Thousands evacuated around nuclear reactor
Source: Agencies |
March 12, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPAN was evacuating thousands of residents from an area around a nuclear reactor after damage caused by the earthquake raised fears of a radiation leak, although officials said there was no sign of leakage at present.
The government declared an emergency situation as a precaution, saying a cooling system was not working.
Work has begun on restoring the reactor's cooling function, Jiji news agency quoted the trade ministry as saying, while Kyodo news agency quoted Fukushima Prefecture as saying that water levels at the reactor were not at critical levels.
Residents within a 3-kilometer radius of Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have been told to evacuate, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference. Kyodo news agency said 3,000 residents were being evacuated.
Tomoko Murakami, leader of the nuclear energy group at Japan's Institute of Energy Economics, said there did not appear to be any imminent danger.
"Even if fuel rods are exposed, it does not mean they would start melting right away," she said. "Even if fuel rods melt and the pressure inside the reactor builds up, radiation would not leak as long as the reactor container functions well."
But Mark Hibbs, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the situation could turn grave.
"This is no laughing matter," he said, referring to reports that one or more of the emergency diesel generators for the cooling system were not working.
He said there was serious concern in Japan whether the cooling of the core and removal of residual heat could be assured.
"If that does not happen, if heat is not removed, there is a definite danger of a core melt ... fuel will overheat, become damaged and melt down."
TEPCO confirmed that water levels inside the reactors at its Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were falling but it was working to maintain water levels to avert the exposure of nuclear fuel rods.
The company has been trying to restore power to its emergency power system so that it could add water inside the reactors, a spokesman said. "There is a falling trend (in water levels) but we have not confirmed an exposure of nuclear fuel rods," the company said.
Reactors shut down due to the earthquake account for 18 percent of Japan's nuclear power generating capacity.
Japan has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that a heightened state of alert has been declared at the Fukushima facility.
TEPCO had been operating three out of six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant at the time of the quake, all of which shut down.
The government declared an emergency situation as a precaution, saying a cooling system was not working.
Work has begun on restoring the reactor's cooling function, Jiji news agency quoted the trade ministry as saying, while Kyodo news agency quoted Fukushima Prefecture as saying that water levels at the reactor were not at critical levels.
Residents within a 3-kilometer radius of Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have been told to evacuate, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference. Kyodo news agency said 3,000 residents were being evacuated.
Tomoko Murakami, leader of the nuclear energy group at Japan's Institute of Energy Economics, said there did not appear to be any imminent danger.
"Even if fuel rods are exposed, it does not mean they would start melting right away," she said. "Even if fuel rods melt and the pressure inside the reactor builds up, radiation would not leak as long as the reactor container functions well."
But Mark Hibbs, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the situation could turn grave.
"This is no laughing matter," he said, referring to reports that one or more of the emergency diesel generators for the cooling system were not working.
He said there was serious concern in Japan whether the cooling of the core and removal of residual heat could be assured.
"If that does not happen, if heat is not removed, there is a definite danger of a core melt ... fuel will overheat, become damaged and melt down."
TEPCO confirmed that water levels inside the reactors at its Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were falling but it was working to maintain water levels to avert the exposure of nuclear fuel rods.
The company has been trying to restore power to its emergency power system so that it could add water inside the reactors, a spokesman said. "There is a falling trend (in water levels) but we have not confirmed an exposure of nuclear fuel rods," the company said.
Reactors shut down due to the earthquake account for 18 percent of Japan's nuclear power generating capacity.
Japan has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that a heightened state of alert has been declared at the Fukushima facility.
TEPCO had been operating three out of six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant at the time of the quake, all of which shut down.
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