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| A hydrogen explosion at Fukushima 1 reactor |
Source/Credit: The Telegraph | Headlines
By The Telegraph Foreign Staff | March 13, 2100
Japan's top government spokesman warned Sunday of a fresh threat of explosion from a nuclear unit at a power plant in the country's earthquake-ravaged northeast.
A hydrogen explosion could occur at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. That would follow a blast that took place Saturday at the same power plant as operators attempted to prevent a nuclear meltdown of another unit by injecting sea water into it.
"At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion," Mr Edano said. "If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health."
Mr Edano said that mechanical problems with the pump delayed the injection of cooling water into the reactor, leaving the fuel rods briefly exposed, raising the risk of both a nuclear meltdown and an explosion.
The death toll from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami is likely to exceed 10,000 in Miyagi prefecture alone, a regional police chief said.
Millions of Japanese were without drinking water or electricity Sunday, surviving on instant noodles and rice balls, two days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hammered the northeastern coast, killing at least 1,000 people.
Although the government doubled the number of soldiers deployed in the aid effort to 100,000, it seemed overwhelmed by what's turning out to be a triple disaster. Friday's quake and tsunami damaged two nuclear reactors at a power plant on the coast, and at least one of them appeared to be going through a partial meltdown, raising fears of a radiation leak.
"First I was worried about the quake, now I'm worried about radiation. I live near the plants, so I came here to find out if I'm OK. I tested negative, but I don't know what to do next," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker, at an emergency center in Koriyama.
According to officials, at least 1,000 people were killed – including 200 bodies found Sunday along the coast – and 678 were missing in the earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that hit with breathtaking force and speed, sweeping away everything in its path.
The US Geological Survey calculated the quake to have a magnitude of 8.9, while Japanese officials raised their estimate on Sunday to 9.0. Either way it is the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.
A team of UK search and rescue specialists and medics was due to join the massive relief mission in tsunami-ravaged Japan today amid the continuing threat of a catastrophic nuclear meltdown.
At least 1,300 people are believed to have been killed by the wall of water, but thousands more are missing - including 10,000 from the Japanese coastal town of Minamisanriku.
Strong aftershocks have rocked the north-east area of the island nation, with one measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale striking this morning, further hindering the multi-national rescue effort.
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ASA.
ReplyDeleteThere are ahmadis in Japan? Any idea how they are?
ws
shabnam
@Shabnam - Yes there are a good number of Ahmadi Muslims in Japan. By the grace of Allah Ta'ala, as of few hours ago there were no adverse report about their wellbeing. However we are extremely sad due to the loss of life and property in Japan. We are with them in their time of need. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has sent their teems who have already started the relief work in the affected areas.
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