MELTDOWN AT FUKUSHIMA DAI-ICHI UNIT 1 HAS APPARENTLY STARTED

12:47 AM EST March 12, 2011

We deeply regret to report:

"A Tokyo Channel 12 TV news item just said that radioactivity is 70 times higher than normal around the Fukushima I (Daiichi) Plant Unit 1 and 1000 times higher than normal in the control room. Cesium has been detected around the site. Water is below the level of the fuel rods. There is a possibility of damage and "a high possibility that meltdown has begun".

Please note that besides the situation at Fukushima, we are also concerned about the state of the Onagawa nuclear power plant about which there is no news except that the nearest towns were totally inundated by tsunamis."

Source: Philip White, Citizens Nuclear Information Center Tokyo.

Beyond Nuclear spokespeople are available round the clock at 301.270.2209.