Russian ministry Japan nuke plant accidents pose no threat to Russia
MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry on Saturday claimed, citing a nuclear safety think-tank, that accidents at two nuclear power plants in Japan caused by powerful earthquakes and a tsunami pose no threat to Russia, and that "principal background radiation levels" in Russian areas near the Japanese border are normal.
"The situation is under permanent control, there is no threat. Principal background radiation levels are normal," the ministry's information service told Interfax.
At one of the plants, Fukushima Dai-ichi, generating units have been halted, "the regulating rods (absorbents) are in the active zone, and the cooling systems are working," the information service said, citing Russia's Institute of Security Aspects of the Development of the Nuclear Power Industry.
An employee at Fukushima Dai-ichi has been exposed to a dangerous dose of radiation but background radiation outside the plant is normal, the information service said, citing the institute.
The situation at the other plant, Fukushima Daini, is similar, but "there is information that background levels on the premises of the nuclear power plant have been confirmed to be above normal," though measurements outside the plant have shown background levels to be normal, the ministry said.
"The Technical Crisis Center of the Institute of Security Aspects of the Development of the Nuclear Power Industry has announced that there is no radiation threat to the population of Japan as of this moment. Moreover, the Institute confirms that there is no threat to the population of the Russian Federation in any unfavorable future scenario," the ministry said.