UN nuclear watchdog wants larger nuclear zone in Japan

The UN nuclear watchdog has asked Japan to expand an evacuation zone around the battered Fukushima nuclear plant.

The IAEA and Japan’s own nuclear safety agency have both recommended the zone should be widened considering radiation levels in the sea around the plant.

Ocean radiation levels are now 4,000 times over legal limits.

Japanese government officials have said they will continue monitoring the situation but have avoided taking such action, due to radiation levels away from the plant still low-risk.

Thousands of Japanese have been wondering about the fate of loved ones whose bodies are located near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Authorities have now said they may not be able to reach some bodies inside the 20-kilometre evacuation zone surrounding the crippled plant, because of high levels of radiation.

It is unknown exactly how many bodies are unrecovered inside the evacuation zone.

In Fukushima Prefecture, 4,760 people remain missing.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in Tokyo, has invited Japanese officials to a meeting of nuclear experts from G20 countries in Paris in May to determine whether global safety standards are sufficient.

 

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