By Shinichi Saoshiro and Mayumi Negishi

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese engineers conceded on Friday that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and concrete may be the only way to prevent a catastrophic radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from Chernobyl in 1986.

  Officials said they still hoped to fix a power cable to at least two reactors to restart water pumps needed to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods. Workers also sprayed water on the No.3 reactor, one of the most critical of the plant's six.

  It was the first time the facility operator had acknowledged that burying the sprawling complex was an option, a sign that piecemeal actions such as dumping water from military helicopters were having little success.

  " It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete. But our priority right now is to try and cool them down first," an official from the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, told a news conference.

  As Japan entered its second week after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and 10 metre (33-foot) tsunami flattened coastal cities and killed thousands of people, the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl looked far from over.

  Millions in Tokyo remained indoors on Friday, fearing a blast of radioactive material from the complex, 240 km (150 miles) to the north, although prevailing winds would likely carry contaminated smoke or steam away from the densely populated city to dissipate over the Pacific Ocean.

  Radiation did not pose an immediate risk to human health outside the vicinity of the plant, said Michael O'Leary, the World Health Organisation's representative in China.

  " At this point, there is still no evidence that there's been significant radiation spread beyond the immediate zone of the reactors themselves," O'Leary told reporters in Beijing.

  Japan's nuclear disaster has triggered global alarm and reviews of safety at atomic power plants around the world.

  President Barack Obama, who stressed the United States did not expect harmful radiation to reach its shores, said he had ordered a comprehensive review of domestic nuclear plants and pledged Washington's support for Japan.

  The Group of Seven rich nations, stepping in together to calm global financial markets after a tumultuous week, agreed to join in rare concerted intervention to restrain a soaring yen.

  The top U.S. nuclear regulator said it could take weeks to reverse the overheating of fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

  " This is something that will take some time to work through, possibly weeks, as you eventually remove the majority of the heat from the reactors and then the spent-fuel pools," Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko told a news conference at the White House.

  Yukiya Amano, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in his homeland on Friday with an international team of experts after earlier complaining about a lack of information from Japan.

  Graham Andrew, his senior aide, called the situation at the plant " reasonably stable" but the government said white smoke or steam was still rising from three reactors and helicopters used to dump water on the plant had shown exposure to small amounts of radiation.

  " The situation remains very serious, but there has been no significant worsening since yesterday," Andrew said.

  The nuclear agency said the radiation level at the plant was as high as 20 millisieverts per hour. The limit for the workers was 100 per hour.

  Even if engineers restore power at the plant, it was not clear the pumps would work as they may have been damaged in the earthquake or subsequent explosions and there are fears of the electricity shorting and causing another blast.

  Japan's nuclear agency spokesman, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said it was also unclear how effective spraying water on the reactors from helicopters had been on Thursday. The priority was to get water into the spent-fuel pools, he said.

  " We have to reduce the heat somehow and may use seawater," he told a news conference. " We need to get the reactors back online as soon as possible and that's why we're trying to restore power to them."

  Asked about burying the reactors in sand and concrete, he said: " That solution is in the back of our minds, but we are focussed on cooling the reactors down."

  Jaczko said the cooling pool for spent-fuel rods at the complex's reactor No.4 may have run dry and another was leaking.

  An official at the plant operator said he expected power to be restored at its most troubled and damaged reactors -- No.3 and No.4 -- by Sunday. Engineers are trying to reconnect power to the least damaged reactors first.

  DOLLAR GAINS AS FINANCIAL LEADERS INTERVENE

  The U.S. dollar surged more than two yen to 81.80 after the G7's pledge to intervene, leaving behind a record low of 76.25 hit on Thursday.

  Japan's Nikkei share index ended up 2.7 percent, recouping some of the week's stinging losses. It has lost 10.2 percent this week.

  U.S. markets, which had tanked earlier in the week on the back of the crisis, rebounded on Thursday but investors were not convinced the advance would last.

  The yen has seen steady buying since the earthquake, as Japanese and international investors closed long positions in higher-yielding, riskier assets such as the Australian dollar, funded by cheap borrowing in the Japanese currency.

  Expectations that Japanese insurers and companies would repatriate billions of dollars in overseas funds to pay for a reconstruction bill that is expected to be much costlier than the one that followed the Kobe earthquake in 1995 also have helped boost the yen.

  RADIATION LEVELS IN TOKYO BARELY ABOVE AVERAGE

  The government had warned Tokyo's 13 million residents on Thursday to prepare for a possible large-scale blackout but later said there was no need for one. Still, many firms voluntarily reduced power, plunging parts of the usually neon-lit city in darkness.

