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CNN Sunday Morning

Death Toll, Nuclear Meltdown Fears Rise in Japan; Japanese Prime Minister Remarks

Aired March 13, 2011 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Utter devastation. There really is no other way to describe what's left of northern Japan. From a town that's missing half of its population to coastlines littered with what the tsunami left behind. Now, Japan's bracing for what could be the next disaster: Meltdown fears at two quake-damaged reactors.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ANCHOR: Some hope though amid the catastrophe. Survivors are being pulled from the rubble and from the rooftops. Separated families are being reunited and rescue teams from around the world now arriving in full force.

KAYE: The race is on to avoid a health crisis. Millions of people are running short on food, clean water, gas - the basic necessities that have suddenly become so crucial.

From CNN Center in Atlanta, it's March 13. I'm Randi Kaye.

STEVENS: And I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong, and we'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and from around the world to our continuing coverage of the disaster in Japan.

KAYE: As Japan tries to recover from that powerful quake and tsunami, there are growing fears today the country could be hit with a nuclear disaster.

This is the actual moment of an explosion at a nuclear plant in Fukushima. A government official says now there could be another explosion in a different reactor at the plant. Workers have been pouring seawater into the reactors to cool the fuel rods. More than 200,000 people who live near the plants have been evacuated. About 160 are being tested for possible exposure to radioactive material.

An official says both reactors could have meltdowns.

Across northern Japan, people are searching evacuation lists for relatives and friends. The official death toll now 977; 739 missing, but those figures are sure to rise.

One regional police official says the deaths in his area alone - quote - "will undoubtedly be in the tens of thousands."

The USS Ronald Reagan arrived off the coast today. More U.S. ships expected today or later this week. Search-and-rescue teams from Virginia and Los Angeles are expected in Japan tomorrow. Rescuers have been hampered by the widespread destruction plus the continued threat of aftershocks and more tsunamis. Since Fridays' 8.9- magnitude quake, there have been nearly 300 aftershocks.

STEVENS: OK. Let's get more details now on this threat of a nuclear meltdown at two reactors.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is south of Sendai. That's the largest city in northern Japan, population of around a million people. And it's 18 miles west of the quake's epicenter.

Our Stan Grant is in Tokyo. He's been following this story of the potential meltdown.

And Stan, we heard from the prime minister's spokesman on our air in the last hour or so that the situation is under control. Now, does that tally with what you're hearing?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you really have to look at what has actually been said by the nuclear-safety agency.

Now, we've heard from them throughout the day and they have said that there is a high possibility of a meltdown in Reactor No. 1 and also a possibility of a meltdown in Reactor No. 3. That is the - the - the possibilities that they are proceeding on, that is the situation they are operating under.

Now, they also said that there is - there have been pumping seawater in to try to keep the levels at a - at a - at a - a height there that they can actually cool down the reactor. But that water level has dropped, and that's raised, again, the prospect of more damage to the reactor itself.

They're saying to try to - to bring that under control they may have to vent to release some more steam and releasing steam is going to release more radiation into the atmosphere. Now, they've said that radiation has already reached higher-than-normally-acceptable levels, however they do stress that that is not enough to cause harm to people in the area. But they've put in this 20-kilometer - or 12-to-13-mile exclusion zone as a precaution.

So that's where it sits at the moment. It's - it's interesting that you contrast that with the statement coming from the prime minister's spokesman, saying that there is not a meltdown, that things are under control, when you hear from other aspects and other arms of the government here that they are working on the possibility of a meltdown and it is not under control because they are still trying to pump water in there to bring the reactor down and - and stop the heating of the reactor, Andrew.

STEVENS: Stan, just put the word "meltdown" into context if - if you can. I mean, it's such a powerful - it's such an evocative word. People think "meltdown," they connect it to Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster ever, back in 1986.

Does this have the potential to be of that sort of size? GRANT: Well, here's the difference. If you listen to what a lot of analysts are saying, Chernobyl should never have been built in that way anyway. A lot of the safety mechanisms just simply didn't work, and you had an explosion of that radioactive material into - into the atmosphere.

