Poison particles from nuke plant found in AT LEAST 12 U.S. states as Japan is put on 'maximum' radiation alert



Traces of radioactive iodide from Fukushima leak now found in Alabama and Washington



Number of states to find radiation traces increasing every day

Japanese PM: Country's worst crisis since WWII

Hundreds or pregnant women flee at-risk areas



Radiation from the Fukushima leak has been detected in at least 12 U.S. states and is believed it will reach more in the coming days as Japan is put on 'maximum' alert.



The Environment Protection Agency confirmed that radiation was found in air filters in Alabama and in rainwater in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

Though the trace levels are very low and not hazardous to health, residents have been warned not to use rainwater which has been collected in cisterns.

Maximum alert: A long lens photograph shows Fukushima nuclear power station today. It is still continuing to leak radioactive material Alert: Number of states affected by radiation is growing every day and the number now stands at 12 with more expected over the coming days Higher than usual levels of radiation were detected by monitoring stations in Alaska, Alabama, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, and Washington State over the past week and sent to Environmental Protection Agency scientists for detailed laboratory analysis, the agency said in a release on Monday.

Unusual, yet still very low trace amounts of radiation were also reported in Massachusetts rain water and by state officials and nuclear power plant radiation sensors in Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania. Levels have also been detected on the coast of British Columbia.

The EPA said in their statement: 'Some of the filter results show levels slightly higher than those found by our monitors last week and a Department of Energy monitor the week before. 'These types of findings are to be expected in the coming days and are still far below levels of public health concern.' The Center for Disease Control said: 'The levels being seen now are 25 times below the level that would be of concern for use as a sole source of water over a short period of time, even for infants, pregnant women or breastfeeding women, who are the most sensitive to radiation.'

Fight: Tokyo Electric Power Co vice president Norio Tsuzumi (centre) confirms that plutonium has been found outside the plant

The revelation came as Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan told his parliament that the country was grappling with its worst problems since the Second World War.

'This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan' in decades, Mr Kan said.

He warned the crises remained unpredictable, but added: 'From now on, we will continue to handle it in a state of maximum alert.'

Hundreds of pregnant women are fleeing at-risk areas over fears that radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant will harm their unborn babies.

It comes as radioactive water and plutonium-contaminated soil were found outside the plant on Japan's tsunami-hit north-east coast, where brave workers are battling to stop a meltdown.

Detector: An Environmental Protection Agency RadNet (radiation network) monitor is shown on the roof of the Bay Area Air Quality Management building in San Francisco

Police officers wearing protective suits search for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture in Minamisoma City today More than 150 women from the north-east coast have travelled over 450 miles from the crippled power station to check into hospitals in Osaka to give birth in a safer place. At least 58 women have fled Tokyo - 150 miles south of Fukushima - following the discovery of high levels of radioactive iodine in the city’s water supply.

So many are arriving in Osaka that hospital bosses fear they might not have enough staff to cope. Officials are making preparations to tend the women in public buildings that will be turned into temporary maternity wards. One of the first pregnant women to flee the region was 31-year-old New Zealander Jayne Nakata, who lives with her Japanese husband just 30 miles from Fukushima.

After driving 600 miles to stay with her husband’s family, she said: ‘I don’t have any plans to return home until I am certain it is safe for my child.’ Their worries were further compacted by the discovery of a pool of radioactive water outside the Fukushima facility. Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater. Anti-nuclear protesters hold a banner reading 'Shut down The Hamaoka Plants Now!' during a rally

Recovery workers carry a body out of a tsunami-destroyed home in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan today

Crews have also found traces of plutonium in soil outside of the complex.

Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co which owns the shattered Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, told The Daily Telegraph: 'The trench is located outside the building and the water contains radioactive materials.

'There is normally no water found in this area.'

It comes after thousands of furious demonstrators gathered outside the head office of TEPCO after officials mistakenly said radiation in leaking water in the Unit 2 reactor was ten million times above normal.



The plant, 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, was crippled on March 11 when a tsunami spawned by a powerful earthquake smashed into Japan's coast.

The huge wave engulfed much of the complex, destroying crucial power systems needed to cool the power station's nuclear fuel rods.

