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9/8/11 (AEIN) Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in eastern Japan on Thursday and spoke to Tokyo Electric Power Company workers about the nuclear disaster. He pledged that the government would continue to take measures aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis, according to Radio Japan.
Wearing a protective suit, the Prime Minister told about two-hundred workers that their efforts had made it possible to reduce the rate of radioactivity in wastewater released by the nuclear plant. He urged the workers to continue doing their best to bring the nuclear reactor under control. Prime Minister Noda met with military personnel at a nearby government office and watched researchers taking outdoor radioactivity measurements as well.
Despite some progress, the situation remains dire in the Fukushima Daiichi plant and the surrounding region. Residents may be unable to safely return to the area for an indefinite period of time. Radio Japan also reported on Thursday that the plant had released a total of 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive material into the ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to construct a large tent over the reactor to help contain the release of radioactive particles.
Some recent government statistics indicated that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster had released more radiation than the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown in the Ukraine. Smaller nuclear accidents also occurred in Japan during 1981 and 1999, according to the World Almanac and Book of Facts; workers were exposed to high levels of radioactivity.