FUKUSHIMA 3RD REACTOR MELTDOWN SERIES

'They effectively betrayed the nation's right to be safe from nuclear accidents. 'The Fukushima nuclear power plant accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and Tepco, and the lack of governance by said parties,' said the report, compiled by the Fukushima nuclear accident independent investigation commission. Updated at 9:42 p.m.: Added details on the radiation release and the fire.It accused Tepco and regulators at the nuclear and industrial safety agency of failing to take adequate safety measures, despite evidence that the area was susceptible to powerful earthquakes and tsunamis. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index plummeted for the second day, shedding 847.97 points, or 8.8 percent, to 8,772.51 in midday trading Tuesday. However, officials believe that tens of thousands may have been swept away by the tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of Japan on Friday. The official death toll from last week's massive earthquake and tsunami has risen to 2,414, Japanese police said Tuesday. The 185,000 residents living within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been evacuated, piling another major problem on top of thousands of deaths, extensive property damage, rolling power blackouts, a run on food and water in Tokyo, and economic troubles.

FUKUSHIMA 3RD REACTOR MELTDOWN SERIES

It was the latest in a series of serious problems triggered by Friday's earthquake and the resulting series of tsunamis that swept over Japan. The extreme heat also can produce dangerous amounts of gas that must be vented into the air to prevent an explosion.įukushima government spokesman Masato Abe told the media today that the fuel rods in unit 2 were briefly exposed but could not confirm whether they were ever totally exposed.

If the fuel rods inside the reactors get too hot, for example, if they can't be kept immersed or when the cooling system fails, the uranium can melt, causing a meltdown. Plant operators have been pumping seawater into the reactors to cool them. Less than an hour after the earthquake, though, the tsunami arrived and the generators failed. The regular power at the nuclear plant for the cooling system failed after the earthquake, at which time diesel generators kicked in for backup system. The escalation comes a day after the buildup of hydrogen gas caused an explosion in the plant's unit 3 reactor, injuring six people, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Pressure readings indicated the reactor's containment vessel may have been damaged, and workers have been evacuated from the vicinity as a precaution, the company said. local time Tuesday, executives at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.-the plant's owner-reported at a news conference. The explosion inside the plant's unit 2 reactor occurred at 6 a.m. 'These are figures that potentially affect health, there is no mistake about that,' Edano said. Radiation around one of the reactors was measured at 400,000 microsieverts per hour, about four times higher than the safe level, according to the AP. 'Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health,' Edano said, according to local media reports. Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a fire at the plant's unit 4 reactor had released radioactive steam and urged anyone within a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) radius to stay indoors.

Fukushima 3rd reactor meltdown