Akhir 18, 1432 H/March 23, 2011, SPA -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that the situation at Japan's stricken nuclear plant remains very serious, despite progress in bringing much-needed electricity to the reactors, according to dpa. IAEA senior technical advisor Graham Andrew said in Vienna that all but one reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant now have electricity for measuring instruments that provide valuable data. But he added that "the overall situation remains of serious concern." It has not been possible to connect electricity to the instrumentation of reactor unit 3. Smoke rose from that reactor Wednesday, and workers had to leave the site. The IAEA had no information about this latest of several smoke and steam eruptions, said Elena Buglova, the head of the agency's emergency centre. Andrew said that radioactivity levels have been going up in 10 Japanese prefectures, even as they are decreasing in the area close to Fukushima. Japanese authorities have partially restricted the consumption of vegetables, milk and water after high radioactivity levels were detected.