Eight-year-old Ayami Suzuki is tested for possible nuclear radiation at an evacuation centre in Fukushima

Members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force search for bodies in the waters around Sendai in Miyagi prefecture today

Since then, three of the complex's six units are believed to have partially melted down, and emergency crews have struggled with everything from malfunctioning pumps to dangerous spikes in radiation that have forced temporary evacuations.

Mr Hasegawa added: 'We do not believe (the radioactive water) is leaking into the ocean.

'We are now working out where the cause of the leak is and finding ways to remove the water as soon as possible.'

Fears of a nuclear crisis have heightened after concerns that radiation had made its way into produce, raw milk and even tap water as far away as Tokyo.

Parts of the plant have been reconnected to the power grid, but the contaminated water - which has now also been found around the complex - must be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the cooling system.

That has left officials with a difficult situation - pumping in water to keep the fuel rods cool and then pumping out and safely storing the contaminated water.

The build-up of radioactive water first became a problem last week, when it splashed over the boots of two workers, burning them and prompting a temporary suspension of work.



Then earlier yesterday officials said that workers had found more radioactive water in deep trenches used for pipes and electrical wiring outside three units.

The contaminated water has been emitting radiation exposures more than four times the amount that the government considers safe for workers.

Five workers in the area at the time were not hurt, TEPCO spokesman Takashi Kurita said.

A man walks next to port area destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in Kessenuma town, in Miyagi prefecture today

A man walks by a wrecked vehicle in Kessenuma town, Miyagi prefecture today

A digger buries coffins containing unidentified tsunami victims in a makeshift mass grave in the coastal city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture. The final death toll is expected to top 18,000

Exactly where the water is coming from remains unclear, though many suspect it is cooling water that has leaked from one of the disabled reactors.

It could take weeks to pump out the radioactive water, said Gary Was, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan.

'Battling the contamination so workers can work there is going to be an ongoing problem,' he said.

New readings also showed ocean contamination had spread about a mile farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 12-mile radius of the evacuation zone.

Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.

A man is tested for possible nuclear radiation at an evacuation centre in Fukushima today

The Fukushima plant, where workers today raced to pump out contaminated water suspected of sending radioactivity levels soaring as officials warned that radiation seeping from the complex was spreading to seawater and soil

White smoke billowing from a window in the No. 2 reactor building at the Fukushima plant last week. Contaminated water in Unit 2 tested at radiation levels some 100,000 times above normal amounts

RADIOACTIVE RAINWATER IN U.S. Low levels of radiation have been discovered in rainwater in the U.S. states of California, Pennsylvania, Washington and Massachusetts - likely to be the result of a leak in Japan's Fukushima plant.

Radioiodine-131 was found in very low concentrations in recent samples taken across the U.S.

Luckily, however, this type of radiation is short lived and quickly decays.

The Massachusetts commissioner of public health, John Auerbach, has reassured locals that local drinking water supplies will not be affected and the radiation levels are not a cause for health concerns. It is believed that radioactive water from the tsunami-ravaged Japanese nuclear plant is leaking into the ocean, massively spreading the area of contamination.



Amid reports that people had been sneaking back into the mandatory evacuation zone around the nuclear complex, the chief government spokesman again urged residents to stay out.

Yukio Edano said contaminants posed a 'big' health risk in that area.

Gregory Jaczko, head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arrived in Tokyo on Monday to meet with Japanese officials and discuss the situation, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

'The unprecedented challenge before us remains serious, and our best experts remain fully engaged to help Japan,' Jaczko was quoted as saying.

Earlier yesterday, a strong earthquake shook the northeastern coast and prompted a brief tsunami alert.

The quake was measured at magnitude 6.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported.

Scores of earthquakes have rattled the country over the past two weeks, adding to the sense of unease across Japan, where the final death toll is expected to top 18,000 people, with hundreds of thousands still homeless.

TEPCO officials said yesterday that radiation in leaking water in Unit 2 was 10 million times above normal - a report that sent employees fleeing.

But the day ended with officials saying that figure had been miscalculated and the level was actually 100,000 times above normal, still very high but far better than the earlier results.

'This sort of mistake is not something that can be forgiven,' Mr Edano said.

'No trespassing': A sign blocks access to the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Omaezaki city, built on the junction of two tectonic plates

Fears: There are concerns further earthquakes could cause a similar nuclear disaster at the Hamaoka plant