  The U.S. embassy in Tokyo has urged citizens living within 80 km (50 miles) of the Daiichi plant to evacuate or remain indoors " as a precaution," while Britain's foreign office urged citizens " to consider leaving the area." Other nations have urged nationals in Japan to leave the country or head south.

  Japan's government has told everyone living within 20 km (12 miles) of the plant to evacuate, and advised people within 30 km (18 miles) to stay indoors.

  At its worst, radiation in Tokyo has reached 0.809 microsieverts per hour this week, 10 times below what a person would receive if exposed to a dental x-ray. On Thursday and Friday, radiation levels were within average levels.

  The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami worsened following a cold snap that brought heavy snow to worst-affected areas.

  Supplies of water, heating oil and fuel are low at evacuation centres, where many survivors wait bundled in blankets.

  About 30,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.6 million households lacked running water.

  The National Police Agency said on Friday it had confirmed 5,692 deaths from the quake and tsunami disaster, while 9,522 people were unaccounted for in six prefectures.

  (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nathan Layne, Elaine Lies, Leika Kihara and Mayumi Negishi Writing by John Chalmers Editing by Dean Yates)

By Sui-Lee Wee

  BEIJING (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation believes the spread of radiation from a quake-crippled nuclear plant in Japan remains limited and appears to pose no immediate risk to health, the WHO's China representative said on Friday.

  " At this point, there is still no evidence that there's been significant radiation spread beyond the immediate zone of the reactors themselves," Michael O'Leary told a group of reporters.

  " At the same time, we know that the situation is evolving and we need to monitor closely and see what happens over time. Things can obviously change, and have changed, over this last week."

  The WHO, he said, " coordinates a network of experts on nuclear health issues which it draws on" for advice and would remain in close contact with Japan's government, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other groups.

  Japan has been battling for nearly a week to bring under control the overheating Fukushima nuclear plant after it was battered by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

  Experts and officials fear a major leak of radioactive substances from the plant could pose a serious health risk, and China and nearby countries have stepped up monitoring of radiation levels.

  O'Leary suggested that the impact of such an event on China would be small, but said other factors mattered too.

  " The reactors, of course, are quite far from China. The risk of spread depends on several factors. One is obviously the amount of radioactive material, or radionuclides, that are released from the reactor itself. Beyond that are weather and wind conditions that determine," he said.

  " As with anything that spreads or can spread out, the farther away you are, the more dispersed it is."

  The emergency has sparked panic buying of iodised salt in China, based on the misunderstanding that the iodine it contains could prevent the body's intake of radioactive iodine that could be released in the event of a major explosion at the plant.

  But O'Leary said iodine should not be taken indiscriminately or treated as a substitute for supplements administered before or shortly after radiation exposure to reduce the risk of long-term cancer.

  " It should not be taken indiscriminately. It does have potential side effects," he said.

  " The amount of iodine in salt is very small. It wouldn't be possible to consume enough salt to get a protective dose. In the end, not many people will need iodine supplements."

  (Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee Writing by Tan Ee Lyn Editing by Ron Popeski)

* China Feb new home prices up 5.7% vs 5.9% in Jan -Reuters

  * Prices fell in 9 cities, flat in another 5 in Feb m/m

  * More developers to cut prices later this year - analyst

 

  By Langi Chiang and Simon Rabinovitch

  BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) - China's property prices increased at their slowest pace in more than a year in February after a succession of policy moves by the government to cool the real estate market.

  New home prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 5.7 percent in February from a year earlier, down from an annual rise of 5.9 percent in January, according to a Reuters weighted average of official data published on Friday.

  With prices still rising, albeit more slowly, there is little chance of the government relaxing its tightening stance, and developers could be forced to cut prices more sharply later this year as transaction volumes fall, analysts said.

  " The real estate market will be very sluggish this year," said Hui Jianqiang, head of research at E-House China in Shanghai.

  New home prices increased by 6.8 percent in Beijing in February from a year earlier, level with January's pace, the National Bureau of Statistics said. In Shanghai, prices rose 2.3 percent year on year, up from 1.5 percent in January, the NBS said in a statement on its website.

  It added that new home prices rose in 68 of the 70 cities in February from a year earlier.

  On a month-on-month basis, property inflation was more muted.

  Nationwide, prices were up 0.4 percent, compared with a 0.8 percent increase in January, according to the Reuters calculations.

