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A hydrogen explosion occurred today at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant’s troubled second reactor, leaving three workers injured and seven missing, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said.
The Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr Yukio Edano, was quoted by the Kyodo news agency as saying that the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co confirmed that the blast did not damage the container of the No. 3 reactor, allaying fears that the blast may have caused a massive release of radioactive substance.
“According to the plant chief’s assessment, the container’s health has been maintained,” Mr Edano said.
“The possibility is low that massive radioactive materials have spattered.”
Mr Edano said the blast, which blew away the roof and the walls of the building housing the container, was similar to an explosion on Saturday at another reactor of the same plant, after Friday’s 9.0 magnitude quake.
Other media reports said that the explosion was heard from 40 kilometres away.
The top government spokesman said operations to pour sea water into the reactor to cool it down were continuing and the level of pressure in the container was stable, Kyodo said.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said wind was not blowing in the area and the radiation level had not significantly risen.
The radiation at the plant’s premises today rose over the benchmark limit of 500 micro sievert per hour at two locations, according to the report.
The hourly amounts are more than half the 1,000 micro sievert to which people are usually exposed in one year. The maximum level detected so far around the plant is 1,557.5 micro sievert logged yesterday, Kyodo reported.
The seawater were being poured into the plant’s 1 and 3 reactors to help cool their cores, which are believed to have partially melted after part of the fuel rods were no longer covered by coolant water when levels fell following the quake.
Japan’s nuclear agency had earlier declared a state of emergency at another nuclear facility at Onagawa after excessive nuclear radiations were reported there.
Thousands of military personnel and civilians joined hands in a massive search and rescue operation. Over 1.8 lakh people have been evacuated from a 20 km radius from the nuke plant joining over 3.5 lakh who have already moved out, the news agency said
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was continuing to liaise with the Japanese authorities and monitoring the situation as it evolves.
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