Japan was temporarily evacuated yesterday afternon after experts working at the stricken Fukushima Die Itchy power plant accidentally reported that radiation levels outside the plant were 10 million times higher than government safety levels.
Airports and the Sea of Japan were heavily congested as people fought to get out of the country as soon as possible.
At 5pm Japan time, the head of the troubled Tokyo Radioactive Caesium Company, Ofuk Natanaza Sunami, announced that this had been a mistake, and that the display on the technician's electronic geiger counter had been set to MilliSieverts when he thought it was set to Sieverts, causing him to think that the levels were 10 million times higher than permitted levels. "Actually", he said, "the levels were only 10 thousand times over the limit".
Upon hearing this happy news, the Japanese population returned and went to work as normal this morning, and the Nikkei rose sharply.