What they're talking about here - and this is what's accepted in - in other nuclear plants - you had the reactor, but there are also redundant safety procedures in place. So if something fails, something else kicks in to stop the radiation getting out in the event that there is a - this deterioration of the reactor itself. So there is the building, there is the casing around the reactor and then the nuclear fuel inside.

If that melts down, and - and the worst-case scenario, everything fails, then you can find that the radiation seeps into the ground or goes into the atmosphere, and then of course people are exposed, and we know what the risks are from there, potentially catastrophic risks.

A lot of fear yesterday, and you mentioned this off the top there, Andrew, about the - that explosion that took place. And at that point, there was a lot of fear that you could be seeing there a - a - a meltdown of the reactor and causing the explosion. That was not the case, according to the government. It was not the reactor but it was a building outside the reactor that - that - that exploded, and that's why we saw that smoke billowing into the smoke.

They're also talking about the possibility of a new explosion at the No. 3 Reactor in Daiichi. That again though, they are saying, would not be in the reactor but it would be because of the buildup of hydrogen as part of the efforts to try to bring the reactor under control.

So when people see that image of - of the explosion, you immediately think, 'Wow, something big is happening here.' But it was the building, not the reactor, and if there's another explosion again they say, it will be because of a hydrogen buildup.

So this information, it - it's ebbing and flowing. A lot of the images are very dramatic. Words like "meltdown" cause a lot of concern in people's minds. But there are safety procedures, of course, to stop the worst-case scenario - Andrew.

STEVENS: OK. Stan, thanks so much for that. Stan Grant joining us live from Tokyo.

Well, hundreds of confirmed dead, and a death toll that's expected to rise steadily in the coming days. That's the grim reality in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, one of the areas hit hard by Friday's earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. Thousands of people, literally half the town, are still unaccounted for.

CNN's Paula Hancocks filed this update earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the town of Manamisandikucho (ph), and it's just north of Sendai (ph), and it's extremely badly hit. We have heard local media reports that around about half of the residents are missing, as you say. It's a town that did have 18,000 citizens. So that would mean that about nine-and-a- half-thousand people are still missing.

Let me get out of the shot so you can have a - a look at just how badly this area is damaged. Now, where we're standing here is right on the edge of town. You can see just a couple of houses still standing because we're about 3.3 kilometers away from the sea. That's almost 2 miles from the coastline.

So you can have a sense there of just how strong this tsunami was, to be able to destroy houses completely to this level. There's boats that have actually ridden on this tsunami and come all the way up here. Just behind one of the houses still standing, there's a huge truck that was carried on the wave all the way up this far as well, 3.3 kilometers.

Now, as I say, there were about 18,000 residents here. We spoke to a couple of them that have come back to see what's left of their homes and try and start the impossible cleanup. But they say that they ran when they heard the tsunami warning. One woman said she knows some of her neighbors stayed in their homes when there was the tsunami warning. So inevitably, they would not have survived.

It's impossible to see how many people could have survived in those houses.

Now, we do understand the search-and-rescue teams are still going, according to local reports - they have actually pulled out 42 survivors this Sunday morning. Now, we can't confirm that with the police at this point. The police here are not saying much. But this is what the local residents and the local media are saying.

So it is still very much a search-and-rescue mission. We understand that they have found a couple of very badly injured people further down towards the shore. At this point, they haven't brought them out though.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: That was Paula Hancocks for us.

And she was talking about survivors. Well, those survivors not only made it through an incredibly strong earthquake, they also had to contend, of course, with an equally powerful tsunami.

Check out this video, shot in Kamashi City (ph) on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN JAPANESE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: You can see there the ocean breached the city's seawall and sent people scrambling for higher ground to escape. Once there, many realized that others were not as fortunate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I saw my (INAUDIBLE) being engulfed by the tsunami. I hope he's taking shelter somewhere. I'm struggling to locate him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My husband hasn't come here yet. He left home a little later than me. Our house was swept away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm looking for my friend's wife. I have no idea which shelter she is in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And we still don't know the specific casualty numbers out of Kamashi City - Andrew.

