Japan nuclear crisis: Pressure to widen evacuation zone
LONDON. April 1. KAZINFORM UN nuclear monitors have advised Japan to consider expanding the evacuation zone around the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
An exclusion zone with a radius of 20km (12 miles) is currently in place but the UN says safe radiation limits have been exceeded 40km away.
Meanwhile, radioactive iodine levels in seawater near the plant reached a new record - 4,385 times the legal limit.
It was the highest reading since the quake which hit the plant on 11 March.
Radioactive material may be leaking from the damaged plant continuously, the country's nuclear and industrial safety agency (Nisa) said.
Workers are continuing to try to stabilise four reactors by using water to cool fuel rods. They also face the problem of how to deal with highly radioactive run-off water that has accumulated in a tunnel.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), announced on Wednesday that the four stricken reactors would be decommissioned.
The huge quake, and the tsunami it triggered, are now known to have claimed more than 11,000 lives, with at least 16,000 people still reported missing by police, three weeks on, Kazinform refers to BBC News.
See www.bbc.co.uk