Yasuhiro Sonoda Japan’s MP drinks Fukushima Water

 

A Japan’s officer has drunk water taken from the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant, after newsmen challenged him to verify it was secured.

 

Yasuhiro Sonoda come out anxious and his hands quavered as he downed a glass during a broadcasted news conference.

The water he drank was collected from ponds under two reactor buildings. It is purified before being used up for jobs such as watering plants.

Reporters have again and again inquired about the protection of the process.

Mr. Sonoda, who serves as the cabinet office's parliamentary spokesman, told the news conference: "Only drinking cleansed water doesn't illustrate safety has been verified. Presenting facts to the people is the right way."

In another indication of the government's boosting self-assurance over the plant's protection, officials said they would consent to the reporters on to the site on 12 November.

It will be the first time news reporters have visited the site since the 11 March earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant, causing partial meltdowns in three of its reactors.

A 20km elimination area is still in force around the plant, and a largest numbers of people have had to throw out their homes.

The government has a task of the end of the year to bring the plant to a cold shutdown, when the reactors are steady and the water surrounded by them is no longer boiling.

However, an initial report by a panel of nuclear observers says totally decommissioning the power station could take 30 years.

Apart from Fukushima, the tsunami caused extensive ruin, flooding whole villages, killing a large numbers of people and leaving much more homeless.

The government endeavored d to tackle with the magnitude of the catastrophe, and one prime minister has already resigned largely due to his tackling of the devastation.