JAPAN PM: WE'LL REBUILD JAPAN FROM SCRATCH / OBAMA: JAPAN WILL RECOVER
TOKYO, MARCH 21, 2011 (STAR) Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has vowed that the disasters that have affected their country would not defeat Japan.
"We will rebuild Japan from scratch," he said in a nationally televised address, comparing the work with the country's emergence as a global power from the wreckage of World War II.
"In our history, this small island nation has made miraculous economic growth thanks to the efforts of all Japanese citizens. That is how Japan was built," he said.
Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano admitted, however, that the government could have been quicker in disaster response.
"In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster," Edano said.
He said Japan was taken by surprise by the strong earthquake that spawned a tsunami that killed thousands and caused a nuclear crisis.
"The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans," Edano said.
The entire world is on alert, watching for any evidence of dangerous spikes in radioactivity spreading from the six-reactor Fukushima power plant.
As day broke in northeastern Japan yesterday, steam rose from Unit 3, an unwelcome development if not a new one that signaled continuing problems.
Emergency crews faced two continuing challenges at the plant: cooling the nuclear fuel in reactors where energy is generated and cooling the adjacent pools where thousands of used nuclear fuel rods are stored in water.
Engineers were able to restore limited power to the plant yesterday.
The nuclear safety agency said workers were on the brink of resuming a connection to the power grid. With the power up, engineers will be able to get the plant's vital cooling systems online. In the meantime, they have been dumping water by hose and by air on the reactors to avert a feared meltdown.
The government's nuclear and industrial safety agency raised the severity rating of the nuclear crisis to level 5 from level 4 on a seven-level international scale.
Spinach and milk in farms near the Fukushima plant were tainted with radiation levels that exceeded the government's safety limits. The radiation level detected in spinach is one fifth of one CT scan.
The milk was found 20 miles from the plant while the spinach came from a neighboring prefecture.
Edano said, however, that the products "pose no immediate health risk" and that further monitoring was being conducted on other foods. He said if tests show further contamination, food shipments would be halted from the area.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will monitor foods imported from Japan for radiation exposure, but expect no risk to the US food supply.
Edano said Tokyo is now asking Washington for additional help, a change from a few days ago when Japanese officials disagreed with American assessments of the severity of the problem.
In a written statement, Tokyo Electric's president Masataka Shimizu apologized to the public.
"We sincerely apologize…for causing such a great concern and nuisance," he said.
The company's managing director, Akio Komori, broke down in tears after leaving a news conference in Fukushima in which exposure levels were discussed.
As of yesterday, the national police agency said 7,197 people had been confirmed dead while 10,905 were officially listed as missing.
Hopes of finding many more survivors in the rubble have diminished amid a cold snap that has hit Japan's northeast, covering much of the disaster area in snow early last week. – AP
REPORT FROM BLOOMBERG BUSINESS ONLINE
Obama Says He's Confident Japan Will Rebuild and Recover March 17, 2011, 3:18 PM EDT By Kate Andersen Brower Adds Obama's remarks beginning in second paragraph, background on Japan nuclear crisis in fourth, fifth paragraphs.
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he's confident Japan will rebuild and recover from the earthquake and nuclear crisis that has shaken the world's third-largest economy.
"I am confident that Japan will rebuild, it has people who are strong, who are resilient, who are dedicated to their country," Obama said at the Japanese embassy in Washington, where he made an unannounced stop today to sign a condolence book. He said Japan will "emerge even stronger than before" and that the U.S. will act with "great urgency" to provide assistance.
The president declined to answer a question about the efforts to control the crippled nuclear reactors in Japan, saying he would address that in remarks later today. The president is scheduled to deliver a statement on Japan at 3:30 p.m. Washington time.
Japanese authorities are trying to cool quake-damaged nuclear reactors at a Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant 135 miles (220 kilometers) north of Tokyo following the March 11 earthquake, the country's worst on record.
Obama said the U.S. is "heartbroken" over the tragedy in Japan and he expressed America's "deepest sympathies" with people there.
"We feel a great urgency to provide assistance to those who have been displaced" and those "who are suffering enormously at this moment," Obama said after signing the condolence book.
"We are doing everything we can to stand by our great friend and ally Japan in this hour of need," he said.
Obama was greeted at the embassy by the Ambassador of Japan to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki, who said his country is grateful to the president and the people of the U.S. for their sympathy.
In his condolence message Obama wrote, "because of the strength and wisdom if its people, we know that Japan will recover, and indeed will emerge stronger than ever."
The president signed the book, "May god bless the people of Japan."
--With assistance from Julianna Goldman and Nicholas Johnston in Washington. Editors: Joe Sobczyk, Ann Hughey.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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