The State Department confirmed the United States had chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan. The department has also authorised the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama.
The United States iss increasingly alarmed about the nuclear crisis unfolding in Japan. On Wednesday, the US urged their citizens to steer clear of the earthquake-crippled power plant. The State Department confirmed the United States had chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan. The department has also authorised the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama.
"The State Department strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at this time and those in Japan should consider departing," they said in a statement.
As the operators of the Fukushima plant tried to douse overheating reactors, U.S. officials warned their citizens about the risks of getting anywhere near the area and relied on their own officials for details about the situation.
"The situation has deteriorated since the tsunami and has grown at times worse with potential greater damage and fallout from the reactor," White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters. The Japanese government is showing signs of being overwhelmed by the crisis that started with last Friday's devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the resulting tsunami. Although US officials haven’t explicitly criticised the Japanese government’s effort in managing the crisis, Washington's actions indicate a divide with the Japanese about the situation. According to the White House, US President Barack Obama has assured the Japanese PM Naoto Kan over the telephone that the United States will do all it can to help Japan recover.
"The president briefed Prime Minister Kan on the additional support being provided by the US, including specialized military assets with expertise in nuclear response and consequence management," the White House said in a statement.
The State Department recommended that U.S. citizens within 80 km radius around the plant should leave the area or stay indoors. The Japanese government has asked people living within a 20 km radius to evacuate and those between 20-30 km radius to stay indoors.
A United Nations forecast projected that the radioactive plume from the Fukushima facility would reach Aleutian Islands on Thursday and would probably hit Southern California late on Friday, The New York Times reported. The projection, calculated on Tuesday and obtained by the newspaper, gives no information about actual radiation levels, it said. Health and nuclear experts emphasize that the radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and will have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, NYT reported.
There are at least 55,000 members of the US forces in Japan and offshore assisting the relief operation who have been asked to maintain a 80 km distance from the plant. "All of us are heartbroken by the images of what's happening in Japan and we're reminded of how American leadership is critical to our closest allies," Obama said in Washington. "Even if those allies are themselves economically advanced and powerful, there are moments where they need our help, and we're bound together by a common humanity."
The State Department's warning to US citizens was based on the new information collected by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy and other US sources.
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