Engineers have restored electricity to three reactors at a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant and hope to test water pumps at the quake-damaged facility soon in the first clear signs of progress in tackling the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years.
However, some workers were evacuated from the plant this morning after smoke was seen rising from reactor No. 3, among the most badly damaged at the six-reactor complex, the plant operator said.
Japan suffered an estimated $250 billion in damage from the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th that left more than 21,000 people dead or missing, while radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear plant have caused global alarm.
US energy secretary Steven Chu, asked by CNN whether the worst of Japan's 10-day nuclear crisis was over, said: "Well, we believe so, but I don't want to make a blanket statement."
US Nuclear regulatory commission chairman Gregory Jaczko added radiation levels at the plant appeared to be falling. However, the situation was far from under control today.
Japan's nuclear safety agency said pressure was rising in the most threatening reactor, number 3, which contains highly toxic plutonium, and this may have to be released by "venting" steam, a step taken last week that discharged low levels of radiation into the atmosphere.
Other problems have also emerged, especially from contaminated food and water.
The health ministry urged some residents near the plant in Fukushima prefecture to stop drinking tap water after high levels of radioactive iodine were detected, Kyodo news agency said today.
Cases of contaminated vegetables and milk have already stoked anxiety despite assurances from officials that the levels are not dangerous. The plant lies 240km north of Tokyo.
The government prohibited the sale of raw milk from Fukushima prefecture and spinach from another nearby area and might announce more restrictions on food later today. Food produced in Japan outside the zone around the nuclear plant is safe, deputy chief cabinet secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said today.
"The contamination of food and water is a concern," said Gerhard Proehl of the Vienna-based UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In a much-needed boost for Japan's battered stock market, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said the earthquake and tsunami were an "enormous blow" but should not prompt selling of Japanese shares. Instead, he called the events a "buying opportunity".
"It will take some time to rebuild. But it will not change the economic future of Japan. If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them," Mr Buffett said during a visit to a South Korean factory run by a company that is owned by one of his funds.
Japan's crisis spooked markets last week, prompted rare intervention by the G7 group of rich nations to stabilise the yen, and fuelled concerns the world economy may suffer because of disrupted supplies to the auto and technology industries.
Tokyo's markets were closed for a holiday. The Nikkei index shed 10 per cent last week, wiping $350 billion off market capitalisation.
Elsewhere, the top US nuclear regulator today said the agency has determined US nuclear plants continue to operate safely, despite concerns raised by the nuclear crisis in Japan. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is meeting today to discuss how the agency plans respond to the Japanese crisis.
Economic risks from Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis have increased in the past week, Moody's said today, but it expects the Japanese economy to resume growth in the second half of the year.
Moody's currently expects the Japanese economy to experience a brief recession in the second quarter of 2011 and to emerge from it right after. As a result, gross domestic product would still grow 1 percent this year, down from the 1.4 per cent forecast before the disaster, the agency said.
In 2012, however, Moody's sees reconstruction supporting economic expansion of 2.3 per cent, up from its previous forecast of 1.9 per cent.
"The key assumption underlining this base case is a speedy containment of the nuclear problem," Moody's said in a statement.
Agencies