Here is the latest news on the continuing crisis in Japan, more than a week after a devastating earthquake and tsunami wracked the northern coast of the island nation.
* Data from March 22 - Japan Police Agency report as follows: 9,079 deaths confirmed, 12,782 missing, about 318,213 people living at 2,060 shelters.
* (Jiji Press) - Dr. Robert Gale, a well known U.S. leukemia specialist who met on Tuesday in Tokyo with the Japanese press, said that the amount of radiation dispersed so far in the atmosphere is about 1/1,000 that of Chernobyl. At this stage, the risk for cancer among the people in the country is higher from cigarette smoking, but he expressed caution regarding risks associated with food contamination.
* John V. Roos, United States Ambassador to Japan, delivered a message to the community of U.S. citizens in Japan on March 22, 2011, to update Americans on the situation in Japan following the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The number of people working at embassy now is larger than before the earthquake due to experts who have come to assist the Japanese government, Roos said.
* Regarding the nuclear situation, Roos reiterated the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommendation for U.S. citizens to relocate at least 50 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Radiation levels near the reactor remain very dangerous, he said, but outside the 50-mile perimeter radiation levels are well below levels dangerous to human health. Potassium iodide was made available to U.S. families in Japan on Monday, but they have been told to consume it only after specific instructions from the U.S. government. "There are no indications to take it now, but it was provided out of abundance of caution," Roos said.
* Toyota said its assembly plants, which were slated to open today, would remain closed until the weekend or beyond. Honda is in a similar situation, and doesn't plan to restart production until Sunday at the earliest.
