Two U.S. reporters reach crippled Fukishima-1 nuke plant

Voice of America correspondent Steve Herman and John Glionna of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday were the first American reporters to gain entry to the grounds of the crippled Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. But the duo was permitted no farther than the main gate. Since the March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed part of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant here, few reporters seem to have attempted to reach the facility. The two reporters gained access all the way to the main gate of Fukushima-1 on Wednesday. Herman reported: "Police instructed us not to open our vehicle windows and to report to a radiation screening center in the town of Tamura afterwards, where we should wash the truck. As we moved towards 'ground zero' we passed kilometers of fields from which farmers have fled. For most of the 20-kilometer journey we spotted only police, military and other official vehicles. Even those we could count on one hand. Not a single person was seen outside in Futaba and Okuma, which until March 11 had a combined population of about 18,500. The doors of some businesses remain open through which people hastily fled when the ground shook with unprecedented fury."