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Second Japanese Nuclear Reactor At Risk of Exploding

VOA News March 12, 2011

Nuclear safety agency says the cooling system has stopped working at the Fukushima number three reactor

Japan's nuclear safety agency says there is an emergency at another reactor at a quake-hit power plant.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Sunday that the cooling system at the number three reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant has stopped working and risked a possible explosion following a blast Saturday at the plant's number one reactor.

VOA reporters close to the plant say aftershocks are still rocking the area, more than 24 hours after the original 8.9-magnitude jolt and tsunami hit on Friday afternoon, local time.

An explosion Saturday damaged a building housing the Fukushima facility's number one reactor, however officials say the reactor itself remained intact.

Officials say radiation from the plant appeared to have decreased after the blast on Saturday. But authorities did not say why and the extent of the ongoing danger was not clear.

Authorities had called on all residents to move at least 20 kilometers from the facility and as a precaution against radiation poisoning, authorities say they are distributing iodine tablets to people in the area.

The emergencies at the nuclear power plant have compounded anxieties as rescue workers struggle to reach the survivors of the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated a large area of the country's northeast.

The latest reports available indicate that more than 1,300 people are either dead or missing following the earthquake and tsunami disaster. Police say more than 215,000 people have been forced to seek emergency shelter.

Friday's earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan's main island, Honshu, was the strongest ever felt in Japan's modern history. A huge tsunami spawned by the undersea quake smashed into Japan's east coast minutes later, washing away entire villages, damaging roads and leaving thousands without electricity and other services.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan Saturday called the disaster "unprecedented" for Japan. About 50,000 troops have been assigned to rescue and recovery efforts across the country.

Some of the first rescuers arrived in helicopters to help those stranded on roofs and other hard-to-reach places.

The damage was catastrophic in some areas, and death tolls are expected to rise. Japanese media report more than half the population remains unaccounted for in Minamisanriku, a coastal city home to about 17,000 people.

Hundreds of bodies have been recovered around the country already, while many others victims are believed to remain buried in the rubble.

Japanese authorities said 200 to 300 bodies were found in Sendai, the city closest to the quake, which was the fifth most powerful recorded anywhere in the world more than a century. They say 700 people are missing and 1,000 people have been injured.

Kyodo news agency says four trains that were traveling along the coast when the tsunami struck are missing.

In Tokyo, the quake forced a suspension of all train and subway services, leaving millions of people stranded. Several airports were also closed, but some, including Tokyo's Narita, have reopened.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Saturday it has sent two experts to Japan to help with the damaged nuclear reactors.