![]() Despite venting of gases at the reactors, the explosion Saturday morning destroyed the containment building of the No. 1, and coolant loss and spiking temperatures were reported in No. 2 reactors lost their backup cooling systems powered by diesel generators within an hour after the quake.Ī pressure build-up was soon reported in reactor No. Over the past 24 hours, however, government officials have expanded evacuations around the reactors, and conditions seemed to seesaw wildly at the Fukushima I complex, where the No. At this point, there has been no major change to the level of radiation leakage outside, so we'd like everyone to respond calmly.” Evacuations expanded around reactors Edano said, adding, “There was no large amount of radiation leakage outside. “We have confirmed that the walls of this building were what exploded, and not the reactor’s container,” Mr. A “tiny” amount of radiation had leaked earlier in the day when officials attempted to relieve pressure inside the reactor. Still, Japanese officials were matter-of-fact.Ĭhief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Saturday that radiation around the plant had started to decrease. A total of 11 of the nation’s 54 reactors shut down following the quake, knocking out about 30 percent of the nation’s power. On Saturday, the Japanese government reported five reactors at two different nuclear power plants – Fukushima I and Fukushima II – to be in a state of emergency following the massive earthquake that hit Japan Friday. ![]() 1 reactor, but was reported by a government spokesman not to have breached a critical inner steel liner – the reactor’s primary containment vessel. But one US expert characterized the move as an apparent last-ditch “Hail Mary” effort that could easily fail and be followed by a major radioactive release.Īn enormous explosion Saturday morning – possibly due to a buildup of hydrogen gas – destroyed most of a secondary containment building housing the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima I power plant 150 miles north of Tokyo, to keep it cool. Japanese soldiers were reported pumping seawater into the No. Their comments, which came during a Saturday conference call convened by anti-nuclear power groups, were in sharp contrast with reports by the Japanese government which appeared to indicate the main crisis in one of its nuclear reactors was past, although a state of emergency remained in effect for five reactors. Japan’s unfolding nuclear power crisis remains at an unstable, volatile stage, warn US nuclear experts who, while hopeful, say past nuclear accidents – at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl – grew far worse over several days before being controlled. ![]()
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