A partial meltdown is likely under way at second quake-stricken nuclear reactor [the Fukushima III reactor], Japan’s top government spokesman said Sunday.
Fuel rods were briefly exposed and radiation levels briefly rose above the legal limit at the nuclear plant where both reactors are located, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
His statement came after Japan’s largest electric utility started releasing steam Sunday at the second nuclear reactor while trying to stop a meltdown that began a day earlier in another.
Many experts have said the disaster is not as bad as Chernobyl. But Forbes’ William Pentland notes, nuclear expert Kevin Kamp says:
“Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.”
Tokyo, at least, appeared to have got away without the scale of casualties seen in other parts of Japan. That was before news of an explosion, and warnings of a possible “meltdown”, at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. As the evening turned to night, the world’s second-largest metropolis was still waiting to know whether it had been exposed to what would be perhaps the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
The original source of this article is washingtonsblog.com
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