• Japan approves reactor restarts, more seen

    Nearly a year after a tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel travels to the evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The plant suffered a triple meltdown in the wake of the earthquake, turning the neighborhoods in the 12 mile radius of the plant into ghost towns. Engel journeyed near the mangled plant which remains very much a hotspot.  Radiation levels were so high, the NBC News team on the ground had to wear face masks and full body suits. Even as NBC News drove half a mile from the reactor, radiation monitors were screaming in alarm.

    By msnbc.com news services

    TOKYO -- Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis. 

    Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time. He announced the government's decision at a meeting with key ministers, giving the go-ahead to two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co at Ohi in western Japan. 

    The decision, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan's 50 nuclear power reactors. 

    But the decision risks a backlash from a public deeply concerned about nuclear safety. As many as 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside Noda's office on Friday night amid a heavy police presence to denounce the restarts, urging the premier to step down and shouting "Lives matter more than the economy." 

    "Prime Minister Noda's rushed, dangerous approval of the Ohi nuclear power plant restart ignores expert safety advice and public outcry and needlessly risks the health of Japan's environment, its people and its economy," environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement. 

    Rachel Maddow discusses the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima a year after the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Rachel also talks with Salon.com's Mariah Blake about Texas billionaire Harold Simmons' huge nuclear waste dump over the Ogallala Aquifer located beneath the Great Plains.

    The decision is a victory for Japan's still-powerful nuclear industry and reflects Noda's concerns about damage to the economy if atomic energy is abandoned following the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. 

    The restart is being closely watched as an indicator of how aggressively the government will act to approve operations at other reactors. It has been pushing hard to bring some reactors online as soon as possible to avert power shortages as demand increases during the summer months. It says the reactors in the town of Ohi are particularly important because they are in an area that relied heavily on nuclear before the crisis, and have passed safety checks.

    "Safety is our main concern," said trade and industry minister Yukio Edano. "We have approved the beginning of the restarting process. It will take some time for the reactors to begin generating electricity." 

    But officials acknowledged that a completely fail-safe disaster prevention plan was impossible. 

    Will Japan build a backup Tokyo?

    "There is no such thing as a perfect score when it comes to disaster prevention steps," Trade Minister Yukio Edano told a news conference after the announcement. 

    Japan's disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011 contaminated the land around it so badly that the area was effectively a write-off. Today the radiation-infected area is known by a name Ray Bradbury would like: "the exclusion zone." NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reports from inside the zone, part of his report for Rock Center with Brian Williams airing Wednesday, Mar. 7, at 10pm/9c on NBC.

    "But, based on what we learned from the Fukushima accident, those measures that need to be taken urgently have been addressed, and the level of safety has been considerably enhanced (at the Ohi plant)," he said. 

    Edano, who holds the energy portfolio, said the government policy to reduce Japan's dependence on nuclear energy in the medium- to long-term was unchanged despite the decision. 

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • 'Cold shutdown': Fukushima reactor now stable, Japan's PM says

    David Guttenfelder / Pool via EPA, file

    A building of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station as seen through a bus window in Okuma, Japan, on Nov. 12.

    By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

    Updated at 6:23 a.m. ET

    TOKYO -- The tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has reached a "cold shutdown" and is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation, Japan's prime minister said Friday.

    Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's announcement marks a milestone nine months after the March 11 tsunami sent three reactors at the plant into meltdowns in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. It is a crucial step toward lifting evacuation orders and closing the plant.

    "Even if unforeseeable incidents happen, the situation is such that radiation levels on the boundary of the plant can now be maintained at a low level," Noda said. "Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved."

    However, experts noted that the plant remains vulnerable. Its surroundings are contaminated by radiation and closing the plant safely will take 30 or more years.

    'Our battle is not over'
    NBC News reported that there are still sporadic reports of leaks of contaminated water from the site. 

    "There are many issues that remain," Noda added. "Our battle is not over."

    Noda's announcement means officials can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuees to return to less-contaminated areas — although a 12-mile zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come. The crisis displaced some 100,000 people.

    A cold shutdown normally means a nuclear reactor's coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and its reactor core is at a temperature below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius), making it impossible for a chain reaction to take place.

    According to plant operator TEPCO, temperature gauges inside the Fukushima reactors show the pressure vessel is at around 158 degrees  F (70 C). The government also says the amount of radiation now being released around the plant is at or below 1 millisievert per year — equivalent to the annual legal exposure limit for ordinary citizens before the crisis began.

    Akira Yamaguchi, a nuclear physicist at Osaka University, said that the government's definition of cold shutdown is disputable.

    "But what's most important right now is that there aren't any massive radiation leaks any more," he said.

    Winter woes?
    Putting longer-term issues aside, he warned that much of the backup equipment installed at the plant since the crisis began is makeshift and may break down. He said winter cold could test their strength.

    Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of evacuated Naimie town, told a press conference Friday that it was "hard to accept" Noda's declaration.

    "We still feel a major distrust towards the government," he added.

    Located 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, the plant was wrecked by a huge earthquake and a tsunami that exceeded 45 feet in some areas, which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks.

    NBC News reported that the extraction of more than 3,000 fuel rods from the site, most likely involving robotic cranes, is due to begin next year. High-powered water sprays will be used to decontaminate roads and other infrastructure in nearby towns from early next month.

    More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    NBC News' Arata Yamamoto, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report