Japan’s Prime Minister: Anyone Within 19 Miles of Fukushima Should Stay Indoors

Residents within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant have been ordered indoors when radiation levels soared after a fire there. Officials said a fuel storage pond at Unit 4 had been burning.

Three explosions at different nuclear reactors at the nuclear plant and a fire at fourth plant has brought more bad news from Japan.

Japanese authorities confirmed Tuesday that a fire at the spent fuel storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was extinguished. The fire may have been caused by a hydrogen explosion and radioactivity was released “directly” into the atmosphere, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Prime Minister of Japan Warns of Radiation Levels Harmful to Health
“Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower …

Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight. Don’t turn on ventilators. Please hang on your laundry indoors …

Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower …

Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight. Don’t turn on ventilators. Please hang on your laundry indoors …

These are figures that potentially affect health, there is no mistake about that.”

— Prime Minister Naoto Kan

The Japanese government has asked the agency to send experts to help, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano (Japan).

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.