PM Kan says nuclear crisis remains 'very grave'

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan’s nuclear crisis remained “very grave” as forecasts indicated changing winds could start moving radiation closer to Tokyo by the end of the weekend.

Engineers worked overnight to restore power to two reactors at the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in a bid to get cooling systems running again. By March 20, the weather may take emissions toward the capital, 135 miles (220 kilometers) south of the station, Austria’s meteorological center said, using data from the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty Organization. At current levels, the radiation isn’t dangerous beyond the immediate vicinity of the plant, the center said.

“The situation at the power plant is still unpredictable,” Kan said at a press conference in Tokyo. “But we’re making our utmost effort to control it, and we’ll surely overcome this crisis.”

Japan faces a “battle with time,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said after meeting ministers in Tokyo. A magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami March 11 knocked out Fukushima’s back-up generators, pitching workers into a battle to keep the plant cool and stem radiation from the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago.