Japan Declares Emergency at Another Nuclear Plant (few minutes ago news from time of posting)

Japan Declares Emergency at Another Nuclear Plant
Published: Sunday, 13 Mar 2011 | 11:53 AM ET Text Size By: AP

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Japan's nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 170,000 people evacuated the quake- and tsunami-savaged northeastern coast where fears spread over possible radioactive contamination.


DigitalGlobe | Getty Images
NARAHA, JAPAN - MARCH 13: In this satellite view, the Fukushima II Dai Ni Nuclear Power plant after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 13, 2011 in Naraha, Japan. An earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale hit the northeast coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 causing tsunami alerts throughout countries bordering the Pacific Ocean and damaging nuclear power plants in Japan.
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The U.N. nuclear agency says Japan has declared a state of emergency at another earthquake-affected nuclear plant where higher-than-permitted levels of radioactivity were measured.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Japan informed it that the source of the radioactivity at the Onagawa power plant is being investigated. It said all three reactors at the plant are under control.

Japan also said authorities at another plant have resorted to using sea water to cool a second reactor in an attempt to prevent a meltdown.

Japan said earlier attempts to cool the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had failed. Sea water is also being used to cool the plant's No. 1 reactor.

Sea water is corrosive and is being used as a last resort.

Earlier Sunday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano had said that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Unit 3 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex. That follows a blast the day before in the power plant's Unit 1, and operators attempted to prevent a meltdown there by injecting sea water into it.

"At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion," Edano said. "If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health."

More than 170,000 people had been evacuated as a precaution, though Edano said the radioactivity released into the environment so far was so small it didn't pose any health threats.

"First I was worried about the quake," Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker who lives near the plant. "Now I'm worried about radiation." He spoke at an emergency center in Koriyama town near the power plant in Fukushima.

Aftershocks Continue

Strong aftershocks continued to shake Japan's main island as the desperate search pressed on for survivors from Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.

State broadcaster NHK said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water hit, reducing whole towns to rubble.

But concerns about the potential nuclear accident were prompting governments such as the U.S. and France to urge citizens to leave the area around Tokyo.

Edano said none of the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors was near the point of complete meltdown, and he was confident of escaping the worst scenarios.


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A complete meltdown—the collapse of a power plant's ability to keep temperatures under control—could release uranium and dangerous contaminants into the environment and pose major, widespread health risks.

Citizens Scanned for Radiation

Up to 160 people, including 60 elderly patients and medical staff who had been waiting for evacuation in the nearby town of Futabe, and 100 others evacuating by bus, might have been exposed to radiation, said Ryo Miyake, a spokesman from Japan's nuclear agency. The severity of their exposure, or if it had reached dangerous levels, was not clear. They were being taken to hospitals.

A Japanese official said there were 190 people within a 10 mile radius of the nuclear plant when radiation levels rose and 22 people have been confirmed to have suffered contamination. Workers in protective clothing were scanning people arriving at evacuation centers for radioactive exposure.

The crisis has triggered anti-nuclear power protests in Europe. Up to 60,000 protesters formed a 27-mile (45-km) human chain in Germany to denounce the government's policy of extending the life of nuclear plants.

Officials in Japan ordered the evacuation of a 12-mile (20-km) radius zone around the plant and 10 km (6 miles) around another nuclear facility close by.

Around 140,000 people had left the area, while authorities prepared to distribute iodine to protect people from radioactive exposure.

"There is radiation leaking out, and since the possibility (of being exposed) is high, it's quite scary," said Masanori Ono, 17, standing in line on Saturday to be scanned for radiation at an evacuation center in Fukushima prefecture.

Edano said operators were trying to cool and decrease the pressure in the Unit 3 reactor, just as they had the day before at Unit 1.

"We're taking measures on Unit 3 based on a similar possibility" of a partial meltdown, Edano said.

Tsunami Aftermath

Japan struggled with the nuclear crisis as it tried to determine the scale of the Friday disasters, when an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful in the country's recorded history, was followed by a tsunami that savaged its northeastern coast with breathtaking speed and power.


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A woman is rescued by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force at the JGSDF Kasuminome Base on March 13, 2011 in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
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More than 1,400 people were killed and hundreds more were missing, according to officials, but police in one of the worst-hit areas estimated the toll there alone could eventually top 10,000.

The scale of the multiple disasters appeared to be outpacing the efforts of Japanese authorities to bring the situation under control more than two days after the initial quake.

Rescue teams were struggling to search hundreds of miles (kilometers) of devastated coastline, and hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors huddled in darkened emergency centers cut off from rescuers and aid. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake, and food and gasoline were quickly running out across the region. Large areas of the countryside were surrounded by water and unreachable. Some 2 million households were without electricity.

In one of the heavily hit areas, Rikuzentakata, a city close to the coast, more than 1,000 people took refuge in a school high on a hill. Some were talking with friends and family around a stove. The radio was giving updates. On the walls were posters where names of survivors at the shelter were listed.

Some were standing in front of the lists, weeping.

Power Shortages

Japanese Trade Minister Banri Kaieda warned that the region was likely to face further blackouts, and power would be rationed to ensure supplies to essential facilities.