Thousands evacuated as Japan fears nuclear meltdown is imminent following blast at plant Skip to main content

Thousands evacuated as Japan fears nuclear meltdown is imminent following blast at plant

The terrifying threat of a nuclear meltdown loomed Saturday over Japan, already reeling from an earthquake and tsunami that left thousands dead, missing or stranded.

The desperate search for survivors from Friday's twin cataclysms was overshadowed by the specter of atomic disaster after a hydrogren explosion blew the roof off a quake-hit reactor.

Then, as workers struggled to avert catastrophe and officials downplayed the peril, cooling systems failed at a second reactor at the same plant north of Tokyo.

The government confirmed that radiation had leaked and tens of thousands of people around the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, about 170 miles north of Tokyo, were being evacuated.

"It's quite scary," said Masanori Ono, 17, lining up at an evacuation center in Koriyama.

The government planned to hand out iodine tablets to ward off thyroid cancer. Three bedridden patients at a hospital near the reactor had already been poisoned by radiation.

Heart-stopping footage of the plant blast aired on Japanese TV, showing the roof flying off, walls crumbling and a plume of thick white smoke overhead.

The explosion leveled the concrete exterior walls but not the 6-inch-thick stainless steel walls around the actual reactor, officials said.

Workers rushed to protect fuel rods from exposure to the air and later began pumping sea water into the reactor unit to cool it down and forestall a meltdown.

Early reports said radiation levels inside the plant were 1,000 times higher than normal. And Japanese media said the number of people exposed to radiation would be at least 90.

Government officials insisted the radiation level at the plant was decreasing and said it was a level 4 disaster - with the 1986 Chernobyl leak a 7 and the Three Mile Island disaster a 5.

The nuclear crisis played out against a backdrop of death and staggering destruction from Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake and 30-foot-high tsunami.

Among the developments:

* The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake - the most powerful in the temblor-prone nation's history - was so powerful it shifted the main island of Japan by 8 feet and moved the Earth on its axis. It ripped a 250-mile long tear in the Earth's crust.
* The official death toll Saturday was 686, but it was expected to go much higher, a government spokesman said.

"Our estimates based on reported cases alone suggest that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives in the disaster," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

"Unfortunately, the actual damage could far exceed that number considering the difficulty assessing the full extent of damage."

* In one northeastern town, 9,500 people were missing. There was a report that four trains disappeared in the tsunami and had still not been found.
* At least 3,400 buildings were obliterated by the quake or giant wave, and 300,000 people had been evacuated and were holed up at shelters.
* Aftershocks, including a strong 6.8-magnitude rattler, left the region on edge.
* A blaze at the Cosmo Oil refinery in the city of Ichihara raged out of control, and 5.5 million people were without power.
* The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it plans to open for trading Monday, but Toyota will suspend operations at all 12 of its factories.
* U.S. search-and-rescue teams were on their way to Japan to help search for and assist survivors - part of a worldwide relief effort.

Japanese rescue crews faced challenges reaching the hardest hit towns around the city of Sendai.

Survivors there reeled between amazement they hadn't been killed and fears about how they would put their lives back together.

"Everything is so hard now," said Kumi Onodera, 34, a dental technician in the port city of 1 million.

She said she had come through something "like a scene from a disaster movie."

"The road was moving up and down like a wave. Things were on fire and it was snowing," she said. "You really come to appreciate what you have in your everyday life."

In districts around the Fukushima nuclear plant, the danger still seemed imminent.

"Everyone wants to get out of the town. But the roads are terrible," said Reiko Takagi, a middle-aged woman standing outside a taxi company.

"It is too dangerous to go anywhere. But we are afraid that winds may change and bring radiation toward us."

In Tokyo, some worried that the government and the plant's operator were minimizing the threat.

"I don't think TVs are telling the whole truth," said Kenichi Wakaki, 42, a bar worker.

"I suspect the real situation is a lot worse. Some horrible things are actually happening."

With News Wire Services

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/03/13/2011-03-13_japan_gripped_by_meltdown_fears_thousands_evacuated_after_blast_at_nuke_plant.html?page=1

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