Environment

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FILE - This Friday, Oct. 13, 1991 file picture shows part of the collapsed roof at the Chernobyl, Ukraine nuclear power plant during a media tour of the facility. The idea of smothering and sealing Japan's overheated nuclear reactors in sand or concrete to stop the crisis is appealing. But experts say that it's too early for something that desperate and that it could be a big mistake that could make matters worse. Alex Sich, a nuclear engineer at Franciscan University in Ohio, who has lived in Chernobyl and published research on the disaster there, noted that Russian authorities dumped some 5,000 tons of sand, clay and other materials from helicopters in an attempt to smother that dangerous reactor. But the Japanese situation is different, he said. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

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International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, center, speaks to journalists upon his arrival at Narita International Airport in Narita, near Tokyo Friday, March 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Keisuke Kimura)

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Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Yukiya Amano from Japan speaks to the media about the nuclear emergency triggered by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan before his takeoff to Japan at Vienna's Schwechat airport, Austria, on Thursday, March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

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Residents observes a moment of silence for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami at a shelter in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, at 2:46 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2011, at the time when a strong earthquake hit northeastern Japan one week ago. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

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DANGER: Thick smoke billows from the No. 3 unit of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. A nearly completed new power line could restore cooling systems to the tsunami-damaged structure, its operator said Thursday. (Associated Press)

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President Obama signs the condolence book as Ichiro Fujisaki, the Japanese ambassador to the U.S., looks on during his visit to the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Thursday. Mr. Obama placed a telephone call to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday to discuss Japan's efforts to recover from last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-chi plant. (Associated Press)

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Flood water is released from the Three Gorges Dam's floodgates in Yichang, China, after heavy rains last summer. Critical infrastructure controlled by computers, including dams, pipelines and factories, are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks in China than in other countries, security specialists say. Three Gorges is the largest dam in the world. (Associated Press)

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The Visual Performance Evaluation Lab (VPEL) affords technicians a controlled environment in which to test vehicle interior components to verify that they are lit properly and legible inside the vehicle environment.

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The Visual Performance Evaluation Lab (VPEL) affords technicians a controlled environment in which to test vehicle interior components to verify that they are lit properly and legible inside the vehicle environment.

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A Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopter scoops sea water off Japan's northeast coast on its way to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Japan, on Thursday morning, March 17, 2011. Helicopters dumped water on a stricken reactor at the plant in the country's northeast to cool overheated fuel rods inside the core. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Kenji Shimizu)

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An Environmental Protection Agency RadNet (radiation network) monitor is shown on the roof of the Bay Area Air Quality Management building in San Francisco on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Federal environmental regulators said they are adding more radiation monitors in the Western United States and the Pacific territories as concerns rise over exposure from damaged nuclear plants in Japan. (AP Photo)

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Shoppers mob a supermarket for salt purchase in Lanzhou in northwest China's Gansu province Thursday, March 17, 2011. Residents in a few Chinese cities have gone on a buying spree of iodized salt in the belief that it would ward off radiation pollution as a result of the troubled nuclear reactors in Japan following an earthquake. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

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Emperor Akihito tried to calm the nerves of his nation's people during a televised address on Wednesday. He expressed his condolences to those who have suffered since the earthquake and tsunami and urged them not to give up. (Associated Press)

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HOMELESS: A woman walks around the devastated area in snowy and cold Ofunato in northern Japan where her home used to be before the earthquake and tsunami on Wednesday. Emperor Akihito appeared on TV across Japan in a prerecorded message that lasted about six minutes. (Associated Press/Kyodo News)

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This satellite photo taken on Wednesday, March 16, 2011, and provided by DigitalGlobe shows the damage to the reactor buildings of Units 1, 3 and 4 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in northeast Japan. Steam can be seen venting from the Unit 2 reactor building, as well as from the Unit 3 reactor building. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

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People wearing surgical masks leave Shimbashi train station in Tokyo Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

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BABY MONITOR: A baby is checked for radiation exposure on Tuesday in Nihonmatsu, a city in Fukushima, where another explosion and a fire at a nuclear-power plant sent radiation levels above normal. (Kyodo News via Associated Press)

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Japan Self-Defense Force members search for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami Tuesday in the devastated city of Ofunato, Japan. (Associated Press)

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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan discusses the disaster at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday. Mr. Kan said the risks of further radiation leaks are increasing after an explosion at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima. (Bloomberg)