  New home prices fell in nine cities in February from a month earlier. Three cities had posted declines in January, the NBS said.

  China has taken a slew of steps to contain property inflation since late 2009, including a trial of a long-debated property tax in Shanghai and Chongqing that began in January.

 

  NATIONWIDE GAUGE

  The Chinese statistics agency tracks residential property price changes in 70 major cities, but stopped publishing a nationwide index after it changed the way it collects data at the start of this year.

  That has made it difficult to get a broader sense of how China's real estate market is performing. The Reuters weighted average helps fill that gap. Checked against previous years, the Reuters method tracked the reported nationwide changes and accurately flagged key turning points.

  The slower increase in property price inflation is reasonable as a correction to rapid surges last year, Hui said. A deeper slide is possible towards the end of the year if the country's largest developers begin to cut prices, he added.

  " It all depends on how long the government will maintain its caps on the number of additional homes each family can buy," Hui said.

  Yan Qingmin, assistant chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said earlier this month that the government's focus was on implementing already-announced property tightening measures rather than introducing any new ones.

  China has raised interest rates three times and banks' reserve requirements five times since October, but it has been one months since its last policy move.

  The central bank will re-assess its tightening policies in the wake of Japan's devastating earthquake last week, but any pause will be temporary because inflation remains elevated, analysts said on Friday. (Editing by Ken Wills)

(Reuters)- Japan is under global scrutiny over the handling of its nuclear crisis after a huge earthquake crippled several reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, raising fears of an uncontrolled radiation leak.

  Below is a timeline of statements made by Japanese authorities and the complex's owner, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), after the quake struck on Friday, the strongest tremor ever recorded in Japan.

  (Times are Japan time, which is GMT +9, unless stated)

  FRIDAY, MARCH 18

  10:04 - Japan's nuclear safety agency said it was aware of the ultimate " Chernobyl solution" to contain the nuclear disaster at the quake-hit plant by covering it in sand and encasing it in concrete, but added that it was currently focussing on efforts to restore power and cool down the reactors.

  09:20 - White smoke or steam was rising from reactors 2, 3 and 4, the nuclear safety agency said on Friday. It said it believed there was still water in the spent fuel pool at reactor No.3.

  THURSDAY, MARCH 17

  21:39 - Japan's nuclear safety agency said a pool for cooling spent nuclear fuel at the No.4 reactor of the stricken plant remains a serious concern.

  21:07 - TEPCO said it had started work to connect outside power cables to the plant and that electricity could be connected on Thursday.

  17:37 - Three of the six reactors at the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan are now relatively stable, officials say.

  17:20 - Low concentrations of radioactive particles are heading eastwards from the plant towards North America, a Swedish official says. The official at the Swedish Defence Research Institute, a government agency, was citing data from international monitoring stations. Levels were not dangerous for people, he says.

  16:27 - An unexpected, large-scale power outage is possible in Tokyo and surrounding areas on Thursday evening if power demand exceeds this morning's, Japan's trade minister says.

  12:59 - U.S. State Department authorises voluntary departure from Japan of family members of diplomatic staff.

  11:24 - TEPCO says pressure is rising again at reactor No. 3. It says there was still water in its spent-fuel pool. On Wednesday, the company described the situation there as " not so good." The U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission said on Wednesday there was no water in the pool.

  Company officials express hope of getting limited power to the plant to help pump water but not yet for reactors 3 and 4.

  10:30 - Kyodo news agency says the United States will fly a high-altitude drone equipped with infrared sensors over the plant to help determine what is happening inside.

  09:55 - Australia issues new appeal to nationals in Tokyo and eight other prefectures to consider leaving Japan.

  08:38 - A Japanese military helicopter begins spraying water on the plant, the Defence Agency is quoted as saying. Officials later say two of four water drops hit their mark.

  07:43 - Japan's weather agency said winds near the plant are forecast to blow from the northwest on Thursday towards the Pacific Ocean.

  06:06 - The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says radiation levels at the Fukushima plant had fallen over the past 24 hours. A reading of 338 microsieverts per hour was recorded at the main gate at 05:00 against 752 12 hours earlier.

  The government appeals to private companies to deliver supplies to quake victims.

  02:58 - Britain advises its citizens in Japan to consider leaving Tokyo and the area north of the capital.

  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

  21:48 - Japan wants to use its military to help pump water to the No.3 reactor and into a spent-fuel pool at the No.4 reactor of a quake-stricken nuclear plant, the nation's nuclear safety agency says.

