Radiation leak feared after plant blast: Kyodo

[marmar]

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Radiation could have leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan after Tuesday morning's blast at the plant's number 2 reactor, Kyodo news agency reported. The blast damaged the reactor's containment vessel, according to the report.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/radiation-leak-feared-after-plant-blast-kyodo-2011-03-14

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. Radiation did leak

A Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) spokesman said there had been a "huge explosion" at the plant's No. 2 reactor, where officials had earlier said fuel rods were exposed and at risk of meltdown.

The government also reported apparent damage to part of the container shielding the same reactor at Fukushima, 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, although it was unclear whether this resulted from the blast.

Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told reporters "damage appears on the suppression pool" - the bottom part of the container that contains water used to cool the reactor and control air pressure inside.

The radiation level at the plant temporarily rose to 8,217 micro sievert per hour after the explosion was heard, more than eight times the 1,000 micro sievert level to which people are usually exposed in one year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/15/3164151.htm