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| In Japan, nuclear power plant operators evacuated workers from the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear complex on Monday, after seeing gray smoke rising from one reactor. |
In Japan, nuclear power plant operators evacuated workers from the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear complex on Monday, after seeing gray smoke rising from one reactor.
The smoke was coming from the spent fuel storage pool of the plant's Number 3 reactor. There was no immediate explanation, but authorities had said earlier that pressure was building up at the reactor.
The amount of smoke later receded, and police said no significant radioactivity was detected around the plant. The most recent police estimates show more than 18,000 people may be dead from the March 11th devastating earthquake an tsunami.
The death toll currently stands at 8,649, with more than 12,000 others unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the World Bank says rebuilding may take five years and cost from 122 to 135 billion US dollars. That's 2.5 to 4 percent of Japan's GDP.
(CCTV, March 22, 2011)
