Spent Fuel Pools At Japan Plant 'Becoming More Serious,' US Nuclear Chief

[jpak]

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The U.S. nuclear chief said Wednesday that a lack of water in a spent fuel pool at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant is "becoming more serious" and could cause an ignition, playing a role in the federal government's decision to tell U.S. citizens and military to stay at least 50 miles away from the site.

Threats posed by the spent fuel pools, particularly at a fourth reactor unit, escalated Wednesday when Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said at a House hearing that the U.S. believed water had evaporated from the pool and that radiation levels were "extremely high."

"The situation with some of the reactors in the spent fuel pool was becoming more serious over the last many hours," Jaczko said later in the day, speaking to reporters.

Those concerns were then conveyed to the White House and "the State Department issued a notice to U.S. citizens in Japan that they should take this conditional evacuation," Jaczko said.

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