  Radiation levels at a monitoring post outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant had spiked at 0330 GMT to 10,850 microsieverts per hour, but fell back later to 2,331 microsieverts an hour later, it says.

  21:01 - Major damage is unlikely to have been sustained at the No.3 reactor of Japan's quake-stricken nuclear power plant, Kyodo reports, quoting the government.

  19:53 - Japanese police will attempt to cool the spent nuclear fuel pool at the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant using a water cannon truck as early as Wednesday night, NHK television says.

  19:47 - No radioactive iodine or cesium was found in the tap water of Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Kyodo news agency reports, quoting the local government.

  18:29 - Water is being poured into reactors No.5 and No.6 at Fukushima's Daiichi nuclear power plant, the operating company says.

  18:14 - A helicopter was unable to drop water to cool a quake-stricken reactor in northeastern Japan probably because of the high radiation, Kyodo news agency says, quoting the defence minister.

  18:00 - Japan's top government spokesman says radiation levels around the nuclear plant are not at levels to cause an immediate health risk.

  17:32 - The World Health Organisation's representative in China says there is no evidence of any significant international spread of radiation from the nuclear site.

  17:26 - The operator of Japan's quake-stricken nuclear power complex, Tokyo Electric Power Co Ltd, says it is unable to resume work on cooling reactors due to radiation risk.

  16:55 - Operator says as of 0230 GMT there were 180 workers on site at the damaged nuclear power complex.

  16:55 - Tokyo Electric Power Co says it recorded the site's highest levels of radiation at the No.3 reactor on Wednesday.

  16:05 - The temperature stabilised and pressure dropped at the No. 2 reactor, the plant operator said.

  13:27 - Japan's nuclear safety agency says operators of the damaged nuclear plant plan to bulldoze an emergency route to the facility to allow access for fire trucks.

  11:38 - Japan may seek direct U.S. military help to end the crisis at the plant, the chief government spokesman says.

  11:30 - It is not realistic to think that the No. 4 reactor at the plant will " reach criticality," the chief government spokesman says.

  11:19 - The radiation reading at the main gate of the plant rose sharply just after 0100 GMT on Friday and started to fall almost an hour later, the government says.

  11:10 - A fuel pool at the No.3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant may have heated and produced steam, TEPCO says. Media images earlier showed white smoke drifting from the plant.

  11:38 - Japan may seek direct U.S. military help to end the crisis at the plant, the chief government spokesman says.

  TUESDAY, MARCH 15

  20:54 - Radiation levels at the No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant has become too high to conduct normal work from its control room, Kyodo news agency says. Workers cannot stay long and are going in and out of the control room as well as monitoring from a different place.

  20:50 - The radiation level in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, is 10 times normal, but there is no threat to human health, the city government says.

  19:09 - Winds are now dispersing radioactive material from the Japanese nuclear crisis over the Pacific Ocean, away from Japan and other Asian countries, the World Meteorological Organisation (WOMB) says.

  18:20 - Japan's nuclear safety agency says there are two holes of 8-metres square in a wall of the outer building of the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi No.4 reactor after a blast in the morning.

  18:06 - Radiation levels in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo, are more than 10 times above normal levels, Kyodo reports.

  18:01: TEPCO has pulled out 750 workers from the plant since Tuesday, and 50 remain, it says.

  17:48 - A pool containing spent fuel at the No.4 reactor may be boiling and the water level may be falling, Kyodo news agency quoted an official at the reactor's operator as saying.

  17:31 - Japan has told the U.N. Agency radioactivity was being released " directly" into the atmosphere, the IAEA says.

  17:28 - Radiation levels fall at the plant, the government says. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the radiation level at the main gate of the Fukushima Daiichi complex is 596.4 microsieverts per hour as of 0630 GMT, down from 11,930 microsieverts at 0000 GMT.

  16:44 - Japan has told the United Nations nuclear watchdog (IAEA) that it has extinguished a fire at the spent fuel storage pond at the power plant, the Vienna-based agency says.

  14:46 - Radiation levels in the city of Maebashi, 100 km north of Tokyo, are up to 10 times normal, Kyodo says, quoting the city government.

  14:07 - A no-fly zone is established for a 30-km radius around the plant, Jiji news agency says, quoting the transport ministry.

  14:03 - Prime Minister Kan sends a text message to mobile phone users across the country, asking them to conserve power.

  14:00 - Radiation levels in Tokyo are " not a problem," the city government says.

  12:37 - Minute levels of radiation have been detected in Tokyo, Kyodo says, quoting local government.

