Health risks from Japan nuclear leaks minimal: WHO

The World Health Organization said Monday that there is minimal public health risk arising from radioactive leaks from Japan's damaged nuclear reactors.

"From what we know at the moment on the radiation levels, the public health risk is minimal for Japan," the UN health agency's spokesman, Gregory Hartl, told AFP.

"That means that if someone is affected, there is no great risk," he added.

Hartl stressed that "very little" radiation had leaked from the nuclear reactors damaged in Japan's massive earthquake.

"In addition, everyone had already been evacuated" by the time the incidents hit, he added.

According to the WHO, 22 people living in the area of the nuclear reactor had recorded "low levels of radiation."

Japan is racing to prevent a nuclear disaster, as explosions rocked two overheating reactors after cooling systems at three reactors failed following Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake.

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