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Meltdown risk fades, Japan food tainted

Chargers of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS) 14 from Naval Air Facility Atsugi flies over the city of Sendai, Japan to deliver more than 1,500 pounds of food to survivors of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area, March 12, 2011. The citizens of Ebina City, Japan, donated the food, and HS-14 is supporting earthquake and tsunami relief operations in Japan as directed. UPI/U.S. Navy Photo
Chargers of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS) 14 from Naval Air Facility Atsugi flies over the city of Sendai, Japan to deliver more than 1,500 pounds of food to survivors of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area, March 12, 2011. The citizens of Ebina City, Japan, donated the food, and HS-14 is supporting earthquake and tsunami relief operations in Japan as directed. UPI/U.S. Navy Photo | License Photo

TOKYO, March 19 (UPI) -- Japanese officials said Saturday radiation has been found in milk and spinach but voiced hope of avoiding a meltdown in the Fukushima reactors.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told the Kyodo news agency conditions at the damaged nuclear reactors were "more stable than expected" as crews worked at flooding the cores with water to prevent a meltdown of the fuel rods.

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Hundreds of Tokyo Electric Power workers connected a nearly mile-long transmission line to Reactor No. 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Station Saturday, The New York Times reported. They hope to restart a cooling system Sunday.

Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said spinach and milk were the only products from nearby farms found with abnormally high radiation levels. But many farms have not yet been tested amid the overwhelming crisis.

Inspectors said milk had five times the safe level of iodine-131 and spinach was more than seven times higher.

The nuclear plant was damaged by a magnitude 9 earthquake March 11 and then crippled by the ensuing tsunami that knocked out electrical systems and washed away backup generators designed to cool the radioactive cores.

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Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area since steam radiation leaks began last week.

The National Police Agency said the number of dead and missing surpassed 18,690, with 7,320 dead and 11,370 unaccounted for by Saturday afternoon.

In the battered city of Sendai, the northeastern port nearest the epicenter, the Fujisaki department store reopened Saturday.

''We hope we can help restore calm and help people get back to their normal lives little by little,'' a store employee told Kyodo.

Asian neighbors pledged help to Japan, and China and South Korea agreed to boost cooperation in disaster prevention and nuclear safety, Kyodo reported.

Rikuzentakata was the first city to receive temporary housing for evacuees Saturday as construction began on 200 100-square-foot prefabricated units.

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