  12:03 - Winds over the plant are blowing in a southwesterly direction that includes Tokyo, but will shift later on Tuesday, the weather agency says.

  11:57 - Japan's science minister has asked local governments to make more frequent radiation checks, Kyodo news agency says. The agency also says there has been one explosion at the No. 4 reactor at a stricken plant.

  11:08 - Risk of a nuclear leakage is rising, Prime Minister Naoto Kan says, and warns people within a 30-km radius to stay indoors.

  11:41 - Radiation levels in Kanaka prefecture, west of Tokyo, are up to nine times the normal level briefly on Tuesday, Kyodo news agency says, quoting the prefecture government.

  11:08 - Risk of a nuclear leakage is rising, Prime Minister Naoto Kan says, and warns people within a 30-km radius to stay indoors.

  10:03 - The nuclear safety agency says it is unsure if the explosion at the reactor has damaged one of its reactor containment vessels. If the containment vessel were to break and fuel rods within it to melt, it could cause a major radiation leak.

  09:01 - Radiation levels in the air surrounding the plant have risen fourfold after the explosion, plant operator TEPCO says.

  08:45 - The roof above overheating No. 2 reactor is damaged and steam in rising from the complex, Jiji news agency reports.

  07:57 - Fresh explosion heard at the plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency says.

  06:45 - Some damage has been detected at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 reactor, but no sharp increase in radiation levels has been seen, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says.

  MONDAY, MARCH 14

  20:10 - Water levels inside the Fukushima Daiichi complex's No. 2 reactor are almost empty, TEPCO says. Jiji news agency says the operator of the plant has started injecting sea water to the reactor in the hope of cooling it down.

  19:52 - Jiji quotes TEPCO as saying nuclear fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi complex's No.2 reactor, where levels of water coolant around the reactor core had been reported as falling earlier in the day, are now fully exposed. Jiji says a meltdown of the fuel rods cannot be ruled out.

  17:23 - Jiji news agency says Japanese authorities have safely cooled down two nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, close to another nuclear complex where they are still struggling to cool three overheating reactors.

  16:17 - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano confirms water levels at the Fukushima Daiichi plant No.2 reactor are falling and its cooling functions have stopped.

  15:26 - The IAEA says Japan has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog the hydrogen explosion at the No.3 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi did not damage the primary containment vessel.

  15:17 - Jiji news agency reports that there has been an explosion at a fuel oil tank at a thermal power plant in Fukushima and that the tank is on fire. It is not immediately clear which company the thermal power plant belonged to.

  12:43 - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says a large-scale radiation leakage is unlikely from the Fukushima Daiichi plant's No. 3 reactor hit by an explosion after cooling problems.

  11:40 - Jiji quotes TEPCO as saying a fresh explosion that rocked Fukushima Daiichi has not damaged the plant's No.3 reactor vessel.

  11:20 - Japan's nuclear safety agency confirms a new explosion rocked the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air. But it says it cannot confirm whether or not the hydrogen explosion at the plant's No. 3 reactor has led to an uncontrolled leak of radioactivity.

  11:11 - Domestic media image shows smoke rising from the No.3 reactor at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Japanese TV says there was a hydrogen explosion at the plant.

  07:29 - TEPCO says it has reported a rise in radiation levels at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the government.

  01:43 - Japan Atomic Power says the cooling process is working at its Tokay No. 2 nuclear power plant's reactor although two of the three diesel power generators used for cooling are out of order. The reactor at the plant, about 120 km (75 miles) north of Tokyo in Ibaraki prefecture, was automatically shut after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

  SUNDAY, MARCH 13

  23:37 - Jiji quotes TEPCO as saying it is preparing to put sea water into the No.2 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The company is already injecting sea water into the No. 1 and No. 3 units at the plant to cool them down and reduce pressure inside reactor container vessels.

  15:23 - Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano says there is a risk of an explosion at a building housing at the Fukushima Daiichi complex where an explosion on Saturday blew off the roof off another reactor building.

  10:38 - Kyodo quotes TEPCO as saying radiation levels have risen above safe limits around the complex and that the firm has informed the government of an " emergency situation." It did not mean an immediate threat to human health, TEPCO says.

  06:20 - The number of individuals exposed to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi complex could reach as high as 160, an official of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

  05:41 - In a 20-km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi complex, an estimated 110,000 people have been evacuated, the IAEA says. In a 10-km radius around the nearby Fukushima Daini complex, about 30,000 people have been evacuated.

