Kan Seeks Calm as Japan Tries to Contain Meltdown Panic

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for calm as the government battled to cool three quake-damaged nuclear reactors with seawater while Tokyo shoppers stockpiled supplies.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said this afternoon radiation readings outside reactors rocked by explosions were falling below harmful levels, while a fire at a separate unit appeared to have been put out. Earlier today, Edano said the steel unit containing the radioactive core of one reactor had been damaged and warned of dangerous contamination.