Help keep Salon independent

Shino Yuasa

Tokyo Electric Power Co., (TEPCO) Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata speaks during a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Sunday, April 17, 2011. TEPCO, the operator of the crippled nuclear power plant leaking radiation in northern Japan, announced a plan Sunday that would bring the crisis under control within six to nine months and allow some evacuated residents to return to their homes. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) (AP)

Japan nuclear firm reveals plan to end crisis

Yuri Kageyama, Shino Yuasa

Toya Chiba, a reporter with the Iwate Tokai newspaper, recounts his ordeal with the tsunami that swept him away at the port city of Kamaishi, northeastern Japan, on Wednesday April 13, 2011. The region was struck by a massive earthquake that spawned the tsunami on March 11, 2011. Chiba, who was shooting photos at the mouth of the Owatari River when the tsunami struck him, survived and found himself only suffering scratches and bruises after being swept away for about 30 meters (98 feet). (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE (AP)

Japan nuke plant operator to compensate evacuees

Mari Yamaguchi, Shino Yuasa

A protester holds a placard during an antinuclear rally in Tokyo Sunday, March 27, 2011. Leaked water in Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant measured 10 million times higher than usual radioactivity levels when the reactor is operating normally, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters in Tokyo. "Genpatsu" on the sign means "nuclear power plant." (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye) (AP)

Japan: Partial meltdown in damaged reactor likely

Shino Yuasa

Medical workers in protective gear gather around an ambulance which arrived at a hospital in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, carrying two workers from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after they stepped into contaminated water while laying electrical cables in one unit Thursday, March 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Jun Yasukawa) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT (AP)

Dangerous breach suspected at Fukushima

Jeff Donn, Shino Yuasa

A mother feeds her baby at an evacuation center in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, squeezed into temporary shelters without heat, warm food or medicine and no idea what to call home after the March 11 tsunami swallowed up communities along the coast and dozens of strong aftershocks continued to shake the nation. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) (AP)

Japan concerned about radiation in tap water

Tomoko A. Hosaka, Shino Yuasa

Concern in Tokyo over radiation in tap water

Elaine Kurtenbach, Shino Yuasa

Japanese emperor addresses nation in rare appearance

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

An evacuee is screened for radiation exposure at a testing center Tuesday, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama city, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, after a nuclear power plant on the coast of the prefecture was damaged by Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Wally Santana) (AP)

Workers evacuate nuke plant due to high radiation

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

(AP)

Japan works to contain nuclear threat after quake

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

A radiation detector marks 0.6 microsieverts, exceeding normal day data Tuesday March 15, 2011, near Shibuya train station in Tokyo, four days after a strong earthquake damaged a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE (AP)

Radiation released in Japan threatens 140,000

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

Officials wearing protective suits chat as they usher people through a radiation emergency scanning center in Koriyama, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011 four days after a giant quake and tsunami struck the country's northeastern coast. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) (AP)

Japan nuclear crisis most perilous since Chernobyl

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

In this Saturday March 12, 2011, photo released by the Japan Defense Ministry, Japanese troopers escort a local resident as they help the evacuation of stranded people at Tagajo, northeastern Japan, after Friday's earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. (AP Photo/Japan Defense Ministry) EDITORIAL USE ONLY (AP)

Woman, 70, found alive 4 days after Japan tsunami

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa

In this image made off Japan's NTV/NNN Japan television footage, smoke ascends from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant's Unit 3 in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. The second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked Japan's stricken nuclear plant Monday, sending a massive column of smoke into the air and wounding 11 workers. (AP Photo/NTV/NNN Japan) MANDATORY CREDIT, JAPAN OUT, TV OUT, NO SALES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY (AP)

Stricken Japan nuclear plant rocked by 2nd blast

Eric Talmadge, Shino Yuasa