STEVENS: Randi, it's important to point here, too, that those two reports there from two towns in the northern region of Japan, they're just two towns. A lot of towns like this still haven't really been properly got to yet by the rescuers. So we just don't know. But we can assume that the devastation we've seen in those two reports is going to be repeated and repeated. So the outlook looks incredibly bad for so many towns along that area. So that's going to be a story we're going to be revealing, I guess, for want of a better word, over the next few days.

There's also another challenge for the survivors as well. They've - they've went through a tsunami. They went through an earthquake. Now, they have to find something to eat.

More than two full days since the quake hit, we're getting reports of serious foot and water shortages in and around the quake zone. Many stores and supermarkets are still closed. And in the ones that are open, shoppers are finding virtually nothing but empty shelves.

But even though the situation is getting pretty desperate, there are no reports of any looting.

Well, what's happening at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility? Some experts say it's the third-worst nuclear event on record at this point. And it's still not clear if a meltdown has occurred or is under way.

So what exactly does "meltdown" mean and how do nuclear reactors actually work? We'll be breaking that down just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: More pictures of the destruction continue to come into CNN. We want to share those with you.

Japan's newest post-quake crisis is its nuclear reactors, amid fears of a possible second explosion at the Fukushima nuclear-power plant. The uncertainty leads some to worry about a possible nuclear meltdown.

What exactly does that mean? CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has a breakdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: "Meltdown" means the melting of the core of a nuclear reactor. And literally, after that, a large displacement of radiation throughout the entire atmosphere somewhere.

How does it work? It works by a series of closed systems. This - when you're sitting in your car and you have the heater on in your car, you're not warmed because the - the fluid that's in your radiator is spraying on you. That would be an open system, if because you're spraying hot stuff on you.

You are warmed in your car because there's a small little radiator under your dash; it's blowing a fan through that radiator. That radiator is warming the air and you're being warmed by that air.

If all of these closed systems - four - work in a nuclear reactor, nothing goes wrong. Here we go; the water comes in, it cools down this; this is part of a turbine; the turbine is turning, whether it's a coal-fired plant or not - the coal-fired turbine warms water. Water turns to steam, steam turns to turbine.

You turn this down, you cool it off, you pump it back through here and you cool down the reactor.

Now, burning coal and warming the steam, you're - well, you've got a reactor core and you have control rods and you have pods here warming with uranium inside a nuclear reactor. That - those rods are warming the water to warm water to warm steam to warm a turbine and - and this goes on and on and on. And as long as all these processes are working, everything works great.

The problem is that it didn't work right. Because when the earthquake happened, power got shut off. This was generating its own power. The power shut off, and then the backups came in. The backups were little generators, literally. Then they got flooded by the tsunami.

Then they had to go to backup power by batteries. But batteries are only supposed to last for eight hours. Put more batteries in, and it's going and going and going. They couldn't get it cooled down. Now, they're finally flooded it with seawater and boric acid, hoping that this is a final step. They have killed this reactor. This will never come back online. But that's the only way, at this point, that they can get this thing cooled down. Let's hope it works.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Thanks to our Chad Myers for that.

Let's go back now to Andrew in Hong Kong - Andrew.

STEVENS: Randi, shattering images from Japan continue to pour in. Everyone seems to be documenting this disaster as it unfolds. And we'll be sharing their stories and their pictures with you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Glad you're with us.

We are keeping a very close eye on what's happening in Japan today.

STEVENS: And we're still seeing a lot of powerful video of the devastation from the earthquake and the tsunami. As power slowly returns to some of the affected areas, more people are able to share their videos. And we want to share some of them with you.

KAYE: Yes, let's start first with this YouTube video, Andrew from - this is from inside Sendai airport. Everything, as you can see there, is floating past. So somebody had the - had the will and the desire and - and the bravery to stand there while this was happening and continue to film and - and then send it to us as this water was flowing right through.

STEVENS: Yes, it's extraordinary, isn't it, that so many people had the presence of mind, faced with that sort of disaster, that terrifying spectacle, to actually film it. And these are the pictures we have been seeing.

Now, in Wakabiashi (ph), the wall of water washes away pretty much everything in its path. And this is where TV Asahi (ph) says hundreds of bodies were washed out to sea.

