TOKYO (Reuters) - Following are main developments after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeast Japan and crippled a nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation.
- Official death toll from earthquake and tsunami 8,133 with 12,272 missing. Police say more than 15,000 feared dead in Miyagi prefecture alone.
* Reactors at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are showing some improvement but the situation remains uncertain, Tetsuro Fukuyama, Japan's deputy chief cabinet secretary, told reporters.
* The operator of the crippled nuclear power plant said it may take several days for power to be restored at the No.3 and No.4 reactors.
- Engineers have attached a power cable to the Nos. 1, 5 and 6 reactors, and hope to restore electricity on Sunday prior to an attempt to switch the pumps on. Nuclear power reactor has restored electricity at No. 2 reactor of the stricken plant.
- Japan government spokesman says some stabilisation at the most critical No.3 reactor. Engineers meanwhile are using diesel generators for less critical reactors No. 5 and No.6 reactors.
- Temperature in spent fuel pools at reactors No. 5 and 6 returning to normal.
- Tests detect radiation above the national safety level in spinach and milk produced near the Fukushima plant. A sample of tap water from Tokyo shows a tiny level of radioactive.
* The health ministry said that radiation levels exceeded safety standards in Fukushima and nearby Ibaraki prefecture. It said it had prohibited the sale of raw milk from Fukushima prefecture.
- If engineers are unable to cool the reactor, the last option would be entombing the plant with concrete and sand to prevent a catastrophic radiation leak, the method used at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986.
- Light southeasterly winds, rain forecast around plant.
- Japanese PM Kan tried, and failed, to form a crisis cabinet following the earthquake and tsunami. The opposition, including the Liberal Democratic Party, told Kan it rejected his idea of increasing the number of cabinet ministers to create new posts to handle reconstruction policy.
(Tokyo bureau; Compiled by World Desk Asia)