Measurements at a Japanese nuclear reactor where an explosion occurred on Monday showed no higher levels of radiation, the government’s top spokesman said. The hydrogen blast damaged the reactor building but the reactor hull remained intact, chief Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said.
The explosion in Fukushima, 240 km North of Tokyo, came minutes after a magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck, an aftershock of Friday's magnitude-9 quake that devastated Northeastern Japan.
The city is home to 10 reactors at two nuclear power plants. Technicians have worked frantically there to lower the pressure in the reactors since the initial quake and tsunami disabled the cooling systems of six reactors. Monday's blast occurred in reactor number 3 at the Fukushima I plant.
An explosion occurred at the facility's reactor number 1 Saturday, and problems were also reported on Monday at reactor number 2. The level of water coolant in it has fallen because of the failure of the reactor's cooling system. The water was soon expected to fall below the fuel rods, raising the danger of overheating, Edano said. Edano said seawater was being injected into the reactor to cool it down.
Meanwhile, an oil tank exploded at a thermal power station in Fukushima, the Kyodo News agency reported. It was not immediately known whether there were injuries or damage at the plant operated by the Tohoku Electric Power Co. — DPA