At 3:40pm local time in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, an explosion shook the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Four people were reported injured from the initial blast, but broader concerns over increased radiation leakage have lead officials to double the evacuation zone around the plant from 6 to 12 miles. What the ultimate fallout will be is…
An explosion has wracked the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant in Japan. Nuclear officials have detected radioactive cesium and iodine at the site and fear that the uranium fuel rods have begun melting. Notes the BBC: Air and steam, with some level of radioactivity, has been released from several of the reactors at both plants…
Worse news from the Fukushima plant—the facility has experienced a “station blackout,” meaning all cooling mechanisms have halted. This is “one of the most serious conditions that can affect a nuclear plant,” says the Union of Concerned Scientists. And if cooling dies completely? A meltdown shortly thereafter. Japanese nuclear experts are scrambling to maintain the…
There’s literally no such thing as a completely safe exposure to radiation. So official reports of 1000 times normal levels in the Fukushima plant’s control room are very, very troubling—especially since this plant’s venting air. Update: The NYT is reporting that “some radiation—it was not clear how much—[has] seeped outside the plant.” [via VOA]
This sounds bad. The quake-damaged Fukushima nuke facility will vent its air containment vessels, as pressure levels have risen dangerously. The air may contain harmful radioactive material, though an official evacuation notice has already been declared by officials. [NHK]
