thought was that I need to buy bottles of water," the
Tokyo real estate agent said. "I also don't know whether I can let
her take a bath."
New readings showed Tokyo tap water was back to safe levels
Thursday but the relief was tempered by elevated levels of the
cancer-linked isotope in two neighbouring prefectures: Chiba and
Saitama. A city in a third prefecture, just south of the nuclear
plant, also showed high levels of radioactive iodine in tap water,
officials said.
Tap water in Kawaguchi City in Saitama north of Tokyo contained
210 becquerels of radioactive iodine — well above the 100
becquerels considered safe for babies but below the 300-becquerel
level for adults, Health Ministry official Shogo Misawa said.
In Chiba prefecture, the water tested high for radiation in two
separate areas, said water safety official Kyoji Narita. The
government there warned families in 11 cities in Chiba not to feed
infants tap water.
"The high level of iodine was due to the nuclear disaster," Narita
said. "There is no question about it."
Radiation levels also tested dangerously high in Hitachi in
Ibaraki prefecture, about 70 miles (120 kilometres) south of the
Fukushima plant, city water official Toshifumi Suzuki said.
Officials were distributing bottled water, he said.
The limits refer to sustained consumption rates, and officials
said parents should stop using tap water for baby formula but that
it was no problem for infants to consume small amounts.
Still, shelves were bare in many stores across Tokyo.
Maruetsu supermarket in central Tokyo sought to impose buying
limits on specific items to prevent hoarding: only one carton of
milk per family, one 5-kilogram bag of rice, one package of toilet
paper, one pack of diapers, signs said. Similar notices at some
drugs stores told women they could only purchase two feminine
hygiene items at a time.
Maruetsu spokeswoman Kayoko Kano acknowledged that the earthquake
and tsunami resulted in delays of some products.
A spokesman for Procter & Gamble Japan said its plant was
fully operational but that rolling blackouts in Tokyo may be
affecting distribution. "Consumers are nervous, and they may be
buying up supplies," Noriyuki Endo added.
Hardship continued in the frigid, tsunami-struck northeast. Some
660,000 households still do not have water, the government said.
Electricity has not been restored to some 209,000 homes, Tohoku
Electric Power Co. said. Damage is estimated at $309 billion,
making it the most costly natural disaster on record.
In Fukushima, farmer Sumiko Matsuno went out to her fields and dug
up all the vegetables she could Thursday — not to sell but to eat.
"If it's in the ground, it's still safe," she said. "The leafy
ones are no good anymore. We are digging up all our carrots and
onions as fast as we can."
Matsuno, 65, said she was worried about the future.
"If this goes on, it is going to really hurt us."
___
Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Fukushima, and Mari
Yamaguchi, Elaine Kurtenbach, Yuri Kageyama, Kaori Hitomi, Jean H.
Lee and Ian Mader in Tokyo, contributed to this report.