Japan says nuclear crisis stabilising, time to rebuild

Reuters: Japan says nuclear crisis stabilising, time to rebuild
* PM Kan says wants reconstruction plan by June

* Japan raises nuclear accident to highest level on par with Chernobyl

* Radiation released by Fukushima plant is 10 percent that of Chernobyl

* Contamination in 8 areas below permitted levels -- IAEA

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Nishikawa

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear crisis is slowly stabilising and the country must now focus on repairing the damage wrought by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast coast a month ago, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said.

He was speaking shortly after new data showed more radiation leaked from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the early days of the crisis than first thought.

That new information put Japan's nuclear calamity in the same category as the world's worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, officials said, but the upgrade in its severity rating to the highest level on a globally recognised scale did not mean the situation had suddenly become more critical.

"The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is slowly stabilising, step by step, and the emission of radioactive substances is on a declining trend," Kan told a press briefing.

"A month has passed. We need to take steps towards restoration and reconstruction."

He said he had instructed a reconstruction panel to create a work blueprint by June.

He also called on opposition parties, whose help he needs to pass bills in a divided parliament, to take part in drafting reconstruction plans from an early stage.


The government is considering spinning off the part of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) that oversees the stricken facility, Jiji news agency reported on Tuesday. [ID:nL3E7FC1UR]

TEPCO appears to be no closer to restoring cooling systems at the reactors, critical to lowering the temperature of overheated nuclear fuel rods. On Tuesday, Japan's science ministry said small amounts of strontium, one of the most harmful radioactive elements, had been found in soil near Fukushima Daiichi.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said the decision to raise the severity of the incident from level 5 to 7 -- the same as the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 -- was based on cumulative quantities of radiation released.