Keep close tab on nuclear power plant crisis in Japan

keep close tab on - to watch someone or something carefully to check what they are doing

were crippled by - to damage something badly

evacuate - to leave empty

expatriate - someone who lives in foreign country

declare states of emergency for five nuclear reactors

refraining from giving a direct answer,

hardest-hit coastal regions

would respond to an emergency in a speedy and efficient manner

expand evacuation perimeter around ... to a 20-kilometer radius

smoke billowed out of the facility - to make rise, surge

express the sympathy and concern over the disaster

condolence (慰問 )

convey good will to

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