U.S. Sounds Alarm on Radiation

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU and REBECCA SMITH

TOKYO—Fear about radiation dangers posed by Japan's nuclear crisis spiked as the U.S. instructed its troops and citizens to stay at least 50 miles away from the crippled reactors—establishing a "no-go" zone far wider than the buffer recommended by the Japanese government itself.

And in a vivid sign that Japan's leadership is trying to move decisively to take control of the deepening crisis, at 10 a.m. Thursday morning local time, helicopters from the Self Defense Forces, Japan's version of the military, began dumping water over the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power complex in hopes of taming its dangerously overheating nuclear facilities, according to government broadcaster NHK.

At the same time, Japan's nuclear regulator said it was working to connect outside power cables to two of the units at the stricken plant, in hopes of restarting their cooling pumps. Officials said they hoped to have the cables available by Thursday afternoon.

Restarting the cooling pumps would mark a major milestone in the struggle to prevent the nuclear disaster from worsening.

The widening government involvement came as international skepticism built up. The top U.S. nuclear regulator, Gregory Jaczko, on Wednesday called radiation levels at one of the plant's units "extremely high," adding that, "for a comparable situation in the United States we would recommend an evacuation for a much larger radius than is currently being provided in Japan."

Prior to its abrupt reversal, the U.S. had agreed with Japanese officials that a 12-mile evacuation zone was adequate. The change came after the NRC ran computer-modeling exercises using "the best available information we have" about the damaged reactors along with accumulated knowledge about how systems inside nuclear plants perform under "severe accident conditions," a spokesman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Also on Wednesday, the U.K. government told its citizens in Tokyo, a full 150 miles from the disaster, to "consider leaving the area" due to increasing infrastructure problems. The European Union's energy chief, Guenther Oettinger, also declared the Fukushima Daiichi site "effectively out of control." A spokeswoman for Mr. Oettinger later said the commissioner's remarks reflected his own personal views, and weren't based on privileged information.

Stock markets staged large swings amid the warnings and uncertainty, reflecting the depth of anxiety world-wide. "Japan trumps everything for everyone right now," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. "Every investment decision is made through the prism of what is going on in Japan." The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 2% lower at 11613. Thursday morning, Tokyo shares slid 2.1%.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it was deploying additional radiation monitors out of "an abundance of caution." The EPA already monitors the air for radiation via a national network of approximately 140 stationary and mobile devices. The agency said it sent additional monitors to Alaska and plans to send some to Hawaii.

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Department say they don't expect harmful radiation levels to reach the U.S.

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