You can see just the - the raging torrent there taking houses with it, taking cars. And people are still there right next to what's going on. Terrifying in the extreme.

And - and someone said, Randi - and I think this is a very interesting point - that the pictures we're seeing here are the pictures of a tsunami that we never saw - the world never saw in the 2004 Asian tsunami. So we now get this real sense of just how terrifying, how powerful the forces of nature are at work in tsunamis of - of this magnitude.

KAYE: Yes, you see in many cases - I mean, look at the fury. Look at those cars just being tossed around the houses, crumbling down, the power lines - you can see why - why it's such a disaster there. Let's - let's take a look at this next one. This is driving by the rubble and the devastation in Minamisanruku (ph). This is one of the towns - I believe this is the town where they've lost about 9,000 - or they - they can't find about 9,000 people. This is incredible video, completely wiped out - homes, as you can see, just tossed about. Not very much left there. You can see why people are struggling to find food and water and - and anything else. It's incredible you can even get a car through there.

STEVENS: It's interesting, isn't it? Because Japan, as we know, is such an earthquake-prone area that a lot of the building - and, in fact, just about all of the buildings in Japan are built to very, very high specifications to withstand earthquakes. But certainly tsunamis of that sort of magnitude no one can - can deal with that.

I mean, the Japanese TV reporter was showing these giant cracks in the roads in Sendai City.

Look at that.

KAYE: Yes, these are amazing.

STEVENS: I mean, that's obviously earthquake damage there. They - they are amazing, aren't they? Earthquake damage.

But, you know, the road is still there. But I guess the tsunami - you just have so little hope, really. And it's being shown time and again by the images that we've been getting into us here at CNN....

KAYE: Right.

STEVENS: ...of just the devastation caused by that - by that tsunami.

(CROSSTALK)

STEVENS: Sorry, Randi, go on.

KAYE: No, no. Keep going.

STEVENS: OK.

Well, to get a snapshot of destruction and the size of that tsunami that followed the earthquake, take a look at the view from above as well. Now, these satellite images show the areas before the tsunami and then again after the tsunami. It's barely recognizable of the massive wave that slept - swept through.

And we've got plenty more of this just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Now, we're learning more about the incredible power released by the earthquake in Japan.

The U.S. Geological Survey says that Japan's main island was actually moved by 8 feet, a little more than 2 meters. This was an 8.9- magnitude quake.

The National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimates the quake also shifted the Earth on its axis by nearly 4 inches.

It's mind-boggling, Randi.

KAYE: It sure is.

And we have new images this morning that show some of the worst-hit areas in Japan both before and then after the quake. The differences are very stark, and these pictures really show us the scope of the devastation.

Josh Levs has that for us - Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. You know what, Randi? A lot of people have been waiting for these pictures to start coming out and I have brand-new ones for you all this morning.

Let's do this first before my screen. I want to go to this video, which is an example of the bird's-eye view kind of thing. This is from an HK (ph). Here's an example of Sendai before and then after. So we're seeing this kind of video from above, and it's very stark there.

Now, take a look here. I'm about to show you more than a dozen sites that were affected. We're going to zoom in on the screen here. This came to me from Google, and this is a before image from one place inside Sendai.

I'm going to hit play here and let it go a little bit and you're going to see town after town, village after village, areas that are just completely shattered. Look at that, from green to this dark brown, where homes have been destroyed, where livelihoods have been destroyed, where large areas of grass are just gone.

And this is - right here is Uriagi (ph) and Natori.

Dozens and dozens of pictures like this are coming out. And what you can tell in all these pictures is that these are places where people lived; these are places where there were villages and communities, in some places cities, very active cities.

This is the Sendai-airport area right here. I mean, look at that. Look at these satellite pictures. This is just knocking out entire areas. And it's just an onslaught. It just keeps coming.

These are the kinds of things that we knew would come within a couple of days after this disaster. And what happened here is Google got together with their satellite partners, which is DigitalEye and GeoGlobe, and they just looked at pictures from previous years, and they put it together with some of the latest pictures there.

One other video, too, we go to now - another one from NHK (ph) - which shows another area that's being - that's been just shattered by this. This is Repusentakada (ph), again, before and after. This is the kinds of videos that you get when you're just high enough, even without the satellites, able to see what's going on there.

