The operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant said today it was still working on a detailed plan to end the country's nuclear crisis a month after it began, as tests showed radiation levels in the sea near the complex had spiked.
Engineers moved a step closer to emptying highly radioactive water from one of the six crippled reactors, which would allow them to start repairing the cooling system crucial to regaining control of the reactors.
Japan's nuclear safety agency said the latest tests showed radiation nearly doubled last week, to 23 times above legal limits, in the sea off Minamisoma city near the plant.
Radiation in Tokyo, 240km from the plant, had fallen to pre-disaster levels yesterday, the science ministry said late today.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the nuclear crisis is slowly stabilising and the country must now focus on repairing the damage wrought by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast a month ago.
"The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is slowly stabilising, step by step, and the emission of radioactive substances is on a declining trend," Mr Kan told a press briefing. "A month has passed. We need to take steps towards restoration and reconstruction."
He said he had instructed a reconstruction panel to create a work blueprint by June.
A series of strong aftershocks this week has rattled eastern Japan, slowing the recovery effort at the Fukushima Daiichi plant due to temporary evacuations of workers and power outages.
The beleaguered president of operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said the situation at the nuclear plant, wrecked by a 15-metre tsunami on March 11th, had stabilised.
But Masataka Shimizu said the firm was still preparing a blueprint to end the crisis, now rated on a par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
"As instructed by Prime Minister Kan we are working out the specific details of how to handle the situation so they can be disclosed as soon as possible," Mr Shimizu told a news conference in Tokyo.
Mr Shimizu has been largely absent from the recovery operation, spending time in hospital and only visiting the area on Monday. He refused to comment on public calls for his resignation, and again apologised to the Japanese people for the crisis.
"We are making the utmost effort to bring the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi to a cold shutdown and halt the spread of radiation," he said.
Tepco's Tokyo head office has been the target of angry protests over the nuclear crisis, and authorities took no chances today, with riot trucks and security officers guarding the front gate during the news conference.
Latest data shows much more radiation leaked from the Daiichi plant in the early days of the crisis than first thought, prompting officials to rate it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster.
But experts were quick to point out the two crises were vastly different in terms of radiation contamination, and on Wednesday, Russia's nuclear chief said Japan was exaggerating the scope of the disaster.
Radiation readings in seawater near the crippled plant rose last week, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said today.
The March earthquake and tsunami killed up to 28,000 people and the estimated financial cost stands at $300 billion (€206 billion), making it the world's most expensive disaster.
China has so far been sympathetic rather than angry, though it and South Korea have criticised Tepco's decision to pump radioactive water into the sea, a process it has now stopped.
"Its impact on our country's environment has been small, equivalent to about one percent of the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear accident on our country," China's nuclear safety body said today. "There is no need to adopt protective measures."
Reuters