2nd Japanese Reactor Problematic amidst Fears of Meltdown

World | March 13, 2011, Sunday // 09:59|  views

More than 200 000 residents from around the Fukushima NPP have been evacuated and authorities are warning people in the area to stay home and cover their mouths if they must go outside. Photo by EPA/BGNES

А meltdown is suspected at а reactor at unit 1 of the Japanese Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, Fukushima Daiichi's, according to Japanese officials.

The information was reported Sunday by the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, who said it was "highly possible" that a meltdown was underway at Fukushima Daiichi's unit 1 reactor, where an explosion destroyed a building Saturday.

Also on Saturday Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) reported the reactor could be nearing a meltdown and that two radioactive substances, cesium and radioactive iodine, have been detected in the area.

Officials further report the reactor at unit 3 lost its emergency cooling system and utility workers have released "air, containing radioactive materials" in an effort to relieve pressure inside.

More than 200 000 residents from around Fukushima have been evacuated and authorities are distributing potassium iodide pills, and warning people in the area to stay home and cover their mouths if they must go outside.

NISA reports that 160 people had been exposed to radiation from the plants. One worker has died after being trapped in an exhaust stack and another has been hospitalized for radiation exposure. Another 15 have been listed in hospitals over suspicions of overexposure.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the two heavily damaged units, is pumping seawater mixed with boric acid in an unprecedented effort to cool the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1 reactor.

Experts see the decision to pump seawater into the unit as recognition that the elaborate system of valves, pumps and pipes, and the layers of steel and concrete, might not be enough to guarantee that the nuclear facility could avoid a disaster of Chernobyl's proportions.

Tokyo Electric said it had also vented or planned to vent steam and gas from six of its other reactor units. It also reported that radiation levels next to the unit 1 building have increased nearly a hundredfold.

The Saturday explosion inside Fukushima Daiichi unit 1 destroyed a building that housed both the reactor vessel and its containment structure.

The explosion also rattled public confidence, sparking a run on bottled water in Tokyo.

"Japan has an ambivalent relationship with nuclear issues. As victim of the only wartime nuclear bombings, it opposes such weapons. But as a resource-scarce country, it has turned to nuclear power to help fuel its economy," the Washington Post writes Sunday.

Fukushima Daiichi unit 1 is one of the oldest operating nuclear plants in Japan, turning 40 years old on March 26. NISA licenses reactors to operate for 40 years - meaning that unit 1 was scheduled to be taken offline this month.

The Post also reports that the US government and private companies had offered assistance to Japan but had not received any requests. The US Department of Energy informs they are "in close contact" with its Japanese counterparts and would "provide whatever assistance they request to help them bring the reactors under control."

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Tags: Earthquake, Japan, NPP, Nuclear Power Plant, Fukoshima, meltdown, explosion, reactor, radiation, NISA, Tokyo Electric

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