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Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant faces new reactor problem

Police officers wearing respirators guide people to evacuate away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following an evacuation order for residents who live in within a 10 km (6.3 miles) radius from the plant after an explosion in Tomioka Town in Fukushima Prefecture March 12, 2011. REUTERS/Asahi Shimbun

Police officers wearing respirators guide people to evacuate away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following an evacuation order for residents who live in within a 10 km (6.3 miles) radius from the plant after an explosion in Tomioka Town in Fukushima Prefecture March 12, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Asahi Shimbun

TOKYO | Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:17pm EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - A quake-hit Japanese nuclear plant reeling from an explosion at one of its reactors has also lost its emergency cooling system at another reactor, Japan's nuclear power safety agency said on Sunday.

The emergency cooling system is no longer functioning at the No.3 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, requiring the facility to urgently secure a means to supply water to the reactor, an official of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told a news conference.

On Saturday, an explosion blew off the roof and upper walls of the building housing the facility's No. 1 reactor, stirring alarm over a possible major radiation release, although the government later said the explosion had not affected the reactor's core vessel and that only a small amount of radiation had been released.

The nuclear safety agency official said there was a possibility that at least nine individuals had been exposed to radiation, according to information gathered from municipal governments and other sources.

(Reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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Comments (21)
bushpovertyland wrote:
Safe, clean, nuclear energy, yeah right..

Mar 12, 2011 4:48pm EST  --  Report as abuse
Amiga5 wrote:
Have have heard lies before but this takes the cake.
The entire building blew up so you can’t say the reactor vessel is not breached.
This is a Government downplaying a disaster

You can see the pressure wave from the explosion so that’s a lot of force
Lot of force to contend with

Mar 12, 2011 4:55pm EST  --  Report as abuse
salviati wrote:
People, people, don’t panic, there is nothing to see here. The engineers have it all under control. The chances of a disaster like this happening in California is one in a million, (in fine print, “divided by one in a million”). If only the media wouldn’t sensationalize this then Washington can get back to the business of expanding clean, safe, nuclear power at home. This way America can reverse the environmental damage that we are doing to our planet.

With the money I was paid to write that, I decided to install gold roofing over my house. I know lead is heavier, but who needs the exposure, anyhow gold looks better!

Mar 12, 2011 4:56pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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