One more interactive I want to show you here. Let's zoom way in here. We might need to drop the banner. But let's get the shot. I want everyone to see this.

You can control this before and after here. This right here is Sendai. This is on CNN.com. Watch what happens. I'm going to slide it myself. And as we go across, the shots match, so you can physically see how these areas have changed.

And it's not just Sendai that we're seeing. Here is the Fukushima power-plant area. This is the before, and I'm going to move us over to the after. And you can see the change happening along the way.

I've taken all these links right here and I've posted them for you online so you can see them yourself.

These are my pages. I'm at Facebook and Twitter, @joshlvescnn. We have a lot more where this came from.

And this is just the beginning. More and more pictures like this will be coming through.

And it's the same idea Randi as - as what you and Andrew were talking about and what I've been reporting on, which is that this is the most- documented disaster ever. Inside - the people taking YouTube videos on the inside, and also because of the new satellite technologies we have. We've never had such detail before on any natural disaster in history. There's a lot that people will be learning from this that might help some recovery in the coming weeks.

KAYE: And - and - and even with all the damage, the fact that they can still get those pictures out and the video out is - is remarkable.

LEVS: Yes, but this is what happens going down here - I mean, the Earth may change on its axis, but the satellites, they're still working just fine up in the sky...

KAYE: Exactly.

LEVS: ...and that's what's getting the pictures here.

KAYE: All right. Josh, thank you.

LEVS: You got it. Thanks.

KAYE: On alert across Japan. Could there be a nuclear meltdown? You saw the pictures. Josh was just showing you the Fukushima plant.

Well, we are watching that after an explosion at that nuclear plant. Fears today that there could be another blast.

Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we want to welcome our worldwide audience back to our special coverage of the disaster in Japan. I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Randi Kaye in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us.

STEVENS: And there are growing fears today that Japan could be hit with a nuclear disaster. This is the actual moment of explosion at a nuclear plant in northern Japan. A government official says now that there could be another explosion in a different reactor at the same plant.

Now, workers have been pouring sea water into the reactors to cool the fuel rods since Friday's earthquake and tsunami. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from the area. A 20-kilometer perimeter exclusion zone has been set up. An official says both reactors could have meltdowns.

Now, across northern Japan, people have been searching for relatives and friends. The death toll currently stands at 985 with another 707 people missing. But those figures are expected to dramatically rise.

One police official says that the deaths in his area, quote, "will undoubtedly be in the tens of thousands," and that's just in his area.

Meanwhile, the USS Ronald Reagan, the aircraft carrier, arriving off the coast today. The crew already today has made 20 trips delivering aid.

The continued threat of aftershocks and tsunamis is also hampering rescue efforts. Friday's 8.9 magnitude quake, since then, there's been nearly 300 aftershocks -- Randi.

KAYE: Badly need relief is now getting to those who need it in the disaster zone. We're just getting word this hour that the USS Ronald Reagan has begun rescue and relief operations of the Japanese coast.

CNN's Brian Todd is with one U.S. military search and rescue crew, and he joins by phone.

Brian, these guys are well-equipped for an operation like this. What is their plan exactly in terms of the rescue efforts?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well Randi, their plan is to push as soon as possible into the hardest hit areas. We just landed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, about 200 miles north of Sendai.

I'm with actually a civilian team. This is the Fairfax County, Virginia, and L.A. County urban search and rescue teams. These are the first civilian rescue teams, we are told, to arrive in Japan. We just landed here a couple of hours ago and we'll be pushing down into the hard-hit areas in the coming hours.

This is a massive logistical pull -- 150 personnel, several dozen tons of equipment, 12 K-9 teams. There's just a lot of equipment being brought in. And there's a palate of equipment that's on the plane that's following us, that's set to land in about an hour. When we get all of that pulled together, the teams, and us along with them, will be deploying south into the Sendai area, we think.

KAYE: And you've seen these teams in action before. You've seen the dogs in action. And then what, they have -- when the dogs spot something, what do they do? They have a camera or something like that to help find these people who might be buried?

