Obama vows continued aid to Japan

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said yesterday the United States will stand by longtime ally Japan as it recovers from last week's earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear crisis the disasters spawned.

Separately, White House officials said that despite fears raised by the emergency, nuclear power remains "vital" to U.S. energy policy.

Meanwhile, the Navy reported that several U.S. ships involved in the relief effort had to be moved away from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after findings that the ships and the 17 helicopter crew members had been exposed to low levels of radiation. There have been two hydrogen explosions in three days at the plant since its cooling systems failed after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

But U.S. officials said yesterday the design of the Japanese reactors and the distance across the Pacific Ocean mean there is little probability of harmful levels of radiation reaching the United States, including Hawaii or U.S. territories in the Pacific.

Obama said he has offered Japan any assistance the United States can provide as it recovers from the "multiple disasters."

In an education speech at a middle school in Virginia, the president began his remarks by saying that he continues to be heartbroken by the images of devastation that have struck the U.S. ally. "I know all of you, young and old, have been watching the full magnitude of this tragedy unfold," he told his school audience. He called the people of Japan "some of our closest friends and allies."

Cmdr. Jeff Davis, spokesman for 7th Fleet, said air monitoring equipment on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan detected that the warship had been exposed to very low levels of contamination. It is presumed that the seven other ships traveling in the carrier group also were exposed, but only the Reagan -- which has sensors to detect problems with the ship's own nuclear power plant -- picked it up, he said.

Hand-held equipment kept on ships for detecting surface contamination separately determined a low level of exposure for the 17 helicopter crew members who had returned to the carrier after a search and rescue mission over Japan, Davis said.

"It was easily taken care of by washing with soap and water," he said. "Once they had discarded their clothing, washed with soap and water and were retested, there was no additional contamination detected."