Nuclear crisis worsens in Japan
Posted March 16, 2011 6:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A core group of emergency workers, who’ve likely put their own health at risk in the effort to avert a meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, continued the struggle to stabilize overheated reactors Wednesday despite a temporary evacuation ordered earlier in the day.
A second rupture in a reactor has been reported, intensifying the crisis.
The team, dubbed “The Fukushima 50”, has been at the forefront of the effort to bring down temperatures inside damaged reactors using seawater. On Tuesday, 750 workers were pulled out of the facility operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
There have been three hydrogen explosions and a fire at the plant since last Friday’s twin disasters, sparking fears of a possible meltdown. But some good news came early Thursday after Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said a new power line that could restore electricity to the complex was almost complete.
Officials plan to try it “as soon as possible”.
The front line workers at the plant were evacuated temporarily Wednesday when radiation surged to dangerous levels at the plant. Possible damage to the containment vessel on the Unit 3 reactor is being blamed for the radiation spike. This comes a day after officials announced a similar problem in the Unit 2 reactor.
Military helicopters surveyed radiation levels and officials considered using them to dump water on the plant, but the idea was later dropped.
There have been hydrogen explosions in the plant’s Unit 1, 2, and 3 reactors. A storage pond for spent fuel in Unit 4 caught fire late Tuesday afternoon and flared up again Wednesday morning. Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to the plant and the backup diesel generators, crippling its cooling systems.
There are six reactors at the Dai-ichi plant.
Currently, 3,700 are officially listed as dead, but that number is expected to surpass 10,000.
Meanwhile, millions of people endured a fifth day of cold and snowy weather with little food, water and heat. Nearly half a million people are staying in temporary shelters.
According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, 70 per cent of the rods have been damaged at the Unit 1 reactor. There are reports 33 per cent of the fuel rods at Unit 2 are damaged and the cores of both units may be partially melted.
Radiation was released into the atmosphere when officials released steam through vents in an effort to lower pressure in the reactors. Radiation was also released during the Unit 4 fire.
Both citizens and international experts have voiced concern over the apparent lack of information released by the Japanese government about the nuclear crisis. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government asked the United States for help, but didn’t say much more. Japanese authorities are still deciding whether or not they want to accept help from other nations.
The INES scale is used to rate the severity of nuclear incidents. On Saturday Japan rated the situation at Dai-ichi as a four on a scale of one to seven. France classified the situation as a level-six.
Approximately 140,000 people within a 30-kilometre radius of the plant were told to seal themselves indoors, if they hadn’t already evacuated, to avoid possible radiation sickness. A no-fly zone was also established over the plant.
Traces of radiation have been detected in tap water in Fukushima city, about 80 kilometres away from the nuclear plant.
Provincial officials also said radioactive cesium and iodine were found in water samples Wednesday, but those substances weren’t detected in a subsequent test.
Edano insisted Wednesday that radiation levels in areas 20 to 30 kilometres from the plant “do not pose a direct threat to the human body.”
The nuclear crisis, which appears to have overshadowed the disasters that sparked it, prompted a rare address from Japanese Emperor Akihito, 77.
“With the help of those involved I hope things will not get worse,” he said.
Radiation levels in Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, were approximately 300 times normal levels Wednesday morning. Those readings are definitely unhealthy, but not fatal.
Meanwhile, both France and Australia have advised their citizens to leave Japan and several flights have been cancelled or rerouted because travellers want to avoid Tokyo, where increased radiation levels — 10 times normal — have also been recorded.
With files from The Associated Press.