TODD: That's right. The dogs are very, very sensitive to the scent of a living human. And we saw them in operation in Haiti. They are very impressive actually.

They're able to just climb all over the rubble, and down into it. And the slightest trace of any beating human heart, they can detect and set off an alert and they lead the rescuers to the area where the person may be. The rescuers then lower listening devices in, cameras to get a better read. And with the equipment they do have, they are able to, you know, cut down into it and get to them.

They had several successful rescues in Haiti. And they are very anxious to get into the areas in Japan and do that again.

KAYE: I'm sure. Well, we certainly hope that they find the same thing and have the same luck.

And, Brian, as you make your way to Sendai, please keep in touch with us. Let us know if you find anything and we'll get it on TV, to our viewers right away.

Brian Todd for us with search and rescue teams.

Forty-nine countries are offering relief to Japan. In addition to the United States, they include Britain, Canada, Australia, China, Spain, Germany, and France. The first wave of aid from the U.S. arrived Saturday. More equipment and search and rescue crews from Virginia and California are expected to arrive today.

China is also prepared to send equipment, military personnel and medicine, which is very much need. Its Red Cross has pledged $150,000.

Britain and Australia are sending search and rescue teams as well.

STEVENS: And let's get back to another potential disaster in Japan. Tension is building across the country over the possibility of a nuclear meltdown. An explosion on Saturday collapsed the roof of one reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. That's in the prefecture of Sendai.

Now, this morning, a warning from Japan's secretary that another explosion is likely in another reactor at the same plant.

Malcolm Grimston is a nuclear energy and development expert. He joins us now from London. Malcolm, thanks very much for joining us.

We are getting conflicting reports out of Japan from the government about what stage things are at. We're hearing the latest was the situation is becoming under control. It's very difficult to find out exactly what's going on there.

But I just want to ask you, first of all, a 20-kilometer perimeter exclusion zone has been set up. In a worst-case scenario, is that going to be enough?

MALCOLM GRIMSTON, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: I think so. It's worth stressing that the explosion that we saw yesterday -- this is going to sound a very strange thing to say but it's our belief. The explosion that we saw yesterday in the number one plant wasn't a terribly important event in the overall thing.

I think we have a reasonable understanding as to why it happened. It was because they had released gases from the central -- what they call the pressure vessel, the most important part of the safety systems of the plant, which is where the radioactive material -- most of the radioactive material is kept, pressure was building up in that. It was quite likely to be some hydrogen in that mixture -- so they released that.

And when the hydrogen and oxygen formed a mixture in that building, there was always the possibility that that explode. That didn't cause any damage to the important parts of the plant.

And the same would apply if there is explosion at number three plant. That of itself has little effect on overall course of the action.

The most important thing is getting cooling water into the middle of the reactor itself. But there are no circumstances in which we're talking about a Chernobyl here. Chernobyl happened with the plant still operating actually because of a design flaw, at several hundred times it's normal operating power. And there was a big explosion right in the very center of the reactor where the fuel was. They have fragments of fuel, 150, 250 meters away from the plant and an enormous release of radioactive material.

That's -- we're 48 hours past the point where the nuclear fission stopped here. Actually, a lot of very worst of the radioactivity will have died away. We're still several days away from safety. But my belief at the moment is that the response has been both proportionate and efficient.

STEVENS: Well, at the moment, reports are that they're pumping sea water to be used as a coolant. If there's -- they're actually doing that -- how long would it take to bring the temperatures back to sort of a level which is deemed safe?

GRIMSTON: It depends how efficient they are getting the seawater into the middle of the plant. My understanding of reactor number one was, first of all, they decided they weren't going to try and save the plant for future electricity use. At that point, they can afford to take things that would make the plant inoperable in the long term but which improve safety in the short term. Sea water is very much in that category.

They flooded the area around the pressure vessel line and the building around it. It gives a lot of cooling if the pressure vessel itself starts getting very hot because of what's going on inside. There is still the issue of trying to get water into the center of the plant.

But at number one, my belief is that where my instinct is probably that we're over the worst. One point you did make a case that it's difficult to find out what's going on. That's not I believe because the Japanese are trying to hide anything. It's because it's very difficult of accidents which are of a nature different from everybody is used to, (INAUDIBLE) this happening.

