Blast at nuke plant, disaster toll soars
Source: Agencies |
March 13, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
An explosion at a Japanese nuclear power station yesterday destroyed a building housing the reactor, but a radiation leak was decreasing despite fears of a meltdown from damage caused by a powerful earthquake and tsunami, officials said.
Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the explosion destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the metal housing enveloping the reactor.
That was welcome news for a country suffering from Friday's double disaster that pulverized the northeastern coast, leaving at least 574 people dead by official count.
The scale of destruction was not yet known, but there were grim signs the death toll could soar. One report said four whole trains had disappeared on Friday and still had not been located. Local media reports said at least 1,700 people may have been killed.
Edano said the radiation around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had not risen after the blast, but had in fact decreased. He did not say why.
Officials have not given specific radiation readings for the area, though they said they were elevated before the blast: At one point, the plant was releasing each hour the amount of radiation a person normally absorbs from the environment each year.
Virtually any increase in ambient radiation can raise long-term cancer rates, and authorities were planning to distribute iodine to residents in the area, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iodine counteracts the effects of radiation.
The pressure in the reactor was also decreasing after the blast, according to Edano.
The explosion was preceded by a puff of white smoke that gathered intensity until it became a huge cloud enveloping the entire facility, located in Fukushima, 30 kilometers from Iwaki. After the explosion, the walls of the building crumbled, leaving only a skeletal metal frame.
Tokyo Power Electric Co, the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers suffered fractures and bruises and were being treated at a hospital.
"We have confirmed that the walls of this building were what exploded, and it was not the reactor's container that exploded," said Edano.
The concerns about a radiation leak at the nuclear power plant overshadowed the massive tragedy laid out along a 2,100-kilometer stretch of the coastline where scores of villages, towns and cities were battered by the tsunami.
It swept inland about 10 kilometers in some areas, swallowing boats, homes, cars and everything else.
"The tsunami was unbelievably fast," said Koichi Takairin, a 34-year-old truck driver who was inside his sturdy four-ton rig when the wave hit Sendai.
Smashed cars
"Cars were swept around me," he said. "All I could do was sit in my truck."
His rig ruined, he joined the steady flow of survivors who walked along the road away from the sea and back into the city yesterday.
Smashed cars and small airplanes were jumbled up against buildings near the local airport, several kilometers from the shore. Felled trees and wooden debris lay everywhere as rescue workers coasted on boats through murky waters around flooded structures, nosing their way through a sea of debris.
According to official figures, 586 people are missing and 1,105 injured. In addition, police said between 200 and 300 bodies were found along the coast in Sendai, the biggest city in the area near the quake's epicenter.
The true scale of the destruction was still not known more than 24 hours after the quake since washed-out roads and shut airports have hindered access to the area. An untold number of bodies were believed to be buried in the rubble and debris.
Meanwhile, the first wave of military rescuers began arriving by boats and helicopters.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops joined rescue and recovery efforts. Dozens of countries also offered help.
US President Barack Obama pledged US assistance following what he called a potentially "catastrophic" disaster. He said one US aircraft carrier was already in Japan and a second was on its way. Washington has also dispatched urban search and rescue teams.
More than 215,000 people were living in 1,350 temporary shelters in five prefectures, police said. Since the quake, more than 1 million households have not had water, mostly in northeast. Some 4 million buildings were without power.
Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the explosion destroyed the exterior walls of the building where the reactor is placed, but not the metal housing enveloping the reactor.
That was welcome news for a country suffering from Friday's double disaster that pulverized the northeastern coast, leaving at least 574 people dead by official count.
The scale of destruction was not yet known, but there were grim signs the death toll could soar. One report said four whole trains had disappeared on Friday and still had not been located. Local media reports said at least 1,700 people may have been killed.
Edano said the radiation around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had not risen after the blast, but had in fact decreased. He did not say why.
Officials have not given specific radiation readings for the area, though they said they were elevated before the blast: At one point, the plant was releasing each hour the amount of radiation a person normally absorbs from the environment each year.
Virtually any increase in ambient radiation can raise long-term cancer rates, and authorities were planning to distribute iodine to residents in the area, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iodine counteracts the effects of radiation.
The pressure in the reactor was also decreasing after the blast, according to Edano.
The explosion was preceded by a puff of white smoke that gathered intensity until it became a huge cloud enveloping the entire facility, located in Fukushima, 30 kilometers from Iwaki. After the explosion, the walls of the building crumbled, leaving only a skeletal metal frame.
Tokyo Power Electric Co, the utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, said four workers suffered fractures and bruises and were being treated at a hospital.
"We have confirmed that the walls of this building were what exploded, and it was not the reactor's container that exploded," said Edano.
The concerns about a radiation leak at the nuclear power plant overshadowed the massive tragedy laid out along a 2,100-kilometer stretch of the coastline where scores of villages, towns and cities were battered by the tsunami.
It swept inland about 10 kilometers in some areas, swallowing boats, homes, cars and everything else.
"The tsunami was unbelievably fast," said Koichi Takairin, a 34-year-old truck driver who was inside his sturdy four-ton rig when the wave hit Sendai.
Smashed cars
"Cars were swept around me," he said. "All I could do was sit in my truck."
His rig ruined, he joined the steady flow of survivors who walked along the road away from the sea and back into the city yesterday.
Smashed cars and small airplanes were jumbled up against buildings near the local airport, several kilometers from the shore. Felled trees and wooden debris lay everywhere as rescue workers coasted on boats through murky waters around flooded structures, nosing their way through a sea of debris.
According to official figures, 586 people are missing and 1,105 injured. In addition, police said between 200 and 300 bodies were found along the coast in Sendai, the biggest city in the area near the quake's epicenter.
The true scale of the destruction was still not known more than 24 hours after the quake since washed-out roads and shut airports have hindered access to the area. An untold number of bodies were believed to be buried in the rubble and debris.
Meanwhile, the first wave of military rescuers began arriving by boats and helicopters.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said 50,000 troops joined rescue and recovery efforts. Dozens of countries also offered help.
US President Barack Obama pledged US assistance following what he called a potentially "catastrophic" disaster. He said one US aircraft carrier was already in Japan and a second was on its way. Washington has also dispatched urban search and rescue teams.
More than 215,000 people were living in 1,350 temporary shelters in five prefectures, police said. Since the quake, more than 1 million households have not had water, mostly in northeast. Some 4 million buildings were without power.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
