Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant: Reactor #3 explodes

At 11am local time on Monday, March 14, 2011, reacter #3 at the Fukushima I plant, suffered an explosion similar to reacter number one’s explosion of Saturday. Like reacter #1, the exterior wall of the building collapsed but a government spokesperson said the containment vessel was not breached.

Reactor #3 does represent a new concern for authorities. It runs on mixed uranium and plutonium oxide, or MOX fuel, which supposedly makes it potentially more dangerous if released into the environment. CNN was reporting yesterday that radiation levels in the plant were 1,000 times above normal levels in the control room of reactor #1 presupposing that some nuclear material has leaked out of the core. It also said that the temperature of cooling water had soared to 100 degrees celsius, three times normal levels, an indication that cooling was not working properly.

Monday’s explosion

Saturday’s explosion

Recap

Four nuclear power plants were immediately affected by the earthquake and tsunami: Onagawa, Fukushima-Daiichi, Fukushima-Daini, and Tokai. Japan has 18 nuclear power plants with 54 reactors spread throughout them.

On Saturday, Unit 1 of the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant exploded blowing the roof off the building. Fears of a leak of radioactive material prompted officials to use seawater to try and cool the overheating unit.

On Monday morning, Unit 3 exploded. Reports say that three people were injured and seven are missing as a result of the blast.

It is unclear just what radiation leaks there may have been. A 20 kilometre evacuation zone was set up around the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Time reports that Pentagon officials have said helicopters flying 110 km from the plant showed traces of radioactive particles which could suggest a widening environmental contamination. CNN tells of the U.S. Navy repositioning its ships away from the Fukushima plant after the detection of low levels of radiation. Kyodo news agency has supposedly reported 15 people being admitted to hospital with symptoms of raidation poisoning. VOA reports that goverment officials are saying that as many as 160 people may have exposed to radiation in the Fukushima prefecture.

2,000 bodies found

CNN has filed a gruesome story. The Kyodo news agency has said that 2,000 bodies were found on Mondya in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan’s northeast coast. Roughly 1,000 bodies were found coming ashore on Miyagi’s Ojika Peninsula, while another 1,000 were seen in the town of Minamisanriku, where some 10,000 people are unaccounted for, Kyodo reported. The official death toll on Sunday stood at 1,700 but was expected to climb as rescuers got to various locales.

Euronews – Mar 14/2011

Cooling breaks down at third reactor in Japan

Japan: Tsunami engulfs Sendai Airport

Amatuer video captures the moment a tsunami sweeps over Sendai Airport in Japan. [OMG!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrS1ITc2yF4

References

Wikipedia: 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsunami

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