Reuters UK Q&A-Dangers posed by Japan's quake-hit atom plant (conflicting reports, inferences)

[jpak]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/japan-quake-nuclear-repeat-idUKLDE72B07H20110312

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"The most probable (cause of the blast) is that the coolant, particularly if it's water, can overheat and turn to steam more rapidly than it was designed to," said nuclear fuel technology professor Timothy Abram at Manchester University.

The cause and exact location of the blast still needs to be established, said nuclear physics professor Paddy Regan at Surrey University. "So far it looks like it's not the reactor core that's affected, which would be good news."

The World Nuclear Association, a London-based industry body, said the blast was probably due to hydrogen igniting and that this was unlikely to cause a big accident by itself.

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HOW SERIOUS COULD IT BE?

Views differ. Stratfor, a risk consultancy, initially said there appeared to be a reactor meltdown, but others disagreed, dismissing any comparisons with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.

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