Power was restored to the control room of the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant—but smoke has been rising intermittently from the reactor building, and elevated radiation is now detected in Tokyo’s water supply.
Japan has raised the alert level at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant from four to five on the seven-point scale, due to containment core damage at reactors 2 and 3. Dangerous radiation levels have been noted 30 kilometers away.
The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reports that following the explosions at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, “damage is suspected to unit 2’s inner or primary containment vessel (PCV).”
Two more reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are reported to have lost cooling functions, as technicians continue their struggle to contain what threatens to become a meltdown.
In a televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation from the three stricken reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant has reached the danger zone. A fourth reactor is now aflame.
A third hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant is reported, destroying the outer building of reactor Number 2. All three damaged reactors at the site have now experienced explosions.
It is now clear that the second explosion at the Fukushima plant was at reactor 3—a source of special concern because it contains “mixed oxide” fuel, a highly toxic mixture of uranium and plutonium.
A second explosion is reported at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, with four apparently killed and officials issuing contradictory statements on radiation levels.
Officials admit that the explosion at the Fukushima reactor was sparked by an emergency release to avoid a meltdown. A second reactor at the complex has now lost coolant, and is at risk of overheating.
Officials are denying that the reactor has exploded at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, but admit that local hourly radiation levels are already at what is considered safe for a year.
Japan’s government has for the first time declared a “nuclear emergency” as diesel backup systems failed at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
Agriculture experts in China warn that the frequency and severity of droughts have increased over the past decade, causing heavy crop losses and posing a potentially grave threat to grain security.
