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Japanese medical personnel check a woman evacuated from her home near the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant for radiation exposure in Hitachi city, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, 16 March 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Japan's nuclear crisis deepened Wednesday over fears that a reactor containment vessel may have been damaged, causing a radiation spike that forced the temporary evacuation of workers.
Officials asked workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to evacuate temporarily Wednesday after a white cloud of smoke rose above the plant and radiation levels spiked.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news briefing on Wednesday that the smoke or vapor above the plant may have been caused by breach in the containment structure around the No. 3 reactor's containment vessel.
"A part of the containment vessel is broken and it seems like the vapour is coming out from there. So... [it] appears to be that vapour is coming out from the broken part," Edano said.
It was the second visible sign of trouble at the earthquake-damaged nuclear plant Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, firefighters battled a blaze in the plant's No. 4 reactor building.
The containment vessel is the steel and concrete shell that insulates radioactive material inside the reactor.
In the worst-case scenario, the fuel can spill out of the containment unit and spread radioactivity through the air and water, causing both immediate and long-term health problems, including radiation poisoning and cancer.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the Molucca Sea, Indonesia, near Ternate early Thursday morning, resulting in at least one fatality and triggering widespread alarm across the region
Seismic activity continues to be recorded around Mount Athos following a stronger earthquake measured at 4.9 on the Richter scale, with authorities confirming a sequence of ongoing aftershocks.
An earthquake with a magnitude of around 5 on the Richter scale struck the Aegean Sea at 9:08 p.m. yesterday, with tremors felt across large parts of Bulgaria.
Japan is preparing to deepen its cooperation with NATO by joining an alliance-backed framework aimed at supporting Ukraine
The so-called undetermined status of Ryukyu, also referred to as the "undetermined sovereignty of Ryukyu," means that the sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands remains disputed.
Despite the Potsdam Declaration and Japan's pacifist constitution, which emphasize preventing a return to militaristic aggression, Japan has in recent years downplayed crimes of military aggression, revised its security policies and accelerated moves to a
NEW POLL: HUNGARIANS UNITED ON NEED FOR A ‘DIFFERENT’ RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EU, BUT DIVERGENCES REMAIN ON UKRAINE
The Kremlin has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an “Easter ceasefire” in the war in Ukraine, declaring a temporary halt in hostilities lasting around 36 hours
A group of Members of the European Parliament has raised concerns over the potential leakage of confidential EU information to Russia, urging stronger safeguards within the European Parliament
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has formally enacted legislation withdrawing the country from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), marking a decisive step in Chisinau’s gradual disengagement from Russian-led structures
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has carried out a series of coordinated investigative actions across several countries, including Bulgaria and Romania, as part of a probe into suspected large-scale fraud involving EU funds
A fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran has coincided with escalating tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has moved to tighten control over one of the world’s most critical maritime routes
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