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Japan: Tokyo tap water unfit for babies
Fears that radiation had spread beyond the quake-crippled power plant in northeast Japan escalated Wednesday when high levels of iodine were discovered in Tokyo's tap water, rendering it too dangerous for babies to drink.
Although technicians claimed some progress in containing a potential nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 12 days after it was badly damaged by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, the success was overshadowed by reports of radioactive iodine at twice the safe limit in water at a treatment plant that services the capital's 23 wards and Greater Tokyo.
Tokyo's Governor Shintara Ishihara said there was no immediate health threat and urged people to "remain calm."
But the news, especially that babies under 1 year old shouldn't have tap water, sent mothers scurrying to the store.
"All the bottled water in the supermarket was gone immediately," said Azusa Imamura, in her 50s, after a quick shopping trip in her crowded Tokyo suburb. "Nobody is sure of anything."