  00:49 - A nuclear accident in Japan on Saturday rates as less serious than both the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Japan's nuclear safety agency said. An official at the agency said it has rated the incident at 4 under the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. Three Mile Island was rated 5 while Chernobyl was rated 7 on the 1 to 7 scale, the official said.

  SATURDAY, MARCH 12

  22:21 - The IAEA quotes Japanese authorities as saying they are preparing to distribute iodine to people living near the stricken nuclear power complex. Iodine can be used to help protect the body from radioactive poisoning.

  20:43 - TEPCO plans to fill the leaking reactor with sea water to cool it and reduce pressure in the unit, Edano says.

  " The nuclear reactor is surrounded by a steel reactor container, which is then surrounded by a concrete building," Edano says. " The concrete building collapsed. We found out that the reactor container inside didn't explode."

  " We've confirmed that the reactor container was not damaged. The explosion didn't occur inside the reactor container. As such there was no large amount of radiation leakage outside," he adds.

  " At this point, there has been no major change to the level of radiation leakage outside (from before and after the explosion), so we'd like everyone to respond calmly."

  " We've decided to fill the reactor container with sea water. Trade Minister Kaieda has instructed us to do so. By doing this, we will use boric acid to prevent criticality."

  Edano says it will take about five to 10 hours to fill the reactor core with sea water and around 10 days to complete the process. He says due to the falling cooling-water level, hydrogen was generated and leaked into a space between the building and the container. It mixed with oxygen and exploded.

  17:47 - Cabinet Secretary Edano confirms an explosion and radiation leak at Fukushima Daiichi. " We are looking into the cause and the situation and we'll make that public when we have further information," Edano says. " At present, we think 10 km evacuation is appropriate."

  10:07 - TEPCO has begun releasing pressure from No. 1 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Trade Ministry says. TEPCO says it will prepare for the release of pressure from the second nuclear plant, the Fukushima Daini plant, as pressure mounts. TEPCO and the authorities battle to contain rising pressure at the plants. They say thousands of residents in the area have been evacuated.

  09:34 - Kyodo news agency says Japan has begun evacuating about 20,000 people from vicinity of the nuclear plants.

  07:19 - TEPCO says it has lost its ability to control pressure in some reactors of a second nuclear power plant at its Fukushima facility. Pressure is stable inside the reactors but rising in the containment vessels, a spokesman says, although he did not know if there would be a need to release pressure at the plant at this point, which would involve a release of radiation.

  06:37 - U.S. officials say the U.S. military did not provide any coolant for the Japanese nuclear plant, despite Clinton's earlier remarks. They say U.S. Air Force " assets" in Japan delivered coolant to a nuclear plant. One U.S. official says Japan had asked the United States for the coolant but ultimately handled the matter on its own.

  03:14 - Cabinet Secretary Edano says TEPCO realises the need to release pressure inside the plant, that this could cause a small radiation leak.

  03:13 - Kyodo news agency quotes Japan's trade minister as saying a radiation leak could take place at the plant.

  03:04 - Japan's nuclear safety watchdog confirms TEPCO is considering steps to lower the pressure in a container in the No. 1 reactor. A spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says it is unknown whether radiation levels are high in the container, which is inside a turbine building.

  02:00 - Kyodo news agency quotes TEPCO as saying pressure inside the No. 1 reactor rose to 1.5 times designed capacity.

  01:46 - Jiji quotes TEPCO as saying pressure inside the No. 1 reactor at the plant has been rising, with the risk of a radiation leak. It plans to take measures to release the pressure, the report says.

  01:27 - Jiji says Fukushima prefecture expects cooling function at the plant to be restored by 1630 GMT (0130 local)

  00:40 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States has transported coolant to the stricken nuclear plant. " We just had our Air Force assets in Japan transport some really important coolant to one of the nuclear plants," Clinton says at a meeting of the President's Export Council.

  00:38 - The World Nuclear Association, the main nuclear industry body, says it understands the situation is under control, and water is being pumped into the reactor's cooling system. An analyst at the association says he understood a back-up battery power system had been brought online after about an hour, and begun pumping water back into the cooling system.

  FRIDAY, MARCH 11

  22:45 - Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Japan advised that a heightened state of alert has been declared but no release of radiation had been detected.

  It says Japanese authorities also reported a fire at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, which has since been extinguished.

  " They say Onagawa, Fukushima Daini and Tokay nuclear power plants were also shut down automatically, and no radiation release has been detected," the statement says.

  21:55 - The government says radiation has leaked from one of the plant's reactors.

