![]() ![]() "I believe they would be able to tell from various signals having to do with release of radioactivity and other things that things were a lost cause, you might say, and they might start initiating additional evacuations," Bergeron said. ![]() That would give authorities and the surrounding population time to prepare. That could lead to widespread cancer and other health problems, experts say.īut Bergeron said that while it is likely the reactor cores have been damaged, "it will have to get a lot hotter" for the dense uranium in the reactor's fuel rods to melt down. If the effort to cool the nuclear fuel inside the reactor fails completely - a scenario that experts who have spoken to CNN say is unlikely - the resulting release of radiation could cause enormous damage to the plant, and possibly release radiation into the atmosphere or water. But pumping had resumed by early Tuesday, Edano said. A valve that was supposed to be open to allow the heat and steam to escape was closed, causing pressure to build up inside the reactor building, according to TEPCO. When that problem was resolved, Edano said, a new problem sent the water levels plummeting again. But the pump ran low on fuel when workers left it unattended, and the water soon burned off and exposed the reactor's fuel rods, allowing them to emit levels of heat and steam that can melt the reactor's core. ![]() 2 reactor after Monday's explosion, as they have been doing with units 1 and 3. 2 reactor's control rods - about half - have been uncovered.Īuthorities began pumping a mix of sea water and boron into the No. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Tuesday that up to 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) of the No. "What is fairly clear, from the release of hydrogen and the fission products, is that all of these reactors have probably had fuel rods exposed for significant periods of time over a portion of their length," Bergeron told CNN. The release of radioactive material such as cesium, a reactor byproduct that has been detected outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant, is another, he said. The buildup of hydrogen in the reactor vessels is "the first sign that things are going haywire," said Kenneth Bergeron, a physicist who used to work at the Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. 1 reactor and hurt four people.Įdano said earlier that he could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown at all three troubled reactors at the plant. A similar hydrogen explosion on Saturday blew the roof off the containment structure around the No. 3 injured 11 people, Japanese authorities said. Monday's hydrogen explosion at reactor No. "We are continuing the water injection into the pressure vessels, but the operators who are not directly engaged in this operation are being evacuated to safer locations," a TEPCO executive told reporters at a news conference Tuesday morning. 2 reactor's suppression pool, a donut-shaped reservoir at the base of the reactor containment vessel. Pressure readings indicated some damage to the No. The "explosive impact" took place shortly after 6 a.m. 3 unit on Monday, and workers had been attempting to keep temperatures at unit 2 in check by pumping seawater into the reactor ever since. The cooling system at that unit was damaged by a hydrogen explosion at the No. At least 500 residents were believed to have remained within the 20-kilometer radius Monday evening, Edano said.Įdano spoke more than four hours after an explosion at the No. Radiation levels at the plant have increased to "levels that can impact human health," Edano said - between 100 and 400 millisieverts, or as much as 160 times higher than the average dose of radiation a typical person receives from natural sources in a year.Įvacuations have already been ordered for anyone living within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the plant, and Edano said anyone between 20 and 30 kilometers (between 12.5-18.6 miles) should remain indoors. The plant's owners, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, evacuated all but about 50 of their workers from the plant following Tuesday's explosion at the No. 4 unit - which had been shut down before Friday's earthquake - was burning Tuesday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced. The risk of further releases of radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains "very high," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday. Tokyo (CNN) - Japanese authorities trying to stave off meltdowns at an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant reported more grim news Tuesday as radiation levels soared following another explosion at an overheating reactor. 3 injured 11 workersĮditor's note: Find out more about Japan's nuclear reactors in this expert Q and A from CNN's Wayne Drash. 4 reactor is burning after explosions at units 1-3 NEW: Dangerous levels of radiation reported at Fukushima Daiichi. ![]()
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