Japanese economy minister to visit crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED April 09, 2011

Japan's Economy and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda plans to visit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Saturday, the Kyodo news agency reported citing ministry officials.

The plant was seriously damaged by a powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. Fukushima's operator has since been struggling to stop radioactive leaks from the plant's crippled reactors.

Kaieda will study the situation at the plant and try to encourage personnel dealing with the aftermath of the disaster, which knocked out the cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi.

Workers struggling to stem the leak were temporarily evacuated from the damaged plant on Thursday after the strongest aftershock to hit since the March 11 quake triggered a tsunami alert.

Two people were killed in Thursday's 7.1-magnitude quake and 132 more were injured. The latest aftershock struck off Japan's northeastern coast, close to the epicenter of last month's 9.0-magnitude quake.

The Japanese government has said the damage from the disaster could total $310 billion.

The Japanese authorities announced on Friday that officials will begin measuring radiation levels in export goods in cargo ships at Japan's major ports after China halted imports from the country.

Topics: NPP Fukushima Daiichi

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