And number three, it's slightly newer reactor. It was -- it started generating in 1974. It may well have 10 years of life left. So, they wouldn't want to take an action that would force them not to use it again, if they could avoid it. But they still have that option available.

And in those circumstances, you need to -- we're some day as way from the plant being stable. That's always the case in these situations, but if they can get water, then it's just a matter of that going on. Sorry?

STEVENS: As you say, the worst is -- as you say, the worst is now over. We'll have to leave it there, Mr. Grimston. Thanks very much for joining us.

Malcolm Grimston, nuclear energy and development expert, joining us from our London studios.

Well, the tsunami that slammed into the coast of Japan has displaced thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people. So many people are now homeless, living in makeshift shelters and in evacuation centers. They have nothing but the clothes they were wearing. And what many don't realize, they are also dealing with freezing temperatures as well. We've got more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We are continuing our coverage of the aftermath in Japan. And as if picking up the pieces of broken lives isn't hard enough, many people are having to stay outside or in tents, either because their homes have been destroyed or they are just simply afraid of buildings collapsing on them.

And the weather is certainly not helping. It is quite cold in the affects areas.

CNN international meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here with us to tell us a little bit more about that.

I guess, they're not even going to get a break. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's been tough already. And, you know, the temperatures in the afternoon hours have been in the mid and upper 50s. That being about a 12, 13, 14 degrees Celsius, but big changes, the overnight hours have been cool and we're looking at conditions to get even colder here and the weather pattern that we'll talk about momentarily.

But take a look at some of this video coming out of Japan, showing one of the perspective as far as what has happened here as far as rainfall is concerned, even some snow showers over the past couple of days. Mainly just to the northern reaches there. The temperatures are certainly cold enough around Sapporo and Sendai, they do average about 35 inches of snowfall per year. That's about 90 centimeters of snowfall that does accumulate.

So, when you say snow in the forecast for them, they are used to it. They pick up about six inches of it in the month of March. And it looks like some of that may be possible.

But let's come back to the maps here and I'll show you exactly what's going to be happening.

We have a storm system approaching here from the west. Winds ahead of it have been more of a southerly direction. Winds coming in from the south, of course, in this case, are going to begin to warm this area up. That's why the temperatures in the afternoon have been so mild.

As this feature begins to move on, we get northerly component of the wind. The winds, of course, are going to be colder in this case, coming off of, say, Russia and also China. And that's going to cause some of the concerns out here where we're looking at a possibility of snow showers and really the concern initially was getting offshore wind that could get some of the radioactive materials, push those offshore.

Right now, if the storm system lines up where we think it could certainly, the winds will be begin to more of an onshore component -- perhaps, a northerly or north apparently component. And, Randi, if that stays true, 25, 30 mile per hour winds certainly possible at least gusting to that point and they could be pushed towards the onshore area. So, not only cold, perhaps snow showers, but also the radioactive materials could be placed or pushed somewhere where you don't want to see them with population sources (ph).

KAYE: Wow. I can't believe they are going to get snow there.

JAVAHERI: Yes, it's just incredible.

KAYE: Wow. All right. Thank you, we'll check back with you later on.

Next, we're going to take you on a tour of one of Japan's hardest hit cities. More than half of the 18,000 people who live there are missing. And a massive search and rescue effort is under way to see if anyone may have survived the wave that demolished this town.

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KAYE: One of the things that that's kept us connected to what is happening in Japan are the iReports coming in.

To get a sense of how people are coping, let's talk with Josh Sutton. He's in Tokyo where he lives with his 81-year-old grandmother.

And, Josh, I understand that you did make it to the grocery store earlier to get a few of the essentials. Are they in short supply there as we're hearing?

JOSH SUTTON, TOKYO RESIDENT: Well, from what I have seen, it seems like it's minimum. There hasn't been much left there. They are restricting people to enter these grocery stores. Just like entering it, just like a VIP nightclub there.

KAYE: And how is your grandmother doing? Did the two of you feel the quake?

SUTTON: Yes, we both felt it. I think I'm taking it more serious than my grandmother has, because she's experienced the war. She's experienced much more tough things than I have.

