Japan: Nuclear Plant Blast

March 16, 2011

All workers from a crippled reactor at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, have been evacuated, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday.

Edano said that white smoke was rising from the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daichi power plant, adding officials were investigating the cause. He said radiation levels had been fluctuating by the hour; they had spiked rapidly Wednesday morning, and that even the minimal workforce was evacuated.

Edano said that something similar to what previously happened at reactor No. 2 may be happening at reactor no. 3 — a possible problem with the reactor's containment vessel.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to try to cool the storage pool at reactor No. 4. Edano said officials were still trying to decide the best course of action, and that simply adding a lot of water quickly could pose risks.

The development came after a fire broke out Wednesday at reactor No. 4.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Hajimi Motujuku said the blaze erupted early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor's containment vessel. It wasn't clear if the second fire at reactor No. 4 in as many days was new, or if the first fire wasn't fully extinguished. Firefighters are trying to put out the flames. Japan's nuclear safety agency also confirmed the fire, whose cause was not immediately known.

Tuesday's fire and an apparent explosion damaged the reactor's roof, and there are concerns that the spent fuel rods are overheating.
About three hours after the blaze erupted Wednesday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said fire and smoke could no longer be seen at Unit 4, but that it was unable to confirm that the blaze had been put out.

Also Wednesday, the agency said 70 percent of the nuclear fuel rods may have been damaged at another Fukushima Daiichi reactor that was first stricken last week, triggering the crisis.
"But we don't know the nature of the damage, and it could be either melting, or there might be some holes in them," said an agency spokesman, Minoru Ohgoda.

Desperate plant operators considered dramatic plans to stave off a meltdown in the reactor, including dumping water on it by helicopter. But plant operators worried that the water wouldn't reach the fuel rods.