Japan rocked by second nuclear explosion
March 14th, 2011 - 1:51 pm ICT by ANITokyo, Mar.14 (ANI): The second hydrogen explosion in three days occurred at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on monday, sending a huge cloud of smoke into the air and wounding six workers. It is not clear if any radiation has been released in the blast.
The blast follows a similar explosion Saturday that took place at the plant’s Unit 1, which injured four workers and caused mass-evacuations.
Japan had been battling to control the overheated reactors at the Fukushima plant after their cooling systems failed to operate after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami hit the country on Friday.
Japan’s nuclear safety agency has said that six workers have been injured in today’s explosion but are conscious. It was not clear if they have been exposed to radiation.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that the reactor’s inner containment vessel holding the rods was intact and the possibility of radioactive leakage was low.
However, he added that people living with a 20 km radius have been ordered to stay inside and not to drink tap water.
Earlier pressure inside the reactor in Unit 3 had jumped alarmingly, forcing the workers to pour sea water into it to cool it down, even though this would corrode the reactor and make it useless.
More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area in recent days, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation. (ANI)
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