KAYE: And are people out on the streets? How are people handling themselves? Is there a sense of panic? Are people afraid to be inside? Or even go outside?

SUTTON: There are much more people out tonight than there was yesterday. Yesterday was such a ghost town. I work in Shibuya. I got called into work yesterday. There were still people out, though. I couldn't really understand why they were shopping or why there were people out.

KAYE: But are they calm? Or is there a sense of panic about when the stores might open or they might get more food?

SUTTON: Just after the earthquake, compared to then, there's not much panic going on. At the moment, it seems like it's slowly going back to place at the moment.

KAYE: And have you seen any sign of rescue or relief efforts? Does anybody there handing out water or bringing any type of food in?

SUTTON: From what I've seen -- I haven't really seen much going on in Tokyo, but a lot of my friends have been volunteering to go or donating money. That's pretty much what we can really do here in Tokyo.

KAYE: All right.

SUTTON: None of us can go up north.

KAYE: Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure it's very difficult getting around. Well, we wish you and your grandmother well. Josh Sutton joining us from Tokyo -- Andrew. STEVENS: Randi, we continue to get ma images from Japan coming in to us here at CNN. Everybody seems to be documenting this. As you can see, we're getting reports from Skype from people on the ground there. We're also getting through YouTube and people sending videos on iReport as well.

The disaster as it unfolds right here on CNN. We'll share some of those stories and pictures with you when we come back.

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KAYE: Japan's prime minister has just started speaking, updating the situation there. Let's take a listen.

NAOTO KAN, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The situation still is very much concerned and on this, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will talk about certain details following my message.

So, ladies and gentlemen, there is one thing that I would like to ask for your understanding, and also like to make a request, including this Fukushima power plant. That many power plants have been damaged, and Tokyo electric power plant and other power plants in short supply of the power, especially in Tohoku. So, the government has instructed the utmost effort to get supply from other power companies. And also, we'd like to ask the industries as well as ordinary households to save energy and power.

However, we do not know when those facilities will be restored. So, in this situation, we could fall into shortage of power. And if this situation remains like this, we could fall into power outage in a wide area. And sudden power failure could devastate the lives of people as well as to the industrial activities, and this is something that we must avoid.

Therefore, I instructed Tokyo Electric Power Company to make a premeditated outage in Tokyo area. And the details will be explained by minister of economy, trade, and industry.

And to people, I know I will be asking an inconvenience, and this is a very hard decision to make. People may not be able to use power and that may affect the supplies of gas and other lifelines, as well as medical and health care equipment. There can be such a negative impact.

Along with the power outage, there can be accompanying concern, and we should take utmost effort to be prepared. So, the government has launched a panel to tackle this situation. We will make sure we will take necessary countermeasures and provide information to all of you, so we ask for your understanding -- so that we can protect your life against power outage.

As to Friday's earthquake and tsunami and the current situation of the power plants in Fukushima, in the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan in that period. Can we Japanese people overcome this crisis? That's the question being asked to each one of the Japanese people. We Japanese had a lot of difficulties in the past, but we were able to overcome those difficulties to reach this peaceful and prosperous and society we have been able to build.

So, with regard to the earthquake and tsunami, I am confident that the Japanese people can be united to work together to further this difficulty. That's my strong belief.

Please, I ask each one of you, please have such determination. And to deepen your bond with your family members, neighbors, and the people in your community to overcome this crisis so that Japan can be a better place. We can do it together.

This is the message I'd like to emphasize to the Japanese people. And this is also my request to the people. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the press conference -- news conference by the Prime Minister Naoto Kan. That was the message by Prime Minister Kan.

Now, we're followed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

YUKIO EDANO, JAPAN'S CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): Now from me, I will be practical, and I would like to inform three points.

In the previous news conference, we told that there would be a meeting by the power companies -- electric power companies, and if that is the case, we've decided that a meeting should be held earlier, and we have made many business, practical coordinations and we came up with the conclusion that it's very important that we tell this decision to the people of Japan.

And so, after this news conference, we will work out the time line and set up the headquarters regarding this planned power outage. And work out on detail.