Obama Japan Statement To Be Delivered By President On Nuclear Crisis

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama will make a statement later in the day on the deepening nuclear crisis in Japan.

Obama spoke Wednesday night with Japan's prime minister about steps the U.S. is taking to ensure the safety of Americans there – steps that exceed what Japan is telling its own citizens. The U.S. has also offered to evacuate Americans from three Japanese cities.

Japanese emergency workers sought Thursday to regain control of a dangerously overheated nuclear complex, dousing it with water from police cannons, fire trucks and helicopters to cool nuclear fuel rods that are threatening to spray out more radiation.

The U.S. is telling Americans within 50 miles of the Fukushima Dai-chi plant to evacuate while the Japanese government has imposed a less stringent, 12-mile radius.

Early Tuesday afternoon, Obama made an unannounced visit to the Japan Embassy.