HTH -- Haiti Earthquake

March 28, 2011. Highly radioactive water found outside reactor, death toll approaches 11,000 in Japan

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

Officials found highly radioactive water for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, local media said on March 28th. A leak in the tunnel linking to the No 2 reactor some 55m (180ft) from the shore raised fears about a leak. Officials said there was no evidence that the contaminated water reached the sea. The company operating the plant came under fire on March 27th after it said radiation levels at reactor No 2 were 10 million times higher than normal before correcting the figure to 100,000. Workers at the stricken plant continued to struggle on March 28th to restore power and the cooling system at the stricken nuclear plant which was damaged by a March 11th earthquake and tsunami. The death toll from the natural disaster reached 10,901 on March 28th with more than 17,000 still missing and some 190,000 still living in temporary shelters.

Officials in Miyagi prefecture, one of the worst-hit areas of the country, said on March 28th it would take three years before all the debris and rubble from the earthquake could be cleared. Some 20,000 U.S. troops were mobilized alongside Japan's Self-Defense Forces and international rescue teams to aid in relief efforts. Tokyo lifted a ban on foreign medical license-holders from practicing in the country, allowing a team of 53 medical workers from Israel to assist the country.