  21:49 - Jiji news agency says evacuation area around the plant is extended to 3 km from 2 km and quotes authorities as saying no radioactive leak has been confirmed.

  21:34 - TEPCO confirms water levels falling inside reactors at the plant, and says it is trying to avert the exposure of nuclear fuel rods by restoring power to its emergency power system so that it can pump water inside the reactors.

  19:46 - The government reveals a cooling problem at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on the northeast coast, which bore the brunt of the quake and tsunami. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says the government has declared an emergency as a precaution but he says there is no radioactive leak.

  (Compiled by Mark Bendeich and World Desk Asia)

  2011-03-18 07:31:34

By JoAnne Allen

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday the world must make clear that Iran would face " credible military action" if sanctions do not shut down Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

  Netanyahu, in an interview on CNN, said it was clear Iran was pursing its nuclear ambitions despite international sanctions and was getting a lot closer to obtaining nuclear arms.

  " They have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs," he said. " They still have to re-enrich it again but that is what they are doing.

  " The only thing that will work is if Iran knew that if sanctions fail there will be a credible military option."

  Asked what would constitute a credible military action, Netanyahu said: " It means action that will knock out their nuclear facility."

  The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions on Tehran for refusing to freeze its uranium enrichment program, which Western powers suspect is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon.

  Iran denies Israeli and Western allegations that it is enriching uranium to produce atomic arms and maintains that its program is for peaceful energy needs.

  Netanyahu said if military action was taken, he would prefer that it be lead by the United States.

  He said a nuclear-armed Iran would not be just a concern for Israel because it would pose the risk of proliferation.

  " This is not just our problem. This is the problem of Europe, and the United States," he said.

  In a wide-ranging interview, Netanyahu also said he was not surprised that Saudi Arabia had dispatched forces to Bahrain after weeks of pro-democracy protests in the Gulf Arab island state.

  " I think they are concerned with a possible Iranian takeover of Bahrain, which would put Iran effectively within spitting distance of the Arabian Peninsula," Netanyahu said of Saudi Arabia.

  " Saudi Arabia is working to protect its own interests. But there is a very large global interest in making sure the world's oil wells, that the largest reserves of the world's oil supply do not fall into Iranian or pro-Iranian hands," he said.

  Asked about the pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world, Netanyahu said the Middle East would have " a brilliant future" with real democratic change.

  However, he said that if Iran remains immune to change " and meddles in other places and transforms them into so-called Islamist republics... I would say that is the worst nightmare."

  (Reporting by JoAnne Allen Editing by Bill Trott)

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Terril Jones

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese engineers raced to restore a power cable to a quake-ravaged nuclear power plant on Friday in the hope of restarting pumps needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophic release of radiation.

  Officials said they hoped to fix a cable from the grid to at least two of the six reactors on Friday, but that work would stop in the morning to allow helicopters and fire trucks to resume pouring water on the Fukushima Daiichi plant, about 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

  Even if the engineers manage to connect the power, it is not clear the pumps will work as they may have been damaged in the earthquake or subsequent explosions and there are real fears of the electricity shorting and causing another explosion.

  " Preparatory work has so far not progressed as fast as we had hoped," an official of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) told a news briefing, adding that engineers had to be constantly checked for radiation levels.

  Washington and other foreign capitals have expressed growing alarm about radiation leaking from the plant, severely damaged by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami a week ago that triggered a series of destructive explosions and compromised the nuclear reactors and spent fuel storage tanks.

  Worst case scenarios would involve millions of people in Japan threatened by exposure to radioactive material, but prevailing winds are likely to carry any contaminated smoke or steam away from the densely populated Tokyo area to dissipate over the Pacific ocean.

  Nuclear agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said the priority was to get water into the spent fuel pools. He was unsure how effective the helicopters had been inn cooling the reactors.

  " As to what we do beyond that, we have to reduce the heat somehow and may use seawater," he told a news conference. " We need to get the reactors back online as soon as possible and that's why we're trying to restore power to them."

  Asked about the " Chernobyl solution" of burying the reactors in sand and concrete, he said: " That solution is in the back of our minds, but we are focussed on cooling the reactors down."

  Japan's nuclear disaster is the world's worst since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

  U.S. President Barack Obama said the crisis posed no risk to any U.S. territory. He nevertheless ordered a comprehensive review of domestic nuclear plants.

  " We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it's the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, or U.S. territories in the Pacific," Obama said. " That is the judgement of our Nuclear Regulatory Commission and many other experts."

