Radioactive gas escaped despite the automatic shut down of the reactor

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Radioactive steam has leaked into the atmosphere in Pennsylvania, USA.

The accident happened when a water pump broke down at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, 10 miles (16km) south-east of the state capital Harrisburg.

There are fears some of the plant's 500 workers have been contaminated.

The authorities have declared a "general emergency" but did not inform the public until five hours after the gas escaped at 0400 local time.

Director of the County Civil Defence Organisation (CCDO) Les Jackson said they had drawn up an evacuation plan, but nearby residents have not been moved yet.

He described the scene at the large power station in the Susquehanna River as "a madhouse".

Spokesman for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) Joe Fouchard said: "There's a hell of a lot of radiation in the reactor building."

A spokesman for Metropolitan Edison - one of the companies that runs Three Mile Island - said the nuclear reactor automatically shut down after themalfunction, but not before the leak.

According to a US Government report radiation has been detected a mile away, but the calm weather has helped contain the spread of the noxious fumes.

One of the nuclear engineer at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, William Dornsife, said: "There was very little wind this morning, so the radioactivity shouldn't have gone very far."

"What small release there was will be confined to the local vicinity," he continued.

The emergency status will remain until there has been a thorough investigation by teams in anti-radiation suits.

The nuclear industry has been under increasing scrutiny in the US recently.

Five plants were closed down there just two weeks ago over fears of the effects of earthquakes on cooling towers.

Dr King took a crowd of 25,000 to the steps of the state capital

The procession marks the end of a five-day march which started in Selma last week and it brings to a close a month of civil rights protests in Alabama.

Troops policed the roads surrounding the capital and army helicopters hovered overhead as the crowd swelled to nearly 25,000.

Dr King, who addressed the protesters from a podium in the square, described the trek as "one of the greatest marches in the history of America".

"Our aim is not to humiliate and defeat the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding," he added.

Dr King tried to present a petition of black grievances to Governor George Wallace but he refused to meet the delegation.

The civil rights leader said he would ask trade unions to refuse to transport or use the state's products and he urged the Federal Government and the Treasury to withdraw all assistance from the area.

Dr King also said that demonstrations would have to continue where essential conditions remained unmet.

When the march began last week, large bombs were planted at a black church, a funeral parlour and a leading black lawyer's home.

They were later discovered and detonated by experts from the army base at Anniston, Alabama.

To prevent further attacks, US President Lyndon Johnson gave the marchers the protection of nearly 3,000 troops, plus FBI and local police assistance.

But three days ago Viola Liuzzo, a white civil rights advocate who had been ferrying demonstrators to their homes, was shot dead on a lonely stretch of road near the route of the march.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Ku-Klux-Klan movement have reportedly tried to contact President Johnson to dicuss his aversion to their organisation.

There was no immediate response from the US President, who recently launched a scathing attack on the group, describing it as "a band of hoodedbigots, whose loyalty was not with the United States".

malfunction: To fail to function（故障）

bigot: One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ（頑固者；盲目信仰者）