Federal regulators were advised that highly radioactive spent fuel was exposed to the air in at least two Japanese nuclear power reactors, with the “likelihood of core damage in three units” following the 9.0 earthquake March 11. Radioactivity releases are presumed. “We thought a 50-mile evacuation zone was a prudent, conservative suggestion” to the Japanese government, Bill Borchardt, NRC executive director for operations, told commissioners March 21. Only a 12-mile evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi plant is in effect. In the U.S., Borchardt noted that it is up to state governors to establish the extent of planning zones around nuclear power plants. In California, the California Emergency Management Agency established a 10-mile radius around the state’s nuclear facilities as an “emergency planning zone” where residents are supposed to be sent information annually on emergency response measures. An “ingestion pathway zone” covers an approximate 50-mile radius around the plants where plans are in place to mitigate the effects of radioactive contamination to agriculture and food processing and distribution, according to the agency. Following up on a March 16 letter to commission chair Greg Jaczko requesting reviews and upgrades for California’s nuclear facilities, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) invoked new earthquake hazard concerns for the power plants this week. “New information about the severe seismic risk at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and the Diablo Canyon power plant make clear that these two plants require immediate attention in light of the catastrophic events in Japan,” Boxer stated March 22. The senators requested Jaczko’s “immediate attention.” Jaczko promised a “systematic and methodical” review of all the nation’s nuclear facilities, but did not place any emphasis on the earthquake-identified zones for California.