  Yukiya Amano, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was due back in his homeland later on Friday with an international team of experts after earlier complaining about a lack of information from Japan.

  Graham Andrew, his senior aide, called the situation at the plant " reasonably stable " but the government said white smoke or steam was still rising from three reactors and helicopters used to dump water on the plant had shown exposure to small amounts of radiation.

  " The situation remains very serious, but there has been no significant worsening since yesterday," Andrew said.

  The nuclear agency said the radiation level at the plant was as high as 20 millisieverts per hour. The limit for the workers was 100 per hour.

  U.S. officials took pains not to criticise Japan's government, but Washington's actions indicated a divide with its close ally about the perilousness of the world's worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

  COOLING POOL MAY HAVE RUN DRY

  The top U.S. nuclear regulator said the cooling pool for spent fuel rods at the complex's reactor No.4 may have run dry and another was leaking.

  Gregory Jaczko, head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told a congressional hearing that radiation levels around the cooling pool were extremely high, posing deadly risks for workers still toiling in the wreckage of the power plant.

  He said it could take weeks to successfully cool down the reactors.

  Japan's nuclear agency said it could not confirm if water was covering the fuel rods. The plant operator said it believed the reactor spent-fuel pool still had water as of Wednesday, and made clear its priority was the spent-fuel pool at the No.3 reactor.

  On Thursday, military helicopters dumped about 30 tonnes of water, all aimed at this reactor. One emergency crew temporarily put off spraying the same reactor with a water cannon due to high radiation, broadcaster NHK said, but another crew later began hosing it.

  Latest images from the plant showed severe damage, with two of the buildings a twisted mangle of steel and concrete.

  DOLLAR GAINS AS FINANCIAL LEADERS INTERVENE

  The Group of Seven rich nations on Friday agreed to join in rare concerted intervention to restrain a run-away yen, hoping to calm global markets after a wild week of often panic selling.

  The U.S. dollar immediately surged almost two yento 81.15 yen, leaving behind a record low of 76.25 hit on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei share index climbed 2.5 percent, recouping some of the week's stinging losses.

  U.S. markets, which tanked on Wednesday on the back of the crisis, rebounded on Thursday but investors were not convinced the advance would last.

  The government warned Tokyo's 13 million residents to prepare for a possible large-scale blackout but later said there was no need for one. Still, many firms voluntarily reduced power, submerging parts of the usually neon-lit city in darkness.

  On Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Tokyo urged citizens living within 80 km (50 miles) of the Daiichi plant to evacuate or remain indoors " as a precaution" , while Britain's foreign office urged citizens " to consider leaving the area" .

  The latest warnings were not as strong as those issued earlier by France and Australia, which urged nationals in Japan to leave the country. Russia said it planned to evacuate families of diplomats on Friday, and Hong Kong urged its citizens to leave Tokyo as soon as possible or head south.

  Japan's government has told everyone living within 20 km (12 miles) of the plant to evacuate, and advised people within 30 km (18 miles) to stay indoors.

  At its worst, radiation in Tokyo has reached 0.809 microsieverts per hour this week, 10 times below what a person would receive if exposed to a dental x-ray. On Thursday, radiation levels were barely above average.

  TOKYO RESIDENTS STAY INDOORS

  Many Tokyo residents stayed indoors, however, usually busy streets were nearly deserted and many shops were closed. At the second-floor office of the Tokyo Passport Centre in the city's Yurakucho district, queues snaked to the first floor.

  The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami worsened following a cold snap that brought heavy snow to worst-affected areas.

  Supplies of water and heating oil are low at evacuation centres, where many survivors wait bundled in blankets.

  About 30,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.6 million households lacked running water.

  The National Police Agency said on Friday it had confirmed 5,692 deaths from the quake and tsunami disaster, while 9,522 people were unaccounted for in six prefectures.

  (Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Nathan Layne, Elaine Lies, Leika Kihara and Mayumi Negishi Writing by Nick Macfie, editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

HONG KONG, March 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks were set to open higher on Friday as overseas markets staged a recovery, but concern over Japan's nuclear crisis and possible military strikes in Libya are likely to keep investors wary.

  The benchmark Hang Seng Index was set to open up 0.46 percent to 22,387.98. The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland companies was indicated to rise 0.8 percent. (Reporting by Vikram S Subhedar Editing by Chris Lewis) Pan-Asia...... Japan........ S.Korea.... S.E. Asia............ Hong Kong... Taiwan..... Australia/NZ......... India....... China......

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