Fukushima Nuclear Plant Rocked by Third Blast; Staff Evacuated

By Shigeru Sato, Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada
Mar 14, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Co. confirmed a third explosion today at its Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant 135 miles north of Tokyo, while Japan’s government said radiation from the blast isn’t yet at a level harmful to humans.

The blast occurred around 6:14 a.m. local time near a suppression chamber, which controls pressure in the reactor core, Tokyo Electric spokesman Naohiro Omura said by telephone today. The utility is investigating the cause of the blast at the No. 2 reactor and how many people were injured, he said.

“So far, as far as we have been monitoring, the radiation levels have not risen to the level immediately harmful to the human body,” Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Public Relations Noriyuki Shikata said on Bloomberg Television. He said some workers have been evacuated from the site and the government is “very closely watching” the situation, which is “evolving.”

The level of radiation at the plant rose above the legal limit after the latest explosion, Kyodo News reported. The utility will continue to pump water into the unit, a company spokesman said in a briefing broadcast on NHK television. The blast follows one at the No. 3 reactor yesterday after a build up of hydrogen gas and a similar explosion at the number one reactor on March 12.



Tokyo Electric said the possibility of nuclear meltdown can’t be ruled out, Kyodo News reported, citing the utility.

As workers battled to head off the risk of a potential meltdown at the Fukushima plant, millions of people remained without electricity or water following the earthquake, which may have killed 10,000. Japan sought aid from the United Nations atomic agency, and the U.S. pledged any help needed.

The March 11 temblor -- updated yesterday to a magnitude of 9, from 8.9, by the U.S. Geological Survey -- and subsequent tsunami have led to what Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the country’s worst crisis since World War II. Stocks plunged and the Bank of Japan poured record funds into the economy.

More than 2,000 people are confirmed dead since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit the northeastern part of Japan, Shikata said.

From: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-14/tokyo-electric-confirms-explosion-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant.html