Japan declared Level One Emergency
The cooling system in a third Japanese nuclear power plant failed early Monday (Japan time), the Kyodo news agency reported, citing fire and disaster management department officials.
Cooling failed at a second reactor No. 3 and core melting was presumed at both, said the top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. An explosion could also rock the No. 3 reactor, Mr. Edano warned, because of a buildup of hydrogen within the reactor.
"The possibility that hydrogen is building up in the upper parts of the reactor building cannot be denied. There is a possibility of a hydrogen explosion," Mr. Edano said. He stressed that as in the No. 1 unit, the reactor's steel containment would withstand the explosion.
Thus currently Cooling had failed at three reactors at a nuclear complex nearby, Fukushima Daini
It has been reported that 4th reactor is also having problems.
The news followed the announcement that Japan had declared a level one, or lowest, state of emergency at Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi prefecture, the region hardest hit by the earthquake and following tsunami.
A pump in the cooling system of Tokai nuclear power plant in Ibaraki prefecture, 120 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, had failed.
This has increased the chances of explosion.
Radioactivity levels in the region had exceeded 'allowed levels in the area surrounding the plant,' the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted on Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to four kilometres (two and a half miles) into the air, a local official said.
Authorities have maintained a volcano warning at a level of three out of five, restricting access to the entire mountain.
Reality Views by sm –
Monday, March 14, 2011
Keywords Tags – Japan third nuclear plant cooling stopped, IAEA, Emergency.
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