Major leak suspected at Japanese nuclear plant

Radioactive contamination from a heavily damaged Japanese nuclear plant is of “grave and serious” concern, the country’s prime minister said Friday.

Naoto Kan said there is a suspected breach in the core of one reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, located in northeastern Japan.

Contaminated water may have seeped from the core and three plant workers may have been exposed to a level of radiation 10,000 times higher than normal.

“We must remain vigilant. We are trying to prevent a deterioration of the situation and we are still not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with utmost care,” Kan said.

The U.S. military is supplying water for a cool down operation and repair work at the six-reactor nuclear plant has been stopped so officials can monitor the radiation levels. People who live within 30 kilometres of the plant have been advised to leave.

Japan was hard-hit by a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11. The disaster left nearly 26,000 people dead or missing.

Meanwhile, fears of contamination have hit the capital city. Tokyo experienced a run on bottled water on Thursday after tap water was declared unsafe for babies. Many stores had sold out of bottled water, and shortages of milk, noodles, and rice were also reported.

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