Radiation alert: US Navy crews exposed

via msnbc.msn.com

The U.S. Seventh Fleet moved its ships and aircraft away from a quake-stricken Japanese nuclear plant Monday after discovering low-level radioactive contamination on crews returning from relief missions. 1. Japan earthquake 1. Image: An SOS sign is written on the ground in Miyagi prefecture, Japan Japan 'overwhelmed by the scale of damage' Updated 35 minutes ago 3/14/2011 3:11:18 PM +00:00 A tide of 1,000 bodies washed up, crematoriums were overwhelmed and rescuers used chain saws to search for bodies in Japan's devastated coastal towns on Monday. 2. Updated 32 minutes ago 3/14/2011 3:14:21 PM +00:00 Radiation alert: US Navy crews exposed 3. Nuke industry vows that reactors will be 'even safer' 4. Japan's earthquake: How to help 5. International rescue effort gathers pace in Japan 6. Fears over radiation in the air Updated 13 minutes ago 3/14/2011 3:32:41 PM +00:00 NBC’s Robert Bazell separates fear from reality of radiation exposure in the aftermath of the Japanese reactor incidents. 7. Time-lapse of earthquake aftershocks Updated 41 minutes ago 3/14/2011 3:05:21 PM +00:00 Since the initial 8.9-magnitude quake, Japan has been struck by hundreds of aftershocks. 8. Image: Images of chaos, destruction 8.9-magnitude quake, tsunami cause enormous damage. The fleet said that the radiation was from a plume of smoke and steam released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where there have been two hydrogen explosions since Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Seventeen U.S. military personnel involved in helicopter relief missions were found to have been exposed to low levels of radiation upon returning to the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier about 100 miles offshore. U.S. officials said the exposure level was roughly equal to one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment, and after scrubbing with soap and water, the 17 were declared contamination-free.

Crews picked up radiation during helicopter relief missions; 2nd explosion rocks Japan nuke plant.