Japanese official says reactor not damaged after explosion #prayforjapan, #tsunami, #japon, #japao #jishin #japan #terremoto

Japan's government spokesman says the metal container sheltering a nuclear reactor was not affected by an explosion that destroyed the building it's in.

Yukio Edano says the radiation around the plant did not rise after the blast but instead is decreasing. He added that pressure in the reactor was also decreasing.

Pressure and heat have been building at the nuclear reactor since an earthquake and tsunami Friday caused its cooling system to fail.

An explosion Saturday blew out the walls of the building housing the reactor. The government has ordered people within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the plant in Fukushima to evacuate the area.

Explosion raises fears of meltdown at reactor

A building housing a reactor has been destroyed by an explosion at a power plant in Japan's earthquake and tsunami-stricken region.

Officials fear a meltdown at the reactor, which lost its cooling system. Yesterday's double disaster, which pulverized Japan's northeastern coast, has left hundreds dead or missing.
Smoke poured out of the building in the region crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Another official said the utility that runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant is reporting that several workers may have been injured.
Meanwhile, Japan launched a massive, military-led rescue operation today to the stricken area.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he is sending 50,000 troops following the 8.9-magnitude quake that unleashed one of the greatest disasters Japan has witnessed. A 23-foot tsunami washed far inland over fields, smashing towns, airports and highways in its way.

Authorities venting radioative steam at damaged reactor

Japanese authorities are venting radioactive steam into the air after the earthquake on Friday critically damaged a nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The Japanese government on Friday declared a nuclear emergency at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station after the reactor's cooling system failed. The government ordered thousands of people living within 6 miles of the plant to evacuate. Early Saturday, it declared a nuclear emergency at a second power plant where a cooling system had also failed.

"It has the potential to be catastrophic," said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, and a former senior policy adviser to the Energy Secretary during the Clinton administration.

When an earthquake strikes, the plants automatically shut down, but the radioactive material continues to decay and produce heat. Reactor cooling systems, which rely on electric pumps to circulate water around the nuclear core, are designed to prevent overheating and pressure buildups.

The earthquake in Fukushima caused a power outage and damaged the plant's backup diesel generator, forcing the pumps to run on battery power. Workers have been unable to restore the systems.

Japan's nuclear safety agency said pressure inside the reactor had risen to abnormal levels and radiation levels inside the facility had surged to 1,000 times more than normal.

The government said it would have to release vapor from the reactor to lower the pressure and avoid a meltdown.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the amount of radioactivity in vapor would be "very small" and would not harm people or the environment.

"With evacuation in place and the ocean-bound wind, we can ensure the safety," he said at a news conference early Saturday.

The venting may relieve some pressure and give workers more time to restore the emergency cooling systems. They have a 12- to 24-hour window, Alvarez said.

"I don't think the venting is going to result in a catastrophic release, but it's definitely an indication that all is not well there," he said.

If the cooling is not restored quickly, the core can overheat, causing the water to boil over and exposing the core to air. The interior can catch fire and cause a meltdown, releasing nuclear material into the concrete containment dome that surrounds the reactor, Alvarez says.

"Is this barrier going to be sufficient?" Alvarez said. "It's a dicey proposition. The best you can say is, stay tuned."

If they re-establish a stable power supply and restore the cooling, "We should all breathe a sigh of relief," Alvarez said. "If they can't, it's very serious."

As the day wore on, news from the power plant grew worse.

In its nuclear emergency declaration late Friday afternoon, the government noted in bold letters that radioactivity had not leaked from any nuclear facilities and urged the public to stay calm.

Prime Minister Naota Kan said late Friday afternoon that he had "no reports of any radioactive materials or otherwise affecting the surrounding areas."

But by Saturday morning, the government had declared emergencies at two reactors and planned drastic steps to relieve pressure in one. The Japanese Defense ministry said it sent troops trained for chemical attack to the plant in case of a serious radiation leak.

Eleven reactors in Japan shut down automatically when they sensed ground movement, said Cham Dallas, director for the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia.

Dallas, who works closely with Japanese disaster management officials, said the local governments plan extensively for earthquakes and potential damage to nuclear power plants. Japan gets most of its energy from nuclear fuel.

"It's a visceral fear for them," said Dallas, who spent 10 years studying the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. "They have significantly better safety systems. It's night and day. I'm not worried."

Japan issues emergency at another nuclear plant

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has declared a state of emergency at another nuclear power plant after a cooling system at its three reactor units failed following a massive earthquake. There has been no radiation leak.

Japan's nuclear safety agency is also set to order a plant operator of another plant to release slightly radioactive vapor to protect the reactor from damage.

Altogether, five reactor units -- two at the Fukushima No. 1 plant and three at nearby Fukushima No. 2 plant -- are in a state of emergency. All five plants have shut down after the massive quake Friday.

Officials said earlier that only one of the two Fukushima No. 1 plant's units had cooling problems resulting from power outages. They now say both units are troubled.

Rescuers can't reach some badly damaged parts of Japan

Authorities in northeastern Japan say they can't yet reach the area along the coast where they say 200 to 300 people were killed by today's earthquake and tsunami. They say the roads are too badly damaged.

Hundreds more are missing, and the number of injured has reached nearly 1,000.

The huge waves that roared ashore after the magnitude-8.9 quake carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires.

A large section of one town of 70,000 people (Kesennuma) has been burning, with no apparent hope that the fire can be extinguished.

At least two trains were swept off their tracks along the coast, but no one was hurt.

In northeastern Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed and pressure began building inside. Officials later ordered a wider area evacuated, after radiation levels outside the plant surged.

Japan used to earthquakes, "but nothing like this"

Japan is a country that is used to earthquakes -- but the one that struck today was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore.

Hundreds are dead and missing.

Large fishing boats and other vessels were carried ashore, where they slammed against overpasses. Near the city of Sendai, waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland, carrying buildings -- including some that were on fire.

One man who was working at a Tokyo trading company when the quake hit says he's been through a lot of earthquakes, but "never felt anything like this."

Millions of homes are without electricity. The quake stopped commuter trains in the capital, shut down the mobile phone network and severely disrupted landline phone service.

The magnitude 8.9 quake and 23-foot tsunami were followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the central, mountainous part of the country hours later.

It caused buildings in Tokyo to sway. There were no immediate reports of damage.

Pressure rising at nuclear plant

Authorities say the pressure is rising at a nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan after its cooling system failed.

Japan's nuclear safety agency says pressure inside the reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal. To reduce the pressure, slightly radioactive vapor may be released.

The agency said the radioactive element in the vapor would not affect the environment or human health.

Japan has issued an evacuation order to about 3,000 residents living near the plant. The government also issued a state of emergency at the power plant.

The agency says plant workers are scrambling to restore cooling water supply at the plant but there is no prospect for an immediate success.

Japan looks like "Hollywood disaster movie"

The images on Japanese TV resemble scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie. Powerful waves, filled with debris. Uncontrolled fires. A ship caught in a massive whirlpool.

Even for a country that is used to earthquakes, the one that struck today was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore.

Large fishing boats and other vessels were carried ashore, where they slammed against overpasses. Overturned and partially submerged cars bobbed in the water.

The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing direction and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the homes, probably because of burst gas pipes.

Near the city of Sendai, waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland, carrying buildings -- including some that were on fire.

Highways to the worst-hit coastal areas buckled. Telephone lines snapped. Train service in northeastern Japan and in Tokyo is closed indefinitely.

Nuclear reactor concerns

Japanese authorities will release slightly radioactive vapor to ease pressure at nuclear reactor whose cooling system failed.

The failure occurred after a power outage caused by Friday's massive earthquake off northeastern Japan.

Japan's nuclear safety agency says pressure inside one of six boiling water reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant had risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal.

The agency said the radioactive element in the vapor that will be released would not affect the environment or human health.

Tokyo at a standstill

Today's massive quake off Japan's northeastern coast has brought Tokyo to a standstill.

Trains that normally run like clockwork came to a stop. Commuters were stranded, and their cell phones were mostly useless. Mobile phone lines were crammed, preventing nearly all calls and text messages.

By nightfall, tens of thousands of people remained stranded in Tokyo, where the rail network was still down. The streets were jammed with cars, buses and trucks trying to get out of the city.

Officials set up 33 shelters in city hall, on university campuses and in government offices.

Hundreds dead, death toll expected to rise

Japanese police say 200 to 300 bodies have been found in a northeastern coastal area where a massive earthquake spawned a tsunami.

The bodies were found in Sendai city, the closest major city to the epicenter. The magnitude 8.9 quake and 23-foot (7-meter) tsunami were followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.

A Japanese coast guard official says a search is under way for a ship carrying 80 dock workers that was swept away when the tsunami struck. The vessel was washed away from a shipbuilding site in the area most affected by the quake.

Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the epicenter.

Widespread fires are burning out of control.

The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of Friday's disaster.

A spokesman for the U.S. military bases in Japan said all service members were accounted for and there were no reports of damage to installations or ships.

Quake 5th largest on record

Scientists say the massive earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan ranks as the fifth largest jolt in the world since 1900.

The magnitude-8.9 "megathrust" quake is similar to what happened during the 2004 Sumatra quake and the one last year in Chile. In all these cases, one tectonic plate is shoved beneath another.

Such earthquakes are responsible for the most powerful shifts in the Earth's crust.

More than 80 aftershocks greater than magnitude-5 have been felt since the Japanese quake -- a number that scientists say is normal for a quake this size.

U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones said a friend who was in Tokyo for a tsunami planning meeting noted the shaking after the initial shock lasted for about five minutes.

Tsunami waves moving through Hawaii

Tsunami waves that were sent by the huge earthquake in Japan are moving through Hawaii.

Waves of at least 3 feet are recorded on Oahu and Kauai, and officials say they could become larger.

Water rushed ashore in Honolulu, swamping the beach in Waikiki and surging over the break wall, but stopping short of the area's high-rise hotels.

Residents in coastal areas of Hawaii were evacuated to refuge areas at community centers and schools while tourists in Waikiki were moved to higher floors of their high-rise hotels.

Roadways and beaches were empty as the tsunamis struck the state, which had hours to prepare.

Tsunami warnings in California

Officials along California's northern coast activated tsunami warning sirens to alert residents of low-lying areas to seek higher ground.

The National Weather Service says some of the biggest waves of between 6 and 7 feet were expected to hit Crescent City near the Oregon border, where 11 people were killed in 1964 from a tsunami.

Fishermen in Crescent City fired up their crab boats and left the harbor to ride out an expected swell, while residents living in a trailer park nearby headed to higher ground.

Police closed the Great Highway that runs along San Francisco's western coast and warned people to stay away from the beaches.

In Southern California, surfers were taking advantage of decent waves ahead of the tsunami.

The first waves hit near Port Orford, Ore.

Previous story

Japanese officials say more than 30 people have died in the magnitude 8.9 quake and 13-foot tsunami that hit the northeast part of the country.

People, boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris were swept away by the wave.

Fires triggered by Friday's quake are burning out of control up and down the coast, including one at an oil refinery.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was a magnitude 8.9, while Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 8.8. It was followed by more than 19 aftershocks, including several at least 6.3, the size of the quake that struck New Zealand recently.

Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles from the epicenter.

A tsunami warning was issued for the entire Pacific, including areas as far away as South America, the entire U.S. West Coast, Canada and Alaska.

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