JAPAN: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Tokyo is safe despite a nuclear crisis
Record ID:
463630
JAPAN: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Tokyo is safe despite a nuclear crisis
- Title: JAPAN: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Tokyo is safe despite a nuclear crisis
- Date: 1st April 2011
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 31, 2011) (REUTERS) FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY ADDRESSING FRENCH NATIONALS FRENCH PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC NICOLAS SARKOZY SAYING: "I know the rapidity at which the French community reacted to this crisis met with some ridicule. However I have no hesitation to tell you that it was the duty of the French authorities to be cautious." FRENCH PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC NICOLAS SARKOZY SAYING: "All, I repeat, all are in agreement to say that right now to live in Tokyo and in the immediate region is not a health risk." VARIOUS OF SARKOZY MEETING FRENCH RESIDENTS
- Embargoed: 16th April 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVAAXX1J2ZPTWD7LHYYWEJGARE4J
- Story Text: French President Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off his whirlwind visit to Tokyo on Thursday (March 31) with a brief visit to the French Embassy to address French nationals residing in the Japanese capital.
Earlier in the month, the French government urged its nationals to leave amid fears of contamination reaching Tokyo from a nuclear plant damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
He said the situation was much better now.
"I know the rapidity at which the French community reacted to this crisis met with some ridicule. However I have no hesitation to tell you that it was the duty of the French authorities to be cautious," he said.
"All, I repeat, all are in agreement to say that right now to live in Tokyo and in the immediate region is not a health risk," he added.
Sarkozy is the first head of state to visit Japan after the double disaster hit northeastern Japan on March 11, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Operators are struggling to regain control of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi site and on Wednesday (March 30) raised the possibility of scrapping the nuclear plant.
Nuclear experts said the continued lack of a permanent cooling system was hindering efforts to cool down fuel rods.
Workers have been forced to pump in seawater to cool the rods, but this creates contaminated seawater around the stricken plant and is making it difficult to reconnect the plant's internal cooling system which contains radiation.
Pressure is mounting in Japan to expand the evacuation zone around its stricken nuclear power plant while officials said radiation may be flowing continuously into the nearby sea, where contamination was now 4,000 times the legal limit.
Both the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Japan's nuclear safety agency said the government should consider widening the 20km (12-mile) zone after high radiation levels were detected at twice that distance from the facility.
But the Japanese government says it is monitoring the situation carefully.
"We will take into consideration the research data. With regards to the (nuclear) exclusion zone, we are investigating the situation on a day-to-day basis," said Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano.
More than 70,000 people have been evacuated from the 20km ring around the plant. Another 136,000 who live in a 10km (6-mile) band beyond that have been encouraged to leave or to stay indoors. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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