◼ Japan: Tremor Follows Blast At Nuclear Plant - sky.com
The 6.4 magnitude tremor occurred close to the site of dual Fukushima nuclear power plants, where the walls and a roof of a single reactor were destroyed in a blast.◼ Explosion did not occur at reactor, new cooling operation begins - kyodonews
The nearby Daini power station also suffered a loss of control of pressure in one containment vessel but a spokesman said the reactor pressure remained stable.
The Japanese government doubled the Daiichi evacuation radius to 12 miles and urged residents of the region to stay indoors, turn off air conditioning units and not to drink tap water
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the evacuation zone at the Daini nuclear site was extended to six miles from the previous radius of 1.8 miles.
Radioactivity of 1,000 times the normal level in the control room at the Daiichi plant and eight times the normal level in the area immediately outside the site have since fallen.
Ian Hore-Lacey, of the World Nuclear Association (WNA), said he believed the blast had been caused by a hydrogen build-up. "If the hydrogen has ignited, then it is gone, it doesn't pose any further threat," he said. "If there were any meltdown in those reactors, it would be largely, if not entirely, contained," he said
"Any western reactor is built inside a containment structure, which is normally about 1.2 metres (3ft 11in) thick of reinforced concrete. They are designed to contain the worst conceivable accident.
"You can't get a nuclear explosion at a nuclear power plant. That's quite impossible, because they're run with fuel that's only enriched to about 5% at the most."
If power is lost, the options to cool the core are limited.
It is unclear if the quake has undermined the containment building, which might allow radioactivity to leak out.
◼ SIXTH NUKE REACTOR FAILS
