Authorities earlier moved tens of thousands of people out of the area within 20 km (12 miles) of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant.

Workers have been battling a nuclear emergency there since last Friday's huge earthquake and tsunami cut power to reactor cooling systems.

"I have been informed that the figures monitored today (outside the zone) were not anything that would harm human health immediately," spokesman Yukio Edano told a briefing.

At the plant, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Tokyo, radiation levels rose sharply earlier in the day -- prompting a brief evacuation of workers -- but fell soon afterwards.

Edano said the level was stable around 1.5 millisieverts near the front gate at 4 pm (0700 GMT).

He said workers were preparing another attempt to pump water around overheating reactor fuel rods to cool them down.

But media reports citing defence ministry officials said military helicopters had postponed an attempt to drop water on the stricken plant because of the high radiation level.

earlier related report
Radiation fears mount in China amid Japan crisis
Beijing (AFP) March 16, 2011 - China stepped up radiation monitoring of passengers and goods from neighbouring Japan on Wednesday as fears mounted about harmful nuclear contamination from the stricken country.

Internet users expressed concern over the safety of food imported from quake-hit Japan, prompting Japanese restaurants to issue online reassurances that their ingredients had been imported from Australia and Europe.

Postings on Twitter-like microblogging sites advised mothers to "be careful" if buying baby formula from Japan while others suggested many people would "give up eating Japanese food" for fear it was contaminated by radiation.

Beijing has begun helping its nationals leave areas in Japan devastated by Friday's 9.0-magnitude quake and ensuing tsunami that have left more than 11,000 dead or missing and triggered a crisis at a nuclear plant.

The Fukushima nuclear facility on Japan's east coast has been rocked by a series of explosions, fires and radiation leaks since the massive earthquake and monster waves cut power to the plant and caused reactor fuel rods to heat up dangerously.

China's ministry of environmental protection has said so far no abnormal radiation levels had been detected from Fukushima, which is 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from the nearest part of northeastern China.

But border inspection authorities in Shanghai released a statement Wednesday saying they were checking all incoming travellers, luggage and imports of food and other goods from Japan that enter the city's airport or port.

Shanghai is the world's busiest container port.

China's product safety agency issued a notice ordering authorities involved in inspection of incoming goods nationwide to strengthen monitoring of "atomic and radioactive matter at ports".

Air passengers arriving in Beijing were being monitored for radiation but officials said this was routine for all passengers even before Japan's disasters and they had not stepped up vigilance.

The radiation anxiety was by far the most popular topic on the microblog service of leading portal Sina.com, according to its ranking system.

Searches on the service for the term "nuclear leaks" appeared to be blocked, possibly to head off rising fears among web users. However, many other related terms were not blocked and other providers appeared not to be censoring at all.

Meteorological authorities say any radioactive particles released by the Japanese plant should have no impact on China for at least the next two days, citing current weather patterns.

Chinese authorities in Japan have mounted an operation to help evacuate its citizens from disaster-hit areas. A Chinese media report said earlier there were about 33,000 Chinese nationals in five disaster-hit Japanese prefectures.

The airlines China Southern and China Eastern said they have added flights serving Japan while state flag carrier Air China said it was replacing some of its planes servicing Japanese routes with bigger models to accommodate demand.

The state-run China National Radio also reported that two ships able to transport a total of 4,000 people planned to sail Wednesday from the eastern city of Yantai to Japan to bring back Chinese citizens.

earlier related report
Japan radiation fears spark panic in Russia's Far East
Vladivostok, Russia (AFP) March 16, 2011 - People in Russia's Far East on Wednesday stocked up on iodine and nervously checked radiation levels despite official reassurances there was no danger from Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant just 1,000 kilometres to the east.

Russia's emergencies ministry said that radiation levels remained normal and stressed that there was no risk for human health and that no danger from radiation was expected but many were not convinced.

In the regional capital Vladivostok, which is no more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) west of the Fukushima nuclear plant, pharmacies were sold-out of iodine, dosimeters -- instruments that measure the amount of radiation -- flew off of the shelves and people bought tickets to Moscow.

"All the medicine was sold out yesterday and it is unclear when the new supplies will arrive," said a salesclerk at a local pharmacy, referring to iodine, a standard anti-radiation treatment.

Pensioner Tatyana Zaitseva said she looked for it at several pharmacies in the city but could not find it anywhere.

"I believe that our authorities are telling the truth about what has happened in Japan," she said. "But you never know what may happen: today the situation is this but tomorrow the wind will change and we will get all the radiation."

Another city resident said he could not buy medicine a doctor prescribed to his wife. "Those who really need this have been left without it because of a handful of alarmists," said Mikhail Obukhov, a 20-year old student.

The local authorities were at pains to tell residents there was no need to panic after experts insisted that the prevailing winds at this time of year would blow any radiation away from the Russian Far East.

"There is no risk of radiation in the Far East. For that reason, residents should not fall for the general rush to buy and take iodine products," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted a spokesman for the Far East region emergency ministry as saying.

But Roman Vilfand, head of Russia's Gidromettsentr state weather service, said that the situation could change depending on air circulation

"If the wind changes suddenly, then Primorye, Kamchatka, Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands would end up being the most vulnerable in our country," he said in comments published in pro-government newspaper Izvestia.

Radiation levels on Sakhalin, a large Pacific island close to Japan, averaged at 11 microroentgen per hour compared with a maximum accepted norm of 30 per hour, the regional emergencies ministry said.

"An unhealthy atmosphere has grown up among residents of the region," the head of the Sakahalin regional emergency ministry, Taimuraz Kasayev, told journalists on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.

"These rumours are trivial and ridiculous," Kasayev said, adding that even if the weather conditions were the worst possible, the emissions of radioactive particles would not create a "serious risk" for residents.

"I can say with full confidence that we will not need to evacuate residents," Kasayev was quoted as saying.

Coastguards at sea were taking part in monitoring radiation, with the ministry receiving updated readings every two hours, it said. It warned residents not to use information on radiation levels "from untested sources."

The Far Eastern military district has also said it was closely watching the situation and was ready to evacuate the Kuril archipelago -- the southernmost part of which is still claimed by Japan -- and